Dr. "Doom" Pianka Speaks
By Rick Pearcey
April 6, 2006: Relying on a transcript from audio recorded during Dr. Eric Pianka's presentation at the 109th meeting of the Texas Academy of Science March 2-4, The Pearcey Report has first-hand documentation on what the controversial ecologist said regarding a number of issues, including taxes, children, forced sterilization, overpopulation, economic growth, and more.
News of Dr. Pianka's views broke when scientist and author Forrest Mims published a March 31 article in The Citizen Scientist. In that article Mims said, "I watched in amazement as a few hundred members of the Texas Academy of Science rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation to a speech that enthusiastically advocated the elimination of 90 percent of Earth's population by airborne Ebola."
On March 31, Dr. Pianka spoke to students and parents at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas. "A University of Texas professor says the Earth would be better off with 90 percent of the human population dead," is how the Gazette-Enterprise led its coverage of the talk. [Editor's Note: The Pearcey Report noticed April 8, 2006, that the Gazette-Enterprise story no longer appears on the newspaper's website. Update: As of April 10, the link is reestablished.]
"Every one of you who gets to survive has to bury nine," the professor is quoted as saying. According to reporter Jamie Mobley, "Pianka's words are part of what he calls his 'doomsday talk' -- a 45-minute presentation outlining humanity's ecological misdeeds and Pianka's predictions about how nature, or perhaps humans themselves, will exterminate all but a fraction of civilization."
Mobley reports that, "though his statements are admittedly bold, he's not without abundant advocates. But what may set this revered biologist apart from other doomsday soothsayers is this: Humanity's collapse is a notion he embraces."
This is not new intellectual territory for the professor. A Fall 2004 student evaluation from the University of Texas says, "Though I agree that convervation [sic] biology is of utmost importance to the world, I do not think that preaching that 90% of the human population should die of ebola is the most effective means of encouraging conservation awareness."
Another student comment from Fall 2004 says, "I don't root for ebola, but maybe a ban on having more than one child. I agree . . . too many people ruining this planet."
That student may not be rooting for Ebola, but as Jamie Mobley reports, Dr. Pianka has supporters. One of them attended Dr. Pianka's Texas Academy of Science lecture and posted these comments online afterward: "Dr. Pianka's talk at the TAS meeting was mostly of the problems humans are causing as we rapidly proliferate around the globe. While what he had to say is way too vast to remember it all, moreover to relay it here in this blog, the bulk of his talk was that he's waiting for the virus that will eventually arise and kill off 90% of human population. In fact, his hope, if you can call it that, is that the ebola virus which attacks humans currently (but only through blood transmission) will mutate with the ebola virus that attacks monkeys airborne to create an airborne ebola virus that attacks humans. He's a radical thinker, that one! I mean, he's basically advocating for the death of all but 10% of the current population! And at the risk of sounding just as radical, I think he's right."
We now turn to the transcript, based on audio from Dr. Pianka's academy speech in March. That such an audio-based document exists at all may be an intriguing part of this story since, according to published reports, an effort apparently was made to ensure that Dr. Pianka's speech was not recorded by video or audio.
TO READ MORE OF
DR. PIANKA'S TRANSCRIPT
CLICK HERE
By Rick Pearcey
April 6, 2006: Relying on a transcript from audio recorded during Dr. Eric Pianka's presentation at the 109th meeting of the Texas Academy of Science March 2-4, The Pearcey Report has first-hand documentation on what the controversial ecologist said regarding a number of issues, including taxes, children, forced sterilization, overpopulation, economic growth, and more.
News of Dr. Pianka's views broke when scientist and author Forrest Mims published a March 31 article in The Citizen Scientist. In that article Mims said, "I watched in amazement as a few hundred members of the Texas Academy of Science rose to their feet and gave a standing ovation to a speech that enthusiastically advocated the elimination of 90 percent of Earth's population by airborne Ebola."
On March 31, Dr. Pianka spoke to students and parents at St. Edwards University in Austin, Texas. "A University of Texas professor says the Earth would be better off with 90 percent of the human population dead," is how the Gazette-Enterprise led its coverage of the talk. [Editor's Note: The Pearcey Report noticed April 8, 2006, that the Gazette-Enterprise story no longer appears on the newspaper's website. Update: As of April 10, the link is reestablished.]
"Every one of you who gets to survive has to bury nine," the professor is quoted as saying. According to reporter Jamie Mobley, "Pianka's words are part of what he calls his 'doomsday talk' -- a 45-minute presentation outlining humanity's ecological misdeeds and Pianka's predictions about how nature, or perhaps humans themselves, will exterminate all but a fraction of civilization."
Mobley reports that, "though his statements are admittedly bold, he's not without abundant advocates. But what may set this revered biologist apart from other doomsday soothsayers is this: Humanity's collapse is a notion he embraces."
This is not new intellectual territory for the professor. A Fall 2004 student evaluation from the University of Texas says, "Though I agree that convervation [sic] biology is of utmost importance to the world, I do not think that preaching that 90% of the human population should die of ebola is the most effective means of encouraging conservation awareness."
Another student comment from Fall 2004 says, "I don't root for ebola, but maybe a ban on having more than one child. I agree . . . too many people ruining this planet."
That student may not be rooting for Ebola, but as Jamie Mobley reports, Dr. Pianka has supporters. One of them attended Dr. Pianka's Texas Academy of Science lecture and posted these comments online afterward: "Dr. Pianka's talk at the TAS meeting was mostly of the problems humans are causing as we rapidly proliferate around the globe. While what he had to say is way too vast to remember it all, moreover to relay it here in this blog, the bulk of his talk was that he's waiting for the virus that will eventually arise and kill off 90% of human population. In fact, his hope, if you can call it that, is that the ebola virus which attacks humans currently (but only through blood transmission) will mutate with the ebola virus that attacks monkeys airborne to create an airborne ebola virus that attacks humans. He's a radical thinker, that one! I mean, he's basically advocating for the death of all but 10% of the current population! And at the risk of sounding just as radical, I think he's right."
We now turn to the transcript, based on audio from Dr. Pianka's academy speech in March. That such an audio-based document exists at all may be an intriguing part of this story since, according to published reports, an effort apparently was made to ensure that Dr. Pianka's speech was not recorded by video or audio.
TO READ MORE OF
DR. PIANKA'S TRANSCRIPT
CLICK HERE