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Notes -
There is also the possibility of inorganic life forms, such as beings that exist as computational consciousness and need far fewer resources and space compared to flesh and blood humans. Probably the bigger concern is social programs being run dry and inflation as a result, than the constraints imposed by the physical limits of the universe
The reason I broke those categories out was that I believe the physical, practical and politically possible numbers are all wildly different.
There's a game-theoretical aspect here. Any group can boost its future influence by breeding faster (defection, essentially). Any group that is strong enough can gather more resources for its own population, denying them to others. The political limits will be hit first in this scenario. Look how we howl about five dollar-per-gallon gas, and imagine if we were being put on strict calorie restriction to conserve resources for poorer areas. Hell, if the "poorer areas" were the nearest major city you'd see civil unrest. When the Hutus find out they're getting restricted more than the Tutsis (or vice versa), how is that gonna play out?
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