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A professor Robert Malthus provided the theory of the principle of population. “If not controlled, the number of people will double itself each twenty-five years. The population grows geometrically, while means of sustain grows in an arithmetical ratio (Malthus, “Principle of Population”).” According to Malthus, the population of the Earth shall be controlled according to the means of production.
This theory was heavily criticized and rebutted. However, treating this argumentation as a mental experiment would be a more reasonable approach. It will be possible to analyze the principle of the population more constructively. Malthus himself claimed that such a vast amount of people that he imagined is hardly possible.
One of the main reasons why the population would not increase in such progression is the quality of life. The higher quality of life in a particular country, the fewer children families have. Modern leader-countries show the tendency toward small families with one or two children or even with no children at all. At the same time, developing countries still practice families with many children. The principle of the population may be rephrased in this way: “The more production means people have, the fewer children they will have.” Still, the principle of population is a valuable theoretical experiment, which shall be analyzed and reviewed.
Criticism is a crucial aspect of modern technological, artistic, and scientific discourses. New ideas appear with unprecedented speed and spread equally fast. However, it is hard to evaluate the benefits of the idea immediately. Therefore it needs to be criticized. However, pointing out the drawbacks of an idea or ridiculing its argumentation cannot be called criticism. Criticism is the proposition of the alternatives to the weak points of the idea. Another necessary component of good criticism is keeping the border between the conception that is criticized and the person who presented the idea. All of these aspects characterize healthy criticism.
However, there is such a phenomenon as unhealthy criticism too. As opposition to healthy criticism, this type of criticism serves no productive aim and only spoils the discussion of an idea. Still, unhealthy criticism is not a phenomenon that can disappear on its own. The key to constructive ideas discussion is the ability to work with criticism, differentiate healthy from unhealthy ones, and provide productive resolutions. Therefore, the ability to accept criticism has the same value as the ability to provide healthy criticism.
The definition of the respective subject is wide and can be perceived in different ways. In general, respect is the ability to accept other people as they are, without prejudices, to treat other people as equal human beings. Respect today may be compared with tolerance. Tolerance implies respect for other people’s borders and rights. However, respect itself is a flexible term that differs from country to country and from period to period.
For example, in the times of nobility, feudal lords, and their vassals, acts of violence might be shown as a demonstration of respect. In medieval Asian culture, ritualistic suicide might have been treated with respect as well. This is how the term ‘respect’ emerged within human society, its norms, and ideas that circulate within.
At the current moment, respect is a humane term, which implies peaceful and equal treatment of the people around. However, the term still may be used as a smokescreen for abusive relations or violent behavior. Therefore, it is important to realize the root of the conflict around respect, its conditions, and optimal ways of resolution.
