If everything—bodies, memories, stars, the universe itself—has a birth-death life cycle, can humankind exist forever? As they modernize, birthrates in 100+ countries have fallen below the replacement minimum of 2.1 births/woman. Sustained sub-2.1 fertility will make societies older and smaller. With India, South Africa, Mexico… crossing below the 2.1 threshold, will the entire species follow fast-aging and shrinking Japan, whose rising median age may top 60 well before 2100?
Enter our demogra-fate hypothesis: does population aging conclude the natural life cycle of all intelligent species in the universe? $1.99 on Kindle.
Author: Thanh Nguyen-Ba
