[zeidrich]

It's interesting though because this is not a technical problem. A cremated body's ashes don't take up much space, and don't need to be housed in an urn.

It's entirely a cultural issue, in that we have special feelings about death and the treatment of a body after death. But thing about culture is that it's really flexible, but really resistant to change.

It's never going to be a problem that can't be solved. People are resilient and eventually if cemetery space does become completely unavailable, we'll make due. But it doesn't mean we won't be upset while we learn to cope.

It's more that it's a problem that we don't want to solve (because it would mean changing our cultural habits) but not a problem that is hard to solve. It just needs to get to a point where we actually need to solve it before anyone will worry about it.

[drjesusphd]

I view the regulation argument against nuclear power similarly (i.e. that it's too expensive and time-consuming to get a nuclear plant licensed). Once energy becomes more scarce and/or the externalities of fossil fuels are priced in, this is a problem that will solve itself when needed.