Posted by pseudoname on May 29, 2006, at 10:28:19
In reply to more people alive today than have ever died--ever!, posted by saturn on May 28, 2006, at 10:46:40
Hi, saturn!
Maybe I misunderstand what you were saying. The population of living humans on the planet right now is greater than it has ever been before. And it's rapidly increasing. And I can't get my mind around it.
But the total number of human beings who have ever lived and are now dead is far greater. According to the Population Reference Bureau, there are at least 20 times more people in the earth than on it, so to speak. A lower estimate is that about 100 billion people have already passed on.
The figures take some guesswork and line-drawing, but there can't be any question about which category is greater in number, even if we only begin counting at about the time of Christ. There's an interesting essay about how to "guesstimate" such figures here: http://www.prb.org/Template.cfm?Section=PRB&template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=7421
poster:pseudoname
thread:649672
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20060527/msgs/650062.html