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How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?

 
Anonymous Coward
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01/27/2009 08:45 AM
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How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
Anonymous Coward
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01/27/2009 08:52 AM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
All but 3 that I am awear of.
Anonymous Coward
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01/27/2009 08:55 AM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
All but 3 that I am awear of.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 548836


better than my answer. i figured at least 20 ( i can personally verify this via obits in local paper ) but i confess i don't have the full list
Anonymous Coward
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01/27/2009 09:01 AM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth?
by Carl Haub

"How Many People Have Ever Lived on Earth?" is the most requested Population Today article. It first appeared in February 1995.

(Population Today, November/December 2002) The question of how many people have ever lived on Earth is a perennial one among information calls to PRB. One reason the question keeps coming up is that somewhere, at some time back in the 1970s, a now-forgotten writer made the statement that 75 percent of the people who had ever been born were alive at that moment.

This factoid has had a long shelf life, even though a bit of reflection would show how unlikely it is. For this "estimate" to be true would mean either that births in the 20th century far, far outnumbered those in the past or that there were an extraordinary number of extremely old people living in the 1970s.

If this estimate were true, it would indeed make an impressive case for the rapid pace of population growth in this century. But if we judge the idea that three-fourths of people who ever lived are alive today to be a ridiculous statement, have demographers come up with a better estimate? What might be a reasonable estimate of the actual percentage?

Any such exercise can be only a highly speculative enterprise, to be undertaken with far less seriousness than most demographic inquiries. Nonetheless, it is a somewhat intriguing idea that can be approached on at least a semi-scientific basis.

And semi-scientific it must be, because there are, of course, absolutely no demographic data available for 99 percent of the span of the human stay on Earth. Still, with some speculation concerning prehistoric populations, we can at least approach a guesstimate of this elusive number.

Prehistory and History
Any estimate of the total number of people who have ever been born will depend basically on two factors: (1) the length of time humans are thought to have been on Earth and (2) the average size of the human population at different periods.

Fixing a time when the human race actually came into existence is not a straightforward matter. Various ancestors of Homo sapiens seem to have appeared at least as early as 700,000 B.C. Hominids walked the Earth as early as several million years ago. According to the United Nations' Determinants and Consequences of Population Trends, modern Homo sapiens may have appeared about 50,000 B.C. This long period of 50,000 years holds the key to the question of how many people have ever been born.

At the dawn of agriculture, about 8000 B.C., the population of the world was somewhere on the order of 5 million. (Very rough figures are given in the table; these are averages of an estimate of ranges given by the United Nations and other sources.) The slow growth of population over the 8,000-year period, from an estimated 5 million to 300 million in 1 A.D., results in a very low growth rate — only 0.0512 percent per year. It is difficult to come up with an average world population size over this period. In all likelihood, human populations in different regions grew or declined in response to famines, the vagaries of animal herds, hostilities, and changing weather and climatic conditions.

In any case, life was short. Life expectancy at birth probably averaged only about 10 years for most of human history. Estimates of average life expectancy in Iron Age France have been put at only 10 or 12 years. Under these conditions, the birth rate would have to be about 80 per 1,000 people just for the species to survive. Today, a high birth rate would be about 45 to 50 per 1,000 population, observed in only a few countries of Africa and in several Middle Eastern states that have young populations.

Our birth rate assumption will greatly affect the estimate of the number of people ever born. Infant mortality in the human race's earliest days is thought to have been very high — perhaps 500 infant deaths per 1,000 births, or even higher. Children were probably an economic liability among hunter-gatherer societies, a fact that is likely to have led to the practice of infanticide. Under these circumstances, a disproportionately large number of births would be required to maintain population growth, and that would raise our estimated number of the "ever born."

By 1 A.D., the world may have held about 300 million people. One estimate of the population of the Roman Empire, from Spain to Asia Minor, in 14 A.D., is 45 million. However, other historians set the figure twice as high, suggesting how imprecise population estimates of early historical periods can be.

By 1650, world population rose to about 500 million, not a large increase over the 1 A.D. estimate. The average annual rate of growth was actually lower from 1 A.D. to 1650 than the rate suggested above for the 8000 B.C. to 1 A.D. period. One reason for this abnormally slow growth was the Black Death. This dreaded scourge was not limited to 14th-century Europe. The epidemic may have begun about 542 A.D. in western Asia, spreading from there. It is believed that half the Byzantine Empire was destroyed in the sixth century, a total of 100 million deaths. Such large fluctuations in population size over long periods greatly compound the difficulty of estimating the number of people who have ever lived.

By 1800, however, world population had passed the 1 billion mark, and it has continued to grow since then to the current 6 billion.

Guesstimates
Guesstimating the number of people ever born, then, requires selecting population sizes for different points from antiquity to the present and applying assumed birth rates to each period (see table). We start at the very, very beginning — with just two people (a minimalist approach!).


-------------------------------------------------------------​-------------------

How Many People Have Ever Lived On Earth?

Year Population Births per 1,000 Births Between Benchmarks
50,000 B.C. 2 - -
8000 B.C. 5,000,000 80 1,137,789,769
1 A.D. 300,000,000 80 46,025,332,354
1200 450,000,000 60 26,591,343,000
1650 500,000,000 60 12,782,002,453
1750 795,000,000 50 3,171,931,513
1850 1,265,000,000 40 4,046,240,009
1900 1,656,000,000 40 2,900,237,856
1950 2,516,000,000 31-38 3,390,198,215
1995 5,760,000,000 31 5,427,305,000
2002 6,215,000,000 23 983,987,500

Number who have ever been born 106,456,367,669
World population in mid-2002 6,215,000,000
Percent of those ever born who are living in 2002 5.8


Source: Population Reference Bureau
Anonymous Coward
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01/27/2009 09:02 AM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
About a year ago I heard on TV that there are more people alive now than had ever died.....


.
Anonymous Coward
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01/27/2009 09:03 AM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
106 BILLION. Wow, Heaven must be overcrowding too,or Hell...
Ahim-sa

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01/27/2009 09:05 AM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
[link to www.youtube.com]
shift
happens
Anonymous Coward
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01/27/2009 09:07 AM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
All but 3 that I am awear of.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 548836


I was thinking '2'.
Anonymous Coward
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01/27/2009 09:09 AM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
106 BILLION. Wow, Heaven must be overcrowding too,or Hell...
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 294313


Or alot of compost depending how you look at it
Anonymous Coward
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01/27/2009 10:11 AM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
All of them eventually. Get used to it.
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 04:51 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
All but 3 that I am awear of.


better than my answer. i figured at least 20 ( i can personally verify this via obits in local paper ) but i confess i don't have the full list
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 594859


this isn't fair how people are dieing
SheldonCooper
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10/02/2009 04:53 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
About a year ago I heard on TV that there are more people alive now than had ever died.....


.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 557177


Was it from someone who said the world is only 6000 years old?
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 05:22 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
106 BILLION. Wow, Heaven must be overcrowding too,or Hell...
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 294313

from my understanding not many people make it to heaven.
That means hell is overcrowded.
Hell is finite contained space.
since population is exponential then as more and more souls enter hell the pressure increases causeing an increase in heat. Hell just keeps getting hotter and hotter!
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 07:23 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
About a year ago I heard on TV that there are more people alive now than had ever died.....


.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 557177


I heard the same and I'm not surprised considering today's world population.
Tatsuya

User ID: 781339
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10/02/2009 07:53 PM

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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
106 BILLION. Wow, Heaven must be overcrowding too,or Hell...
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 294313

God would make heaven bigger if he wanted, don't know about hell.
One who chooses selfish actions has their reward, one who chooses selfless acts, also have their reward.
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 08:08 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 601558



All of them, except 2 (Elijah, and Enoch).
Art Deco

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10/02/2009 08:10 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
All of them.
In ten years we'll look back on this moment, laugh nervously, and quickly change the subject.
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 08:11 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
i was thinking 'all of them except those of us alive right now'
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 08:12 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
the idea of burying people is horrid
Holding part of their essence to their bones
preventing them from fully going home
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 08:14 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
How many who have died are still alive in heaven or whereever in the afterlife? According to many Christian, NONE as they are still dead, awaiting the Final Resurrection of the Body and the Life Everlasting.
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 08:21 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
Do a little search on baby boomer stats. my puter is messed up and the web page line is gone.
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 08:25 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
Can't wait until all of the Yuppies croak
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 08:26 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
:popchart:


------
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 08:28 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
How many who have died are still alive in heaven or whereever in the afterlife? According to many Christian, NONE as they are still dead, awaiting the Final Resurrection of the Body and the Life Everlasting.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 646448


If you are right about this, there must be some way we can set them free from this side of the veil.
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 08:31 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
the same amount give or take a few groups of laggards...minus of course those who have mastered the planet.
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 08:39 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
How Many People Have Ever Lived On Earth?

Year Population Births per 1,000 Births Between Benchmarks
50,000 B.C. 2 - -
8000 B.C. 5,000,000 80 1,137,789,769
1 A.D. 300,000,000 80 46,025,332,354
1200 450,000,000 60 26,591,343,000
1650 500,000,000 60 12,782,002,453
1750 795,000,000 50 3,171,931,513
1850 1,265,000,000 40 4,046,240,009
1900 1,656,000,000 40 2,900,237,856
1950 2,516,000,000 31-38 3,390,198,215
1995 5,760,000,000 31 5,427,305,000
2002 6,215,000,000 23 983,987,500

Number who have ever been born 106,456,367,669
World population in mid-2002 6,215,000,000
Percent of those ever born who are living in 2002 5.8


Source: Population Reference Bureau
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 571169

BULLSHIT!

Who ever wrote this doesn't have a clue!



tomato
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 08:42 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
Well, that's tough to say. It depends on what you call "human". For instance, if you considered the unborn you'd have to add 50,000,000 for just the past 30 years or so.
Anonymous Coward
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10/02/2009 08:49 PM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
How many who have died are still alive in heaven or whereever in the afterlife? According to many Christian, NONE as they are still dead, awaiting the Final Resurrection of the Body and the Life Everlasting.


If you are right about this, there must be some way we can set them free from this side of the veil.
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 784607


It's just their false belief. It's not real, for pete's sake.
Anonymous Coward
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11/12/2009 03:13 AM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
bsflag
How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
 Quoting: Anonymous Coward 601558

Depends on how old YOU think the world is... To all who think the world is only 6000 years old... Its *Stifled laughter*... under 6,000,000,000.... Idiots...
Anonymous Coward
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11/12/2009 03:33 AM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
Infinite amounts.
Anonymous Coward
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Poland
11/12/2009 03:44 AM
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Re: How many humans have died since the beiginning of time (or recorded history) ?
many





GLP