Vested interests do not favour population growth because this will mean sharing mundane property at the cost of their hoarding. Capitalism would like the extinction of the intellectual class as this would give it free scope for exploitation. The intellectual class usually belongs to the middle income group. Capitalists encourage family planning and birth control to check the growth of this middle class, thus these measures are a creation of the capitalist order.
Due to age-old superstitions the common people does not take help of these measures. It is the middle class intellectuals who adopt these practices and become the victims of them. A Proutistic order would vehemently oppose this move. There is immense potential for maintaining the population of the world. By scientific advancement it may be possible for human beings to live on tablets. The real glory of humanity lies in creating conditions for adjustment with natural processes rather than in curbing normal processes by artificial measures.
Artificial sterilization means making males or females artificially sterile. This has certain adverse effects on the mind and body of human beings. Sterilization brings glandular changes and changes in the hormone secretion of the glands which ultimately affects mental expression. Due to these changes a man may become like a eunuch. According to PROUT only severely handicapped people and born criminals should be sterilized.
A day is sure to come when human beings will make test-tube babes in laboratories. When this practice is widespread nature will snatch away the reproductive or genetory power from men and women, in the same way as physical changes have evolved in human beings from the original form of Australopithecus. It is interesting to discuss the coming days of human civilization when the reproductive powers of humanity will be seized and babies will be produced in laboratories.
It is a general instinct in human beings to create something. Inspired by this instinct, people create new things, make new inventions and undertake research. It is out of this creative urge that human beings produce children. This creative urge, when utilized for realizing the Macrocosm or the Cosmic Mind within the self, is called prema or love. This realization is achieved through spiritual practice or sa'dhana' [psycho-spiritual practice]. Otherwise the creative instinct is called ka'ma or sexual impulse. An important fraction of this creative urge is wasted in producing children. When laboratory babes are produced and the reproductive power of human beings is snatched away by Prakrti, the surplus creative urge can be diverted to the creation of good things, resulting in better discoveries, better inventions and better pursuits of life. This aspect of utilization has never been conceived of before. Never before has anyone thought of the enormous all-round potentiality of human beings. PROUT is therefore a new theory.
There will be two kinds of laboratory babes - mechanical and biological. Mechanical babes will be like dolls operated by electric power. The different organs of these babes can be put into action by different substations. These substations may be located within the body. These babes will have no sex difference or nervous system. Being bereft of a nervous system they will not be able to do sa'dhana' [psycho-spiritual practice], and they will not experience pain and pleasure. Nor will they be able to reproduce. They will serve human beings as silent and obedient servants according to the directions of their masters.
Compared to mechanical babes, biological babes will be perfect. Ova and spermatozoa, both being chemical compounds, can be created in a laboratory. Embryos, created by the fusion of spermatozoa and ova, can also be developed in a laboratory. Babes created by such a method will be called biological babes. The entire body, including the brain, can be created, but it is beyond the scope of human endeavour to create mind. As in the natural evolution of human beings, nature will put a bodiless mind into the embryo of the laboratory babes. This explains why a laboratory babe will not be free from sam'ska'ras or the reactions to past actions. With the development of medical science, laboratory babes can be given a long life in comparison to normal human beings. It may be possible for future humans to disconnect their limbs and move anywhere freely with their brain only. The different parts of the body of a biological babe can be replaced, but the brain cannot be replaced, for it is a brain with a particular set of sam'ska'ras [reactive momenta], and hence replacement of the brain would mean replacement of the personality. The brain is a collection of nerve cells, the totality of which is the personality. It is not possible to change the brain without changing the nerve cells and consequently the personality.
With the advent of biological babes, Prakrti [Creative principle of the Supreme Creator] will snatch away the reproductive power of human beings and hence they will not be able to reproduce. Instead, they will simply create more laboratory babes. Biological babes will not have much attachment, though they will be subject to pleasure and pain. They will not be required to undergo much physical struggle because through scientific inventions a tablet may be sufficient to sustain them for days together. They will be bereft of family ties, as laboratory babes will be produced in laboratories from chemical compounds. They will gradually develop a tendency of aversion to worldly enjoyment. It is not difficult to envisage a day when laboratory babes may think that nature has lost all its charm, that life is not worth living, and that there is even no use in eating. It is better we do not think further on this. However, it should not be lost sight of that laboratory babes will be great sa'dhakas or spiritual aspirants, as they will be more conscious of their imperfections. Hence, the more leisure time they have the more sa'dhana' [psycho-spiritual practice] they will do.
The population of the world is rapidly increasing. Naturally, many people have become extremely alarmed about this. In capitalist countries there are sufficient reasons for such alarm, because in these countries the increasing population means greater poverty for the people.
In a collective economic system, however, there is no reason for such alarm. In the event of shortages in the food and accommodation of an entire population, people, through their collective efforts, will convert uncultivated regions into new cornfields [arable land], increase the productivity of the soil by applying scientific methods, and produce human food from the earth, water and air by chemical processes. If the earth becomes depleted of resources, the people of the world will rush to other planets and satellites in search of new land.
In capitalist countries, if people adopt birth control methods to avoid financial hardship in their families, there is nothing to be said against them. However, using birth control methods which deform the bodies of men and women or which destroy their reproductive capacity forever, cannot be supported, because in such cases a severe mental reaction may appear in them at any moment. (21 August 1958 RU, Trimohan, “Problems of the Day”)
Science is moving fast -- it is moving ahead and it will continue to move ahead. Nobody can check the advancement of science by criticizing it. Those who try to make such attempts will themselves lag behind -- they will be rejected by the modern world.
Human beings will definitely be able to increase human longevity by scientific techniques. In certain special cases they will even be able to restore life to dead bodies. The endeavour to expedite the advent of that auspicious day of science is certainly an important part of social service.
One day human beings will also learn how to produce human babes in science laboratories. Perhaps then it will be possible for human beings to place an order for their children and to get children according to their choice. Why should these laboratory babes lag behind modern humans with respect to intellectual and spiritual wealth! Those opposed to science today challenge, "Let human beings demonstrate that they can produce living entities!" By producing laboratory babes, the human beings of the future will give a befitting reply to this challenge.
The development of intuition will make human beings more spiritually inclined. What Sagun'a Brahma [the Qualified Supreme Entity] is directly doing today will be done increasingly by the human beings of tomorrow. In that age the reproductive capacity of the human body will gradually cease to exist. (21 August 1958 RU, Trimohan, Problems of the Day)
Good varieties of seed, fertile land, adequate nourishment, light, air and water are all essential for good reproduction in both the plant and animal kingdoms. In this respect human beings are no different from other creatures. In human society the selection of suitable males and females is desirable for reproduction of a high order. Until human beings are produced in scientific laboratories it will be detrimental to society if this matter is neglected.
If people of sublime intelligence and brilliance reproduce more offspring, it will be very beneficial for society. The responsibility for nurturing and bringing up these children will have to be taken by society or the government. Similarly, it will be harmful for society if mentally deficient, naturally delinquent or insane persons produce many children. In fact, society will be benefited by the permanent destruction of their reproductive capacity, providing this does not cause any harmful reaction. [1981, Calcutta, from "Population Growth and Control" - Prout in a Nutshell Part 13]
