here’s what he said, in a nutshell: population grows logarithmically (2, 4, 8, 16…). food supply grows arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4). therefore, population will tend to outrun the food supply. his theory makes intuitive sense, which is why it was quickly picked up and circulated among the intelligentsia of his day.

as is often the case, the theory’s simplicity is also its downfall. history has shown that the growth rates of localized populations tend slow as their affluence rises (and that rising affluence is a natural result of a growing population). advances in agricultural and transportation technology are also unaccounted for in his model.

but these concerns have not rendered the malthusian growth model completely irrelevant. ’sustainability’ is a buzzword that even shows up in vogue magazine these days, and concerns surrounding peak oil and the rapid development in china and india have revived malthus’ concern about population growth outstripping natural resources.

what do you think? could humankind outstrip the earth’s resources? can technology be relied upon to close the (potential) gap? is there anything that malthus’ argument has to say to us today?

for further study, see GEO130: Natural Resources and Population at UC Berkeley, i think around lectures 5-7.

and here it is: learning new things is what makes me tick.

i love learning stuff. it doesn’t have to be relevant. it doesn’t have to apply. i don’t even have to be that interested in the subject, as long as i’m learning something new, and not spending too much energy to learn it. (example: for the past several weeks, i’ve been listening to a lecture series by a berkeley geography professor. many of his lectures have dealt with the native grasses of the mid-western united states, the towing capacity of large mammals, and the wind patterns of the great plains.)

so, here’s the deal: i’m going to start posting the new things that i learn on this site. they will not be packaged up in a nice structured way. they will not (necessarily) argue a point. they will not be stellar pieces of writing. they might be things you already know. they will likely be random. but they will be interesting — to me. and maybe to you.

take a look at step 23.

(special thanks to Kevan (soon to be found at http://wa.llicio.us) for pointing this out.)

in case you don’t know what all the fuss is about with beryl, check out this and all the other videos on youtube of people’s beryl-enabled desktops. it makes the windows vista eye candy look like a lump of coal.

1986: de Jesus founds Growing in Grace ministries in Miami, preaching that he is the bearer of a new covenant with God, under which there is no concept of sin, satan, or need for salvation. he rapidly attracts followers.

1998: de Jesus claims to be the apostle Paul reincarnated.

2005: the Paul thing had run its course; it is time to up the ante. de Jesus claims to be Jesus Christ himself. he says that one night in 1973 Jesus of Nazareth appeared to him, proclaimed His second coming, and “integrated with him”. this claim works fairly well, but confuses some, so…

2007, just a few weeks ago: de Jesus claims to be the Antichrist, revealing a “666″ tatoo on his forearm. his explanation: that, since he is the second coming of Christ, he rejects the continued worship of Jesus of Nazareth.

see also recent coverage on nbc, cbs, fox, cnn, and others listed on his completely outrageous website.

mono: one more step and you die

mono: walking cloud and deep red sky, flag fluttered and the sun shined

mono: under the pipal tree

the album leaf: seal beach

the album leaf: in a safe place

the album leaf: one day i’ll be on time

hammock: raising your voice… trying to stop an echo

explosions in the sky: the earth is not a cold dead place

explosions in the sky: how strange, innocence

explosions in the sky: those who tell the truth shall die, those who tell the truth shall live forever