Do human populations *need* to grow? I realize there are “demographic problems” when a population falls below replacement rate. Is that because our economic system requires growth to continue or are there other reasons related to biology and genetics? Is there a world in which we have 8 billion people and that’s a stable number for decades or centuries?

(I’m sure someone has thought about this longer than the time it took me to drive to the donut shop. 😂)