Human Ingenuity

One story in our local newspaper reported on an invention that harnesses energy from cow manure. Another story reported on an invention that creates ethanol (and purified drinking water) from cheese byproduct. These creative solutions to a perceived energy crisis fascinate me. To me, they prove that human ingenuity can lead us to new and exciting ways to work with Creation to meet our needs, as God intended when He made us co-creators with Him.

Population control advocates like the Zero Population Growth movement see human beings as consumers and polluters. Our faith and common human experience tell us that human beings are innovators and producers as well. If we want to solve the world's ills, we need more people engaged in innovations that contribute to authentic human development. Fewer people means fewer innovators like the ones showcased in our local paper. What's more, the purpose of human innovation is the service of human life. It is antithetical to think we can serve human life by limiting human life.

The problems that lead to poverty, environmental abuse, and other societal ills are problems of motivation. Modernist materialist culture is motivated almost exclusively by economic progress. Food production technology can easily keep up with population growth. Poverty and starvation are caused by poor food distribution. Human innovation could easily find alternate energy sources. Economic interests keep us from investing in them. Human sin is the root of the problem. The solution is an authentic vision of the human person, not limiting human population.