Sorry for calling this good news but he was wrong about everything yet set global policy for decades. Plus today is the 6th annual “15 Days to Flatten the Curve Day”, commemorating the hoax put forth by Deborah Birx and Anthony Fauci in 2020.
Based on completely wrong theories, Ehrlich argued for policies that would kill off poor people. He was arrogant and wrong yet set public policy for decades after he wrote his Population Bomb book, a book that was out of date and wrong the day it was published.
He predicted global famine would kill off hundreds of millions. But data shows he was not a little wrong, he was off in space wrong. See the full thread for some of his wrong predictions:
In the 1970s, he did the talk show circuit and was a huge public figure. He ridiculed anyone who didn’t agree with him (the population denier equivalent of “climate denier”). The media talking heads elevated Ehrlich to prominence, as they themselves lacked any understanding of the issues and were unable to skeptically question him. Up through recent years he continued to argue that his 1968 predictions were correct, just early. Here we rare 55+ years later and still wrong.
The above is from his Appeal to Authority argument post: Paul R. Ehrlich on X: “60 Minutes extinction story has brought the usual right-wing out in force. If I’m always wrong so is science, since my work is always peer-reviewed, including the POPULATION BOMB and I’ve gotten virtually every scientific honor. Sure I’ve made some mistakes, but no basic ones” / X
The NY Times says his predictions were premature.
- Paul Ehrlich: ‘Collapse of civilisation is a near certainty within decades’ | Cities | The Guardian
- Paul Ehrlich, scientist who predicted a dire future for humanity in The Population Bomb – obituary
- Paul Ehrlich’s bad ideas won’t go away | The Spectator
- Still Wrong! New Year’s Paul Ehrlich Interview on CBS’s 60 Minutes – Human Progress
- Paul Ehrlich: Even Worse than the New York Times Says He Is
- Paul Ehrlich: A New Rant from an Unrepentant Secular Doomsday Prophet | American Council on Science and Health
- The Unrealized Horrors of Population Explosion – The New York Times (archive -> The Unrealized Horrors of Population Explosion – The New York Times)
His book was wrong the day it was published as fertility rates were already crashing.
His process – making wild apocalyptic predictions to create fear – became the blueprint for most public policy today. The primary purpose of most science seems to be to find something allegedly wrong with the world, make a scary pronouncement and instill fear – and demand government funding for more research.
He created a world where scientists think this makes sense: Scientists warn governments must bomb AI labs to prevent the end of the world | News Tech | Metro News (One of these scientists never attended high school or college and the other has a BS in computer science and economics.)
