Sir David Attenborough: “It is irresponsible to have large families in this day and age”

Sir David Attenborough has predicted that the world faces a less happy and healthy way of life if people continue to have large families.

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by Closer staff |
Published on

Speaking ahead of his new documentary, he said that he is not optimistic for the future and believes things are only going to get worse.

“If you were able to persuade people it is irresponsible to have large families in this day and age, and if material wealth and material conditions are such that people value their material life and don’t suffer as a consequence, then that’s all to the good.

“I think that in another 100 years people will look back at a world that was less crowded, full of natural wonders and healthier.”

Crowds in London
Crowds in London

The broadcaster even suggested he agreed with China’s one-child policy. Couples in China are restricted to having only one child.

Sir David, 87, said: “It’s the degree to which it has been enforced which is terrible, and there’s no question it’s produced all kinds of personal tragedies. There’s no question about that.

“On the other hand, the Chinese themselves recognize that had they not done so there would be several million more mouths in the world than there are now.”

But Sir David doesn’t think that the increasingly overcrowded world will lead to the extinction of humans.

“We are very clever and extremely resourceful, and we will find ways of preserving ourselves, of that I’m very sure.”

He believes that we are now so advanced that we have stopped evolving, saying: “We stopped natural selection as soon as we started being able to rear 95-99 per cent of our babies.”

And he also revealed that he has no plans to retire anytime soon, despite being fitted with a pacemaker in June due to heart problems.

“I don’t ever want to stop work. Sure, something’s going to wear out some time and I won’t be able to do it, but while I can- and people want me to, and people look at the result- I’m delighted to work.”

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