The Tragedy of Paul Ehrlich

I was deeply conflicted when I recently heard about Paul Ehrlich’s passing at the age of 93. Every death is a tragedy, and Ehrlich’s death seemed especially so because Ehrlich has the distinction of having been completely and yet somehow unrepentantly and invulnerably wrong about human potential and the folly–he thought it wisdom–of population control measures. Ehrlich’s memory will serve not as a tribute to someone who made important scientific breakthroughs that helped us better understand the world, but as a cautionary tale about arrogance, error, and hubris.