Math Forum Discussions

GS Chandy

Posts: 4,348
From: Hyderabad, Mumbai/Bangalore, India
Registered: 9/29/05

Re: L.A. Times Population Report: Beyond 7 Billion - Fighting the Last War?
Posted: Dec 14, 2012 7:59 PM

Plain Text

Responding to Richard Hake's post (pasted below my signature for reference):

This seems to have been posted earlier (??) And I believe I had responded to the question.

The Bartlett signature quotes are excellent - and we really need to start understanding the exponential function. (We may not be able to use Math-teach much longer - or indeed to do much else of anything at all - unless we make at least minimum efforts to start understanding the over-ridingly important exponential function [as it applies to human affairs on this planet]; I see few or no signs that any such minimum needed efforts are being made).

GSC
Richard Hake posted Dec 15, 2012 12:18 AM:
> Some subscribers to Math-Teach might be interested in
> a recent post
> "L.A. Times Population Report: Beyond 7 Billion -
> Fighting the Last
> War?" [Hake (2012b)].
>
> Q. What does overpopulation have to do with
> Math-Teach?
>
> A. Please see the Bartlett signature quotes.
>
> The abstract reads:
>
> *********************************************
> ABSTRACT: In response to my post "L.A. Times
> Population Report:
> Beyond 7 Billion" [Hake (2012a)] at
> <http://bit.ly/Ufro6y>, Ed
> Gehringer (2012) of the POD list wrote: "Hey Richard,
> I think you're
> fighting the last war," where the "fighting the last
> war" was linked
> to the Population Research Institute's
> <http://www.pop.org/>
> "OVERPOPULATION IS A MYTH.com - Episode 5: 7 Billion
> People: WILL
> EVERYONE PLEASE RELAX?" [My CAPS.]
>
> At that site a video at <http://bit.ly/SJViUe> shows
> a roller
> coaster, representing population, rising steeply from
> 3 billion to 5
> billion, rising less steeply after 5 billion, peaking
> at about 7-8
> billion, and then *decreasing*! SO SHOULD EVERYONE
> RELAX?
>
> In this post I give "Twenty-eight Quotes Relevant To
> Overpopulation"
> which suggest, contrary to the Population Research
> Institute's
> admonition, that EVERYONE SHOULD *NOT* RELAX.
>
> The population clock is ticking! When I transmitted
> this post to
> AERA-L and Net-Gold on 13 Dec 2012 at 16:14-0800, the
> world
> population clock at <http://1.usa.gov/j2u6Gw> stood
> at 7,058,386,641.
> How many people have been added by time you read
> this?
> *********************************************
>
> To access the complete 64 kB post please click on
> <http://bit.ly/TeOpJj>.
>
> Richard Hake, Emeritus Professor of Physics, Indiana
> University
> Links to Articles: <http://bit.ly/a6M5y0>
> Links to Socratic Dialogue Inducing (SDI) Labs:
> <http://bit.ly/9nGd3M>
> Academia: <http://bit.ly/a8ixxm>
> Blog: <http://bit.ly/9yGsXh>
> GooglePlus: <http://bit.ly/KwZ6mE>
> Twitter: <http://bit.ly/juvd52>
>
> The greatest shortcoming of the human race is our
> inability to
> understand the exponential function."
> - A.A. Bartlett (2004)
>
> "In our classrooms and in our lives as scientists, we
> must
> acknowledge that overpopulation is the world's most
> serious and
> threatening problem and that this problem requires
> immediate and
> urgent attention."
> -A.A. Bartlett (2012)
>
> REFERENCES [URL's shortened by <http://bit.ly/> and
> accessed on 13 Dec 2012.]
> Bartlett, A.A. 2004. "The Essential Exponential! For
> the Future of
> Our Planet," Center for Science, Mathematics &
> Computer Education,
> University of Nebraska, Lincoln, publisher's
> information at
> <http://bit.ly/VpN2pm>. Author's information at
> <http://bit.ly/VJQzRN>. The first chapter is online
> at
> <http://bit.ly/QKtjEh>.
>
> Bartlett, A.A. 2012. "The Meaning of Sustainability,"
> Teachers
> Clearinghouse for Science and Society Education
> Newsletter 31(1);
> online at <http://bit.ly/SyM0t8>.
>
> Hake, R.R. 2012a. "L.A. Times Population Report:
> Beyond 7 Billion,"
> online on the OPEN! AERA-L archives at
> <http://bit.ly/Ufro6y>. Post
> of 5 Dec 2012 14:23:20-0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold.
> The abstract and
> link to the complete post are being transmitted to
> several discussion
> lists and are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at
> <http://bit.ly/YBNFUU> with a provision for comments.
>
> Hake, R.R. 2012b. "L.A. Times Population Report:
> Beyond 7 Billion -
> Fighting the Last War?" online on the OPEN! online on
> the OPEN!
> AERA-L archives at <http://bit.ly/TeOpJj>. Post of 13
> Dec 2012
> 16:14:29-0800 to AERA-L and Net-Gold. The abstract
> and link to the
> complete post are being transmitted to several
> discussion lists and
> are also on my blog "Hake'sEdStuff" at
> <http://bit.ly/W2EV8u> with a
> provision for comments.

Message was edited by: GS Chandy