--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Now Karen wants a pill that will make the…" description: "\"“Now Karen wants a pill that will make the whole twenty-first century disappear - that will make this unavoidable future vanish. Dr Yamato said that ea..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/douglas-coupland-305_quote_now-karen-wants-a-pill-that-will-make-th_1974887.jpg" --- # Now Karen wants a pill that will make the whole… ![“Now Karen wants a pill that will make the whole twenty-first century disappear - that will make this unavoidable future vanish. Dr Yamato said that earth was not built for six billion people, all running around and being passionate about being alive. Earth was built for about two million people…” quote by Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/douglas-coupland-305_quote_now-karen-wants-a-pill-that-will-make-th_1974887.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/douglas-coupland-305_quote_now-karen-wants-a-pill-that-will-make-th_1974887.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/401/douglas-coupland-305_quote_now-karen-wants-a-pill-that-will-make-th_1974887.jpg) > ““Now Karen wants a pill that will make the whole twenty-first century disappear - that will make this unavoidable future vanish. Dr Yamato said that earth was not built for six billion people, all running around and being passionate about being alive. Earth was built for about two million people foraging for roots and grubs.”” [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Human overpopulation threatens Earth’s capacity, prompting a desire to erase modern burdens. **In simple terms:** Too many people strain Earth’s limits. Key Takeaway Consider sustainable living and population impacts. Themes overpopulation environment future technology Mood concerned hopeful Type environmental philosophical When to use this quote - Urban planning - policy making - personal consumption Key Concepts Ecology sustainability anthropocene Questions to Reflect On - What actions can reduce ecological footprints? - How can societies balance growth and sustainability? A Different Perspective Erasing the future is impossible; we must adapt instead. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet ## Related quotes > [Earth was not built for six billion people all running around and being passionate about things. The world was built for about two million…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/earth-was-not-built-for-six-billion-people-all-running-around-and/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“stone, and the rest of it is a mound of earth. It was built by traders, artisans, and prostitutes.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/stone-and-the-rest-of-it-is-a-mound-of-earth-it-was-built-by-traders/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You know how we built the pyramids? You gotta ask yourself a question always flip the script. What if up was down and down…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eddie-griffin/you-know-how-we-built-the-pyramids-you-gotta-ask-yourself-a-question/) [Eddie Griffin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eddie-griffin/) > [Earth was not built to serve the needs of humans.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tim-cope/earth-was-not-built-to-serve-the-needs-of-humans/) [Tim Cope](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tim-cope/) > [“Food for thought… It took the earths population thousands of years (from early dawn of mankind to early 1800) to reach 1 billion people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/food-for-thought-it-took-the-earths-population-thousands-of-years/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [The biggest threat, when it comes to climate change and pollution, isn't going to come from us because we only have 300 million people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/the-biggest-threat-when-it-comes-to-climate-change-and-pollution-isn/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [The world has 6 billion people and counting. We need to help 500 million people become better leaders so that billions can benefit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-p-kotter/the-world-has-6-billion-people-and-counting-we-need-to-help-500/) [John P. Kotter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-p-kotter/) > [We must think and act like a nation of a billion people and not like that of a million people. Dream, dream, dream!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/we-must-think-and-act-like-a-nation-of-a-billion-people-and-not-like/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [It's not about creating something that eight billion people would like. It's about creating something and being able to reach the maybe, like, one…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tomi-adeyemi/it-s-not-about-creating-something-that-eight-billion-people-would/) [Tomi Adeyemi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tomi-adeyemi/) > [“we are 140 million people, and there are two billion people living on earth.” However confident Americans might be that their views and ideas…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/kai-bird/we-are-140-million-people-and-there-are-two-billion-people-living-on/) Kai Bird > [Well it did not make excessive sense to say that 20 million people are the recognized government of a billion people that have their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/well-it-did-not-make-excessive-sense-to-say-that-20-million-people/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [Our saints had said that Earth existed 1.96 million years ago. Earlier, science did not accept this, but later, it had to.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rajnath-singh/our-saints-had-said-that-earth-existed-1-96-million-years-ago-earlier/) [Rajnath Singh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rajnath-singh/) > [Socrates said that, from above, the Earth looks like one of those twelve-patched leathern balls.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/plato/socrates-said-that-from-above-the-earth-looks-like-one-of-those/) [Plato](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/plato/) > [“She said we are all part of a secret club. Someday, she said, we will take over the earth. It will be people like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rene-denfeld/she-said-we-are-all-part-of-a-secret-club-someday-she-said-we-will/) [Rene Denfeld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rene-denfeld/) > [“There should be more to love," said the earth, "than 'it did not kill me.' More than 'I survived it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lisa-mantchev/there-should-be-more-to-love-said-the-earth-than-it-did-not-kill-me/) [Lisa Mantchev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lisa-mantchev/) ## More by Douglas Coupland > [And in your new lives you'll have to live entirely for that one sensation-that of imminent truth. And you're going to have to holler…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/and-in-your-new-lives-you-ll-have-to-live-entirely-for-that-one/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [A man in a bookstore buys a book on loneliness and every woman in the store hits on him. A woman buys a book…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/a-man-in-a-bookstore-buys-a-book-on-loneliness-and-every-woman-in-the/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [The future and eternity are two entirely different things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/the-future-and-eternity-are-two-entirely-different-things/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Do you remember how you felt at seventeen? I do and I don't (...) Imagine you came from outer space and someone showed you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/do-you-remember-how-you-felt-at-seventeen-i-do-and-i-don-t-imagine/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [You can't fake competence, creativity, or sexual arousal.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/you-can-t-fake-competence-creativity-or-sexual-arousal/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“But Dag, for all of his efforts, might as well have been talking to a cat. Our parents’ generation seems neither able nor interested…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/but-dag-for-all-of-his-efforts-might-as-well-have-been-talking-to-a/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Negative? Moi? I think realistic might be a better word. You mean to tell me we can drive all the way here from L.A.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/negative-moi-i-think-realistic-might-be-a-better-word-you-mean-to/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [It was pivotal in making you but you don't remember it. Or do you? Do we understand the events that make us who we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/it-was-pivotal-in-making-you-but-you-don-t-remember-it-or-do-you-do/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Your ability to rationalize your own bad deeds makes you believe that the whole world is as amoral as you are.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/your-ability-to-rationalize-your-own-bad-deeds-makes-you-believe-that/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“I like to go beach-combing, and I like to find interestingly shaped rocks. When I really get into the groove I start finding beautiful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/i-like-to-go-beach-combing-and-i-like-to-find-interestingly-shaped/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“You know, Dag and Claire smile a lot, as do many people I know. But I always wondered if there is something either mechanical…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/you-know-dag-and-claire-smile-a-lot-as-do-many-people-i-know-but-i/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [Brain research tells us that only twenty percent of human beings have a sense of irony, which means that eighty percent of the world…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/brain-research-tells-us-that-only-twenty-percent-of-human-beings-have/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [I keep vampire hours, going to bed at 2 A.M. and waking up at about 10:30-11 A.M.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/i-keep-vampire-hours-going-to-bed-at-2-a-m-and-waking-up-at-about-10/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [“Anna-Louise leans over and whispers in my ear. "This is so surreal," she says, "I think I'm turning into a melting clock.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/anna-louise-leans-over-and-whispers-in-my-ear-this-is-so-surreal-she/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) > [When you grow up these days, you're told you're going to have four or five different careers during your lifetime. But what they don't…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/douglas-coupland/when-you-grow-up-these-days-you-re-told-you-re-going-to-have-four-or/) [Douglas Coupland](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) [Explore all 704 Douglas Coupland quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/douglas-coupland/) ## More Million People quotes > [“He estimates the number of deaths worldwide as 100 million, a larger number than the conventional estimate of 20 to 40 million. But, he…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gina-kolata/he-estimates-the-number-of-deaths-worldwide-as-100-million-a-larger/) Gina Kolata > [When we look around the world today, when we see in Afghanistan that 10 million people have registered to vote in their upcoming elections,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laura-bush/when-we-look-around-the-world-today-when-we-see-in-afghanistan-that/) [Laura Bush](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laura-bush/) > [Build something 100 people love, not something 1 million people kind of like.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/brian-chesky/build-something-100-people-love-not-something-1-million-people-kind/) [Brian Chesky](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/brian-chesky/) > [Canada, by others in the global family, is, for some reason, taken seriously. They have about 30 million people. They have some natural resources.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tucker-carlson/canada-by-others-in-the-global-family-is-for-some-reason-taken/) [Tucker Carlson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tucker-carlson/) > [Be alone even when there's a million people around, because tomorrow it will be a different million people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/feist/be-alone-even-when-there-s-a-million-people-around-because-tomorrow/) [Feist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/feist/) > [In nature, if a cell gets too big, it divides. You can't come up with a set of rules that's going to work for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-soderbergh/in-nature-if-a-cell-gets-too-big-it-divides-you-can-t-come-up-with-a/) [Steven Soderbergh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-soderbergh/) > [“Yes, we want a Silicon Valley,” she said, “but do we really want three hundred million people who actually think for themselves?”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/warren-berger/yes-we-want-a-silicon-valley-she-said-but-do-we-really-want-three/) [Warren Berger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/warren-berger/) > [Today the United States has the highest prison population in the world, over 2.1 million people. ... We lock people up at a rate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/eve-ensler/today-the-united-states-has-the-highest-prison-population-in-the/) [Eve Ensler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/eve-ensler/) > [It takes more than a million people to complete the world, but it only takes you to complete mine.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dev/it-takes-more-than-a-million-people-to-complete-the-world-but-it-only/) [Dev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dev/) > [“Food for thought… It took the earths population thousands of years (from early dawn of mankind to early 1800) to reach 1 billion people.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-brown/food-for-thought-it-took-the-earths-population-thousands-of-years/) [Dan Brown](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-brown/) > [Between New York and LA, there's 200 million people that aren't hip, and they don't want to be hip.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jeff-foxworthy/between-new-york-and-la-there-s-200-million-people-that-aren-t-hip/) [Jeff Foxworthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jeff-foxworthy/) > [Well it did not make excessive sense to say that 20 million people are the recognized government of a billion people that have their…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-a-kissinger/well-it-did-not-make-excessive-sense-to-say-that-20-million-people/) [Henry A. Kissinger](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-a-kissinger/) > [There are so many different people in the world, but finding that one best friend you can see next to you in 20 years...…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/levita-charin/there-are-so-many-different-people-in-the-world-but-finding-that-one/) [Levita Charin](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/levita-charin/) > [Today, over one million people now make their living on eBay, which is astounding.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/niklas-zennstrom/today-over-one-million-people-now-make-their-living-on-ebay-which-is/) [Niklas Zennstrom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/niklas-zennstrom/) > [Seven million people I turned on, and only one hundred thousand have come by to thank me.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-leary/seven-million-people-i-turned-on-and-only-one-hundred-thousand-have/) [Timothy Leary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-leary/) Browse all 214 Million People quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Now Karen wants a pill that will make the whole twenty-first century disappear - that will make this unavoidable future vanish. 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