#dan spears

[contemplatingoutlander]

This is a troubling article by UT Austin economist Dan Spears on predictions that world population growth will peak sometime during the 2060s to 2080s, and then will rapidly decline. We all know on some level that human population growth cannot continue at this pace, but the sudden drop that experts predict in the near future is alarming--as are the predicted consequences of a rapid human population decline.

This is a gift 🎁 link that will enable anyone to read the full article, whether or not they subscribe to The New York Times. Here are some excerpts from this interactive article.

The global human population has been climbing for the past two centuries. But what is normal for all of us alive today—growing up while the world is growing rapidly—may be a blip in human history. Children born today will very likely live to see the end of global population growth.A baby born this year will be 60 in the 2080s, when demographers at the U.N. expect the size of humanity to peak. The Wittgenstein Center for Demography and Global Human Capital in Vienna places the peak in the 2070s. The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation at the University of Washington puts it in the 2060s. All of the predictions agree on one thing: We peak soon.

And then we shrink. Humanity will not reach a plateau and then stabilize. It will begin an unprecedented decline. Because most demographers look ahead only to 2100, there is no consensus on exactly how quickly populations will fall after that. Over the past 100 years, the global population quadrupled, from two billion to eight billion. As long as life continues as it has — with people choosing smaller family sizes, as is now common in most of the world — then in the 22nd or 23rd century, our decline could be just as steep as our rise.

The article goes on to say:

[...] What would happen as a consequence [of a rapid decline in human population]? Over the past 200 years, humanity’s population growth has gone hand in hand with profound advances in living standards and health: longer lives, healthier children, better education, shorter workweeks and many more improvements. Our period of progress began recently, bringing the discovery of antibiotics, the invention of electric lightbulbs, video calls with Grandma and the possibility of eradicating Guinea worm disease. In this short period, humanity has been large and growing.��Economists who study growth and progress don’t think this is a coincidence. Innovations and discoveries are made by people. In a world with fewer people in it, the loss of so much human potential may threaten humanity’s continued path toward better lives.

I encourage you to read the rest of this article. Whether or not one agrees with Dr. Spears's arguments, they are thought provoking.

[edited]

____________________ Sara Chodosh created the graphics in the article, which were used to create the above gifs.

[drinkingteainthedark]

Most people: Yea this is my weapon. I use it to fight and I take pretty good care of it. Would suck if it broke :/

Dan Heng Honkaistarrail: This is my 700 year old custom spear made for me by my insane ex if anything happens to it I will make The Sedition of Imbibitor Lunae look like a fun party they will NOT be letting me out of jail afterwards and I won't even care because without Cloud-Piercer I will have nothing to live for in this stupid sinful world

[lowkeyren]

the whole 2.5 was a wild ride ngl

[ultrameganicolaokay]

Justice League Unlimited #5 by Mark Waid and Dan Mora. Variant covers by (1) Nathan Szerdy, (2) Mark Spears and (3) Dan Jurgens & Norm Rapmund. Main cover (4) by Mora, Out in March 2025.

"The keys to the mysterious superterrorist organization Inferno begin to be revealed as the Justice League realizes it’s an intergalactic threat led by one of their oldest foes! Time is running out to save the world with the help of… the Legion of Doom?"

[windtorndagger]

Yanqing, running into Jing Yuan's room to ask for more money for swords: General! General!

Dan Heng, who had been up all night adding to the data bank while Blade and Jing Yuan played chess: Jing Yuan, please stop your child.

Yanqing: uh

Dan Heng: shit

Blade, who is a very light sleeper: I'll give you a couple thousand Strale if you leave right now and not tell a single soul, including Jing Yuan, this happened.

Yanqing: Deal!

Dan Heng, groaning into his pillow that they got found out: We are never going to live this down.

Blade: Could be worse. Could have been March 7th or Silver Wolf.

(Meanwhile Jing Yuan, pretending to be asleep, struggles to hide his smile.)

[feroluce]

So excited for today's post- @hydrachea has given me permission to share these text messages she made! ♡

The second one nearly had me crying because BOOTHILL TRYING TO FLIRT, DAN HENG MISUNDERSTANDING BECAUSE OF HIS ROWDY NATURE, AND BOOTHILL JUST STRAIGHT UP OFFLINING ABOUT IT SNZKKZMSKZKSKKS

[phanstan4eva]

I’m sat having breakfast and Toxic by Britney Spears comes on. I’m looking round and nobody is reacting. Like does nobody remember THAT video.

[anne20055]

BREAKING MY SILENCE:

i have no idea why Toxic by Britney Spears is important

[lokislittlelad]

Andrew hates the word 'please' because of the dynamic it implies for him. See, it's the victim (Andrew) begging the one in power (Drake) to stop the abuse, to stop in whatever action that's driving fear into him. Now imagine, once again, the Katelyn scene. She's begging him and he's pinned her. What do you think he remembers when the word 'please' is uttered more than once? Not only used in his presence, but directed at him. I think it hits him hard, he's finding himself on the recieving end of what his countless abusers faced. He, at least in his mind, has become them. It's why he hates the word so much, it isnt as cut and dry as 'he associates it with the rape and is pulled back there', he is but this time he's the one hurting just like his abusers did and it terrifies him because he knows he isn't doing what they were doing to him. He still knows what it's like to beg and have it accomplish nothing. So, is this something anyone else thinks about or is it just me?

[disast3rtransp0rt]

Watching the "Quiet On Set" documentary with my boyfriend reminded me of meme rap Joji wrote right before he became Joji (i.e., when he was still Filthy Frank). A song my bf showed me ages ago that references everything mentioned in the documentary.

Except the song came out in 2017.

I mean, it's aimed at edgy humor Weird Guys from that era of the internet, but it's tangible proof that Schneider's pattern of behavior - and a wider pattern of abuse from the entertainment industry - has been an open secret for over a decade.

Enough that some random YouTube shitposter could make a semi-satirical rap about no longer being able to jerk off to children's television in his 20's because he's "not into kids".

THIS IS ALMOST A DECADE OLD NOW!!! A DECADE AGO PEOPLE WERE POINTING THIS SHIT OUT!!!! He called Schneider out by name in 2017 and Nickelodeon wouldn't cut ties for another two years.

I think some people forget how drastically the #MeToo movement changed our social norms in regard to workplace harassment. It's becoming harder and harder for abusive assholes to get away with shit. All the groups they'd usually leverage sociopolitical power against before (primarily anyone who wasn't a white cishet landowning man) now has backup and receipts and solidarity. And it's scaring them because they're getting more and more sneaky.

Don't let them be sneaky.

Let's keep this momentum going and make the entertainment industry safer. All industries, really. Let's Hold Abusers Accountable in 2024.

[thefigureresource]

Nendoroid Dan Heng [Honkai: Star Rail] from Good Smile Company coming June 2024.

[phangays]

NOT TOXIC

[jhsharman]

spear fishing

Need to spell more things out now. There is a decent chance it is junk. For the record and Moose and everyone's consideration hopefully it is because otherwise -- this is probably more trouble than it is worth.

[evilkaeya]

the new hsr event quest took a 180° turn at the end... I need the continuation nowww 😭😭

[phoneyotc]

the new meds I take give me fucked up dreams lol