Population, Sustainability, and Malthus: Crash Course World History 215

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Published 2014-11-07

In which John Green teaches you about population. So, how many people can reasonably live on the Earth? Thomas Malthus got it totally wrong in the 19th century, but for some reason, he keeps coming up when we talk about population. In 1800, the human population of the Earth passed 1 billion, and Thomas Malthus posited that growth had hit its ceiling, and the population would level off and stop growing. He was totally right. Just kidding, he was totally wrong! There are like 7 billion people on the planet now! John will teach a little about how Malthus made his calculations, and explain how Malthus came up with the wrong answer. As is often the case, it has to do with making projections based on faulty assumptions. Man, people do that a lot.

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All Comments (21)

@GarrettRobinson 9 years ago

I can't help but think of someone seeing crash course hundreds of years from now, seeing the Arnold Schwarzenegger bit, and frantically tearing through their history books to find out about the alien invasion their parents never told them about.
@Weedschool 8 years ago

We do actually produce about 11 billion people's worth of food, it's just that it's distributed very unevenly.
@macjackson2710 7 years ago

I don't know if anyone has recognized this, but John Green told his "younger self" that he wouldn't tell him who is eventual wife was. However, he told "younger john" about his wife in the other world history series. I don't remember exactly which episode, but I do remember him saying that.
@samanthaburns6956 8 years ago

"If I can't grow it, I won't eat it!" - John Green. The only natural deduction is that John Green has a Dorito tree thus explaining his obsession
@bsabruzzo 9 years ago

Note: when John says "theory", it means the opposite of when Hank says "theory". See, Hank used the word "theory" as in "science proved this is what happens" (see theory of gravity and theory of evolution). John uses "theory" to mean "untested guess that often proves false".
@SuperRichyrich11 7 years ago

The only thing that is infinite is human stupidity
@mikhailv67tv 7 years ago

So no wonder the Irish hate the English
@cigarchomper95 8 years ago

I have to say, this channel has been a godsend for me this university semester! so much more informative and interesting than reading through textbooks, and actually taught with humour and energy.
@KatieM-ss6qg 7 years ago

AP human geography sent me here
@parthdatar 9 years ago

Remember, history is not what has happened, but what has been written down.
@FullFatVideos 5 years ago

Thanos definitely watched this.
@JanHendrikOpperman 8 years ago

"Grades aren't a super accurate predictor of success in life."................THERE'S HOPE.
@buggy65x 9 years ago

As a math student I've been shown the Malthus Model many times since it's an easy ODE to solve. While it is inaccurate ("all models are wrong, some are useful"), it is not an unreasonable model for population growth of some species, like E coli in a Petri dish. It's interesting to learn the (depressing) repercussion of his work.
@IAmGeorgeLucas 5 years ago

Thanos has entered the chat
@dillonbeaudette5567 4 years ago

Who’s watching this in quarantine?
@radishraccoon3657 9 years ago

Really interesting video. I think as an addition it's worth noting that distribution of food is really a far greater problem currently than production of food (though much research is needed to continue to develop our ability to produce food). Also, the Irish potato famine has to be one of the most shameful moments of British history.
@tehmonkey100 9 years ago

This was one of my favorite Crash Course World History videos. Good job!
@janmarkiewicz6246 8 years ago

turned to beggary, theft and to London xD i'm dead
@dsettleascii 9 years ago

This comment section seems pretty down for genocide.......
@42ultra 9 years ago

I love the references packed into theses episodes. I am profoundly surprised by Louise Belcher appearing at 4:32