10 Jun 06
Originally posted by bvbAll the dead ones.
We know how many people are alive on earth. I think it's a little over 6 billion. But how many people have died on earth? I imagaine it can be calculated somehow by going back 50,000 to 100,000 years and estimating the population at each time. Does anybody know?
11 Jun 06
Originally posted by bvbI seem to remember that in the time of Reagan as president of the US... that there were as many people alive on Earth now that ever lived on Earth at all. So what was the population in the 80's... and has anyone else heard this?
We know how many people are alive on earth. I think it's a little over 6 billion. But how many people have died on earth? I imagaine it can be calculated somehow by going back 50,000 to 100,000 years and estimating the population at each time. Does anybody know?
Also, what's this going back 50 or 100K years? In this forum, the Earth is only 6K old.
P-
11 Jun 06
Originally posted by PhlabibitYes, that's pretty close to some estimates that I've seen. The earth's population today may range from slightly more than to perhaps half of all those that have lived and dies before us.
I seem to remember that in the time of Reagan as president of the US... that there were as many people alive on Earth now that ever lived on Earth at all. So what was the population in the 80's... and has anyone else heard this?
Also, what's this going back 50 or 100K years? In this forum, the Earth is only 6K old.
P-
I cannot vouch for my sources on this one, although the dramatic growth of the world's population through the twentieth century makes such estimates seem common sense.
11 Jun 06
Originally posted by PhlabibitThere was a song at the time with the line "now that the living outnumber the dead". The homo species have always reproduced at a great rate. Limiting it to 100k covers only the most modern humans. You could go back 2 Million years and still be among ancestors that are definitely human rather than ape. I think the population thing works because humans have very few threats to survival and each generation is quite long-lived so we've achieved exponential growth.
[b]I seem to remember that in the time of Reagan as president of the US... that there were as many people alive on Earth now that ever lived on Earth at all.
11 Jun 06
Originally posted by MixoWhat do you think the growth rate for humans has been over the
There was a song at the time with the line "now that the living outnumber the dead". The homo species have always reproduced at a great rate. Limiting it to 100k covers only the most modern humans. You could go back 2 Million years and still be among ancestors that are definitely human rather than ape. I think the population thing works because humans have very ...[text shortened]... ats to survival and each generation is quite long-lived so we've achieved exponential growth.
last 2 million years?
Kelly
11 Jun 06
So it sounds like the best estimate for the number of people who have died on earth is somewhere between 6 billion and 12 billion. Is that about right?
The only reason I asked this question was because of another thread entitled "What is God's Kill Count?" That thread started down the pointless tangent of blaming or not blaming God for various deaths. That is an excercise that, to me, seems pretty futile for humans to attempt. However, it did make me wonder how many "souls" have inhabited our planet. I really didn't have any theological point to my question. Just some curiosity.
11 Jun 06
Originally posted by WulebgrI would guess that the number of living people today is greater than the sum of all deaths in human history. I'm a little uncertain because of infant mortality. Also I'm defining human as a homo sapiens sapiens that has been born. If you start at conception, my guess is that many more have died than are alive today.
Yes, that's pretty close to some estimates that I've seen. The earth's population today may range from slightly more than to perhaps half of all those that have lived and dies before us.
I cannot vouch for my sources on this one, although the dramatic growth of the world's population through the twentieth century makes such estimates seem common sense.
11 Jun 06
Originally posted by KellyJayhuman race is not 2 million years old.........it's like asking how many chimpanzees died back then.
What do you think the growth rate for humans has been over the
last 2 million years?
Kelly
I think modern man is about 100k years old or so. Who knows?
12 Jun 06
Originally posted by lebowskiUseful links about this subject:
human race is not 2 million years old.........it's like asking how many chimpanzees died back then.
I think modern man is about 100k years old or so. Who knows?
http://www.prb.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PRB/Educators/Human_Population/Population_Growth/Population_Growth.htm
http://www.addistribune.com/Archives/2003/06/13-06-03/Skulls.htm
12 Jun 06
2 edits
Originally posted by KellyJaya growth rate of 0.01 per generation (i.e. each family has, on average 2.01 children) gives us a rise from 2 to 6 billion in 15,000 generations. At an average of 20 years per generation that's 300,000 years. This is of course a simplification, and doesn't take into account wars, plagues, etc.
What do you think the growth rate for humans has been over the
last 2 million years?
Kelly
Happily though, taking the planet's current human growth rate of 1.2% (according to Nationmaster.com) the population recovered in the 200 generations from Noah to us to the grand stately figure of 21. You'd need a population growth rate of somewhere around 7.5% (the highest currently is Afganistan, at 4,77😵 to repopulate the world.
13 Jun 06
I called th U.S. census department. They told me that this is considered a fascinating question with a long history of people trying to answer it.
To date, 7 studies have been done. The total number of people ever born ranges from 46 billion to 110 billion in these studies. The most recent study was done by Carl Haub in 1995. That study claims that between 50,000 BC to 1995 the total number of people born was 105 billion. Therefore, all of the people living today represents about 6 to 7% of all of the people who have ever been born. FYI