If Enlil Were Running a 21st‑Century Extinction Protocol, What Actual Levers Would He Pull
Macro picture: the growth engine is stalling Global fertility is collapsing. The global fertility rate has fallen from about 5 children per woman in 1950 to around 2.2 today and is projected to drop below the replacement level of 2.1 around mid‑century. That implies eventual global population contraction after a brief peak around 10.3 billion in the 2080s. Most countries will be below replacement. Recent large‑scale demographic work projects that by 2100, the vast majority of countries—on the order of 90%+—will be below replacement fertility, with many already there now (Europe, East Asia, Russia, much of the Americas). UK‑style inflection points. A country like the UK seeing its first population fall in ~50 years is not an isolated glitch; it’s an early visible crack in a wider pattern of aging, low‑fertility societies where deaths begin to exceed births and migration becomes the only growth valve. Biological front: fertility and sperm Male factor: sperm collapse....