The hope is that in sharing accessible stories relating to data and tech developments (in an increasingly data-centric era) — non-technical readers may gain insights that keep them aware of changes and trends, and people more familiar with the theme may come across pockets of inspiration.Anyway, onward with world population.While it’s true that the world population has experienced explosive growth, it’s important to crunch the numbers and find where this growth is coming from..Looking at a chart of the world population, it would be easy to get the impression that it’s growing exponentially, but to understand why it helps to have some historical context.When looking at a population graph — they tend to begin from a relatively recent year, giving the viewer the impression that the population has always been multiplying..This meant people had a more predictable food supply, and in turn larger families (the more kids the more help you had), and hence, population growth.The effect of this goes beyond having a more predictable food supply, farming means you stay on the same plot of land, and this together with growth in the number of people begins to form a village..Yes, the population is growing fast, and yes it still has some growing to do, but it’s already shown signs of stabilising.When looking at the UN’s data on world population, you’ll find that the number of children in the world has already stopped growing..A stabilising world population is only an example of an important trend to know, whether you’re a CEO, government official or ordinary citizen — not because we can act on that information now, but because it may be relevant to a decision we make in the future.In the past, drastic decisions have been made against population growth that resulted in the horrifying suffering of millions of people – China’s one-child policy is the most infamous of these decisions..The red line in the graph below illustrates China’s fertility (child-per-woman) rate from 1950 to 2015 — it’s evident that while it can be claimed the one-child policy accomplished what it set out to – China’s neighbours achieved the same or similar results through far less drastic means, forcing us to ask the heart-wrenching question of whether the suffering endured by millions was completely avoidable.In a world so connected and interdependent, it’s critical to have global awareness and understand the impact of your own decisions as well as that of your governments — who your voting choices elect.A little more conversation, a little more data please.. More details