>>214569075
No, we agree on your second paragraph. What we want to do is to preserve knowledge while at the same time drawing down the population as I dream, so that most everyone left over can then enjoy a first world standard of living. It'll never happen, because the mass of humanity would despair at the grinding knowledge that their numbers are implacably being driven down where they need to be. Then nobody will care much about reproducing useful knowledge (medicine, HVAC, history, trades, and yes, certain of the arts, which make life worth living).
I think about the best that you could do if you were a living god and could really force humanity's hand on this matter (as I obviously fantasize about, and really would like to do), is to allow couples two kids tops, that's it. Or certainly at least one. That way parents have something to live for and society keeps churning along. Then you direct knowledge preservation (education, library science) to occur continuously in the more useful domains of human activity. Of course, none of this will ever happen, but it's nice to think ideally about what could be done with a competent administrator who answers to no one and can't be got rid of.