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[CrapSandwich]

Bombastic title aside, I found an interesting piece (and book) on the how population density negatively affects our mental and physical health, authored by Dr. Gregg Miklashek. It's maybe a little too interestingly written and sounds slightly unabomber-ish in places (not a bad thing, IMO), but seems well researched and the theory and conclusions are of potentially extreme importance. Here's a short sample from the book that gives a glimpse of what's being discussed:

Instead of living in direct daily contact with an intact Nature, we experience an artificial, stressor-filled “built environment”. Further, triggering of COASTER (Chronic, Over-Active Stress Response) and population density stress is generated by: (1) human over-population, (2) dissolution of the clan social group, (3) excessive natural resource extraction, (4) over-lapping unstable status hierarchies, (5) COASTER and population density stress activated diseases and infertility, (6) increasing globalization ( aka joblessness in the “developed” world and low wage slavery in the “developing” nations ), (7) the myriad destructive environmental effects resulting from petrochemical use and dependence, (8) endless war driven by the ever greedy Military Industrial Complex, (9) the “sixth extinction” of our fellow species, and (10) climate change. Is this not a truly stressor filled artificial landscape we now find ourselves in?

He demonstrates how these factors impact our psychological and physical health in a multitude of destructive ways including depression, anxiety, lethargy due to adrenal exhaustion, and 10 deadly diseases of civilization.

Short read here:
https://mahb.stanford.edu/blog/population-density-stress-killing-us-now/

Long ass book as a free .pdf:
https://mahb.stanford.edu/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/StressRUs_2017_Miklashek-1.pdf

I'm still working through the book, but it's been quite an eye-opener so far.