Again, I thank you for helping Pett to get her words out to the world.

First and foremost, science is not fact. Its theory, meaning is vulnerable to change. Hence Einstein’s theory (not fact) of relativity for instance, which is seriously being challenged by the unfathomable movements of celestial bodies being discovered of late via the Hubble telescope.

Secondly, its not rocket science seeing the connection between world population and global warming. THe more people, the greater the impact.

Mat, perhaps you should read her book on the subject first, before passing judgment.

B

Nice meeting you… virtually! We seem to have a great conversation going here. I’m grateful for your questions. I’m sure you are not the only one who´s asking them.

Yes, natural contraception works! I wrote a book called “How to Avoid Unplanned Pregnancy Every Time You Have Sex – WITHOUT Contraceptive Drugs” a few years after the traumatic abortion of a friend of mine. She wanted to know how come I never get pregnant, always in a relationship, never taking contraceptive drugs.

I told her about a book I read when I was 16 that thought me how, when and what to do to avoid the problem. For years I could figure out how people get unwillingly pregnant. My friend said that I should write a book and let people know what I know, but that didn’t sound like me at the time… (By the way every doctor I spoke to so far said that they are aware of the methods I publish, but for the nature of their job they are not the ones to promote NATURAL methods.)

Life is too short to waste on promoting something that is not worth. I haven’t originated any of the knowledge I advocate. I have researched and practiced it long before I’ve been given the idea to write about it… I started to run an awareness campaign on MySpace in response to UK Health Minister´s decision to introduce contraceptive drugs for FREE to still developing under 16-years old children. (Read about their side-effects and what they can do to a young organism in my latest Press Release under the Blog entry called “Media Kit” on http://www.myspace.com/virtualgigs. Again you´ll find more links to specialists’ publications that my creativity.) A couple of months after that I was made aware of the devastating effect overpopulation have on our planet – I felt even stronger about promoting what I learnt back then – in my teens.

Please visit as well http://www.myspace.com/pettcorby to witness the support the campaign receives. You´ll also find what readers say about the book on both sites.

Sorry, can´t comment on the African women´s habits. I haven´t spoken to a single one of them…

Matt, many thanks for taking the time to write!

Thanks for your considered response. When you say “natural contraception helps”, do you have evidence of this?

For the record, I don’t mean to be obstructive and although I am not convinced it can help reduce global population, I’m sure your approach helps individuals and wish you luck.

There are some very big issues at stake and whether contraception is good or bad is irrelevant, IMO. For example in Africa, women tend not to care about HIV/AIDS because that is a 5-10 year problem; they are all too aware they may be dead in less than 2.

Regards,
Matt

Ignorance is indeed the root of all evil whether we talk about climate change, controlling ones reproductive cycle ´naturally´ or anything else. But what is more dangerous than that is to know what to do and not doing it. Like they say, “Knowledge is not power, APPLY it is!”

Increase of population is ONE of the causes of climate change. I was totally ignorant about this fact only four months ago, but I didn’t come to the conclusion on my won. I researched the words of Richard Heinberg, author of “The Party is Over – Oil, War and the Industrial Societies”, interviewed in Leonardo di Caprio´s documentary, “The 11th Hour” who says, “The real problem is that there are too many of us – using too many resources – too fast.” Then there´s the CNN news reporter Anderson Cooper who produced a documentary film called “Planet in Peril” in 2007. He talks about the role overpopulation has on our planet. “Overpopulation could be people, planet problem” http://edition.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2008/planet.in.peril/

I agree that “science is fact”. We should also remember that facts are subject to change.

I´d like to quote a part of the previous comment here, “It’s a bitter pill to swallow but I’m sorry, banging on about natural contraception will not help them. “Stop it, husband, Pett tells me that if you rape me at this time of the month I might get pregnant”.”

Natural contraception helps!! A Chinese proverb says “The person who says a thing cannot be done should get out of the way of the person doing it.”

The knowledge about avoiding unplanned pregnancy ´naturally´ was known to our parents and grandparents. Those times – 48 years ago – contraception pills were not known. We have gone a long way away from the “natural” – we are hardly aware of it. Witnessing dramatic increase of population only calls for looking into the old knowledge and “bang” it enough to make people aware that they CAN SUCCESSFULLY control their reproductive cycle… even if they live in the poorest countries. Some of the methods I publish should have been of great use to exactly those – raped by their husbands’ women.”

First, population and fertility rates have little or no effect on the climate. Just look at population, fertility and GHG emission data in the global south. (I await the comment telling me to look at the graph of population and CO2 concentrations since the Ind Rev. I have done. All I’ll say is, to quote Poincare, “Science is facts; just as houses are made of stones, so is science made of facts; but a pile of stones is not a house and a collection of facts is not necessarily science.”)

Second, one of the main causes of high fertility rates in the global south is because, to use a phrase from Amartya Sen, women are “shackled to a lifetime time of child rearing”.

Third, history shows that [broadly speaking] Malthus was wrong, and the Marquis de Condorcet was right.

Population increases are so high because in many LDCs it is almost part of the culture for men to rape women from an early age. Repeatedly. It’s a bitter pill to swallow but I’m sorry, banging on about natural contraception will not help them. “Stop it, husband, Pett tells me that if you rape me at this time of the month I might get pregnant”.

Proven ways to reduce fertility rates and decrease child mortality rates are to imrpove women’s agency.

I quote: “Empirical work has in recent years brought out very clearly how the relative respect and regard for women’s well-being is strongly influenced by such variables as women’s ability to earn an independent income, to find employment outside the home, to have ownership rights and to have literacy and to be educated participants within and outside the family”.

This is such an important subject, to ignore these ideas does not do the subject justice.