Society & Science: Doomsday Criticality for the Global Society

The paper discusses global population changes from the beginning of the Anthropocene onset till 2024, based on the ‘tools’ and model concepts of Soft Matter dynamics. The ‘bottom-up’ approach, focused on the population data themselves and the distortion- sensitive validation of portrayal via a given scaling relation, is applied. Two exponential Super-Malthusian dependences are considered, namely (i) the empowered exponential one, and (ii) containing the time-dependent relaxation time. The latter follows the dominant linear pattern in the Industrial Revolution times, leading to ‘constrained and frustrated’ – type critical scaling for the global population growth. Finally, the evolution of the relative growth rate versus the population itself is considered. The link to the empowered exponential behavior is indicated. This contribution presents a new cognitive path for studying global population growth, exploring the Soft Matter dynamics approach. It offers a reliable fundamental base of derived scaling equations, including the meaning of relevant parameters. Studies revealed the non-monotonic nature of global population growth, where temporal local events can significantly influence leading trends. For Industrial Revolutions, the essential meaning of technological innovation in feedback alliance with socio-economic innovatively re-shaping surrounding is noted.