"POPULATION IS GROWING" SAYING (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Stephen Goranson]

Mere guess: Arthur H. Cole of Harvard.

Stephen Goranson
http://www.duke.edu/~goranson

Quoting "Mullins, Bill AMRDEC" <Bill.Mullins at US.ARMY.MIL>:

> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> I see several undocumented attributions to Arthur C. Clarke; one to
> George Bernard Shaw.
>
> Also as "Wright's Axiom" ("The sum of the intelligence on the planet is
> a constant, but the population is growing." _Greatest Jokes of the
> Century Book 10_ by Thomas F. Shubnell, 2008, p. 105)
>
> and "Harvard's Second Law" ("The sum of intelligence on the planet is a
> constant; the population is growing." in _Peter's people_ By Laurence J.
> Peter, 1979 p. 194) (No results from searching Harvard Crimson Archives)
>
> Some variant is in _Murphy's Law and Other Reasons Why Things go Wrong_
> by Arthur Bloch, 1977 (partial preview from Google Books:  "Mr. Cole's
> Axiom:  The sum of the intelligence on the planet is . . .", p.84).
>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: American Dialect Society [mailto:ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU] On
>> Behalf Of Shapiro, Fred
>> Sent: Tuesday, August 18, 2009 7:27 AM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: "POPULATION IS GROWING" SAYING
>>
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
> ---------------
>> --------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       "Shapiro, Fred" <fred.shapiro at YALE.EDU>
>> Subject:      "POPULATION IS GROWING" SAYING
>>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------
>> --------
>>
>> I would welcome any help in tracing origins or early use of the
>> following saying:
>>
>> "The intelligence of the planet is constant, and the population is
>> growing."
>>
>> Fred Shapiro
>>
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
> Classification: UNCLASSIFIED
> Caveats: NONE
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------
> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org