Elon Musk: The Prosperity Trap and Civilization’s Collapse

Elon Musk: Most civilizations collapsed because of low birth rates.

“What ended most civilizations was a low birth rate. An extended period of prosperity seems to cause birth rates to plummet. It's somewhat counterintuitive. When a society is under stress, birth rates increase.

If you look at ancient Rome, the birth rates were super high when they were fighting the Carthaginians, and Rome's very life was at stake, birth rates were all-time high.

After they defeated Carthage and ruled the Mediterranean, the birth rates plummeted to such a degree that Julius Caesar even tried to pass laws in 50 BC or something like that to give an incentive for any Roman citizen that would have a second or third child.

So, they were having birth rate issues in 50 BC, which is pretty wild.

That was also true of basically every civilization throughout history. How do you avoid this birth rate collapse, the prosperity trap?

I don't have a great answer for that. Except, I think we can at least bring it to conscious awareness that we need to continue as a civilization. No humans, no humanity.”

Philadelphia, October 18, 2024