Indiumas
Posts: 12
Joined: Aug. 2009
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If I may, I would like to comment a bit on the population dynamics issue discussed here. I have been discussing similar things with some local creationists here a few years ago.
Poplulation dynamics can be modelled with simple exponential growth only when the population is much smaller than the maximum value that can be sustained in a given environment. Once populations get closer to the maximum capacity the rate of change drops, eventually even to or below zero. This is also true for our times. See this report, for example.
Populations can be much better modelled using logistic functions with time varying capacities. Sometimes there might also be feedback loops between the number of people and the quality of the environment, or predator/prey relationships which further complicate matters. But the main point stands: For each environment and technological level there will be a maximum sustainable population.
Hunter and gatherer populations are estimated to have a maximum density of about 1-100/100km^2. Africa, for example, has an area of about 30 million km^2. Estimated historical populations are in good agreement with these numbers. Over long periods of time there was no possibility of exponential growth simply because the maximum carrying capacity was more or less reached. Only when humans invented a new technology that improved the maximum sustainable population (agricultuture, industrial revolution), there was/is a short period of exponential growth.
So, forastero, go away with your stupid exponential growth equations. As documented in this thread are not even able to handle the extremely simple mathematics behind them anyway.
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