"The biggest risks to civilization are low birth rate and rapidly falling birth rate," the tycoon said while talking about the Tesla Bot, a humanoid robot that has "the potential to be a widespread substitute for human labor," during a CEO Council he kicked off on Monday, Dec. 6 in Washington.

 

Musk believes we need to have more children, otherwise civilization could collapse. 

 

"I think one of the biggest risks to civilization is the low birth rate and the rapidly declining birth rate. However, many, even intelligent people, believe that there are too many people in the world and that the population is growing out of control. It is completely the opposite. Please look at the numbers: if people don't have more children, civilization is going to collapse, mark my words," Musk emphasized. 

 

Elon Musk, 50, has six children from two marriages, and he also added in his speech that he tries to "lead by example."

The global birth rate has been falling steadily since 1960, according to data published by the World Bank. However, some regions of the planet are overpopulated due to inequality.

 

Between 1960 and today, life expectancy has increased from 52.5 years to 72.7 years. Also, the possibility of exceeding 65 years of age has increased from 43% to 73.8% in the case of men and from 52.7% to 81.5% in the case of women. In other words, although the birth rate has declined, we are living longer and longer.

 

On the subject of longevity, Musk believes that humanity should not try to live for very long periods of time. For the Tesla and SpaceX founder, it has to do with progress and the need for new ideas, new trends and profound changes.

 

"I think it's important for people to die, because most of the time, people don't change their minds. If they live forever, then we could become a static society where new ideas don't succeed," he explained.