This came off of a thread concerning GMOs and the fact that they stand as a massively important tool for tackling food and resources issues around the world.
It is instructive to compare the Green Revolution of the mid-20th century to what is on the horizon now with respect to GMOs. The world was on the verge of mass starvation because of population growth and the flattening of agricultural output (Malthus, anyone?) Technology saved the day for a billion or more people (although with unintended consequences that have created new threats… a different issue). That technology has pretty much reached its limits, and we now have a choice. Starvation and resource wars, or new technological solutions which are going to depend upon genetic modification on a large scale.
It’s fairly stark, but spot on. There is an interesting aside concerning Malthus to be had. Malthus was partly proven wrong in his doom and gloom predictions of population issues and the end of the world as we know it because he underestimated the power and effect of technology.
However, if technology is used to stave off a rising trend in something, but it does not stop the trend, merely flattening the gradient of that curve, then that problem will be reached eventually, ceteris paribus. Unless that curve is flattened completely (such as a proper population stasis), all you are doing is putting off until tomorrow what would have otherwise happened today.