A declining birthrate is Elon Musk’s top concern for humanity. He warns that if people don’t start having more children, civilization will “crumble.”
“I think one of the biggest risks to civilization is the low birthrate and the rapidly declining birthrate,” Elon Musk, who is a father of six, said at the annual CEO Council of the Wall Street Journal on Monday.
“And yet, so many people, including smart people, think that there are too many people in the world and think that the population is growing out of control,” Musk added.
“It’s completely the opposite. Please look at the numbers — if people don’t have more children, civilization is going to crumble, mark my words.”
During a question and answer session, the billionaire explained how Tesla’s not-yet-released Tesla Bot might help resolve the humanity/labor issues.
In August, Musk said his robot, which stands five feet eight inches tall and weighs one hundred and twenty-five pounds, could be ready as early as next year.
By driving down labor costs, the bot will also drive down the economy’s costs, according to Musk.
The Tesla Bot, he said, will become a “generalized substitute for human labor over time” — which will become increasingly critical for businesses if the human labor supply falls.
According to data from the World Bank, global birth rates have fallen steadily since 1960.
Nonetheless, Musk hasn’t been silent about the global population decline for several years.
The tesla boss responded to a New Scientist article that raised the possibility of a “population bomb” exploding soon in 2017.
“The world’s population is accelerating towards collapse, but few seem to notice or care,” Musk replied at the time via twitter.
Climate change concerns were attributed to the declining birthrate in July of this year by Morgan Stanley analysts.
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The “movement to not have children owing to fears over climate change is growing and impacting fertility rates quicker than any preceding trend in the field of fertility decline,” they said at the time.
“Having a child is 7-times worse for the climate in CO2 emissions annually than the next 10 most discussed mitigants that individuals can do,” Morgan Stanley analysts said. The Analysts noted that many couples who were considering starting a family have decided to put off having children.
Scientists have argued that population control won’t be an effective strategy for dealing with climate change since it would be too late anyway. This is despite research showing having fewer kids could reduce climate change’s impact on households.
In an interview with Vox earlier in the year, sustainability scientist Kimberley Nicholas said, “it is true that more people will consume more resources and cause more greenhouse gas emissions.”
“But that’s not really the relevant timeframe for actually stabilizing the climate, given that we have this decade to cut emissions in half.”
