An important video about growth
I've always thought that planned growth (particularly population growth) makes even the most sensible of plans for "sustainability" a non-starter, but wasn't ever sure why exactly... This video explains it quite clearly using "simple arithmetic" and logic, but don't be scared - the only bit you really need to know off by heart is how to multiply by two!
When you have a spare hour (yes, it's long) go and watch this:
It is just an old feller giving a lecture to a bunch of students - no explosions or anything!, but the argument is crucial, and well presented, and i found i just had to watch it through to the end.
For those of you who are not convinced it's worth checking out here is a little taster (shamelessly paraphrased from the above presentation)
- Consider a bottle with some bacteria in it at 11:00 a.m.
- The number of bacteria doubles every minute
- The bottle will be full at 12:00 noon
now the questions:
- When will the bottle be half full?
and
- When do you think the bacteria notice they might have a space issue?
Find out if the bacteria can manage to solve their growth problems, and why understanding the exponential function is so important by watching Dr A's video!
It was uploaded by the same chap who made The Most Terrifying Video You'll Ever See
, which is also very good.
