Malthus argued that the population grows in a ________ progression, while agricultural production/food supply grows in a ________ progression.
From the following options, choose the correct answer to fill in the blanks :

Thomas Robert Malthus, in his 1798 work An Essay on the Principle of Population, theorized that human population grows in a geometric progression (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, 16...), doubling at regular intervals if unchecked. Conversely, he argued that the food supply increases only in an arithmetic progression (e.g., 1, 2, 3, 4, 5...) because the amount of land is finite and subject to the law of diminishing returns.

Malthus predicted that this divergence would eventually lead to a "Malthusian catastrophe" where the population exceeds the carrying capacity of the land, resulting in famine, disease, or conflict (positive checks) unless population growth is limited by moral restraint or delayed marriage (preventive checks). While modern mathematics often uses the terms "exponential" and "linear," Malthus specifically used the terms "geometrical" and "arithmetical" ratios.