Age of Chaos
The baby bust started in the rich world, then spread to the poor world. Fertility worldwide fell below replacement. After a generation, global population began to fall.
Global population shrank for decades, and passed below the sustainable level. Then it bottomed out, rebounded, overshot, peaked, re-collapsed, and so on. That was population chaos.
The Human population didn’t stabilize at its niche-size; instead it repeatedly overshot upwards and downwards. The system had sensitive dependence on initial conditions; small causes had big effects; so its variations were unpredictable. The chaos lasted for millennia.
Population chaos caused cultural chaos. Sexual customs vacillated in phase with economic and ecological pressures. The Devil, watching this, said, “The Humans attribute these reversals in law and custom to politics or divine intervention; in reality they depend on the market value of children. To breed or not to breed? That is the question.”
Miss Liberty said, “States, churches, and corporations try to control chaos by tardy policy; but to escalate order is to escalate chaos.”
The Devil said, “Chaos! My natural environment! Look at all the ruthless selection during each implosion!”
Miss Liberty said, “Chaos! My natural environment! Look at all the wild diversity during each explosion!”
Mother Earth said, “Chaos! My natural environment! Look at my children evolve!”
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