world population statistics

[tamara]

Does anyone here know how many humans have existed on earth since the beginning of time? Try as I might I can't find these statistics. I am having a discussion with a friend about reincarnation and need to know this figure. One source (pro reincarnation) says that between 70 and 100 billion people, but I want another unbiased source to make sure.
If anyone can help me I'd really appreciate it.

[Romani Vixen]

Are you in school? Try asking an Anthropology teacher. I'm sure that any number would be a guess at best. There's a point in history where we can't really tell....

[Ben Trismegistus]

I remember reading somewhere that the number of people living today is more than the number of people who have ever lived on earth, total. I don't find this hard to believe, considering that the world population is now double what it was only 30-40 years ago.

I don't see how that would disprove reincarnation, however. It would just mean that God (or whoever) is having to constantly create new souls.

[tamara]

I don't think it disproves it, but I may have to adjust my own beliefs because I don't believe in new souls. I believe that we were all created at the same time..I thought the pro reincarnation figures seemed high, that's why I wanted another source. Back to the drawing board. thanks.

[Ben Trismegistus]

I don't think it disproves it, but I may have to adjust my own beliefs because I don't believe in new souls. I believe that we were all created at the same time..I thought the pro reincarnation figures seemed high, that's why I wanted another source. Back to the drawing board. thanks.
Well, I don't want to dismiss your beliefs, but it seems to me that that would leave an awful lot of souls just sitting around in limbo for thousands and thousands of years. And there would have to still be more souls waiting in limbo, since the world population is supposed to reach 10 billion in 20-30 years.

[Convallaria]

Off topic here, but I believe there are many old souls, and some of the earliest souls are just now completeing their time here on earth. The new souls are hardly new at all, becuase even they are a few thousand years old. I was theorizing with some friends about why there are more humans than ever before and an idea arose that the safest thing to reincarnate into these days is a human, so souls who used to incarnate into animals have now incarnated into humans for the benefits of being human, but this goes against the common belief that human souls can only incarnate as humans and animals only as animals...
The world population now may be higher than its ever been, but thats likely only due to technologies and discoveries that make the world a little safer (though no more healthy) that its ever been for humans.
I really don't think there is any way to disprove reincarnation, but there are many cases that seem to support, if not prove reincarnation.
http://www.prb.org/Content/ContentGroups/PTarticle/0ct-Dec02/How_Many_People_Have_Ever_Lived_on_Earth_.htm
has some interesting information of how many humans have lived on earth since they evolved :)

[tamara]

Well in my theory they aren't exactly in limbo.. We're learning, resting, reflecting, helping others. Constructive things are going on. the inbetween world is where we are most of the time, We only come here to learn and advance spiritually. A thousand years is less than a drop in the bucket to us there, so time doesn't matter.

[Ben Trismegistus]

Well in my theory they aren't exactly in limbo.. We're learning, resting, reflecting, helping others. Constructive things are going on. the inbetween world is where we are most of the time, We only come here to learn and advance spiritually. A thousand years is less than a drop in the bucket to us there, so time doesn't matter.
Well, what I was trying to say is that, if all souls were created at once, then the vast majority of those souls would have been just hanging around for millennia before they even reached their FIRST incarnation. Does that make sense?

Like, let's say that 10 billion souls were created at the beginning of time. At the beginning of civilization, the world population may only have been about 1 million or so. So 1 million of those 10 billion souls get to come to earth, while the other 9,999,000,000 souls hang out wherever until the world population increases enough to accommodate them.

[tamara]

I see what you mean and have to agree that doesn't make much sense..Like I said I'll have to readjust what I believe..but I really don't want to- I really liked it.

[Xentor]

Consider this possibility:

If all souls were created simultaneously, and now there are more humans, then there must be less other beings. The total amount of souled beings would stay the same, only the balance shifts.

I don't know where I stand on this myself. Fascinating.

[Ben Trismegistus]

I see what you mean and have to agree that doesn't make much sense..Like I said I'll have to readjust what I believe..but I really don't want to- I really liked it.
Yeah, sorry about that.

Personally, I like the belief that creation is ongoing, and that souls are of different ages. For me, it explains why some people feel like "old souls" and some feel like "new souls".

[Equinox]

Ben is right, you definitely have to readjust something. The world population was only in the millions for thousands of years, from when humans could be called "human" until 1000 years ago. Putting the first date at around 500,000 BCE (pretty generous to those ape-like humans- see graph at bottom here http://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/homs/a_brains.html), then you still have an awful lot of waiting.

On the graph here, you can pretty much just keep the pop flat and low all the way back to 500,000 BCE to fill in that time.

http://www.prb.org/Content/NavigationMenu/PRB/Educators/Human_Population/Population_Growth/Population_Growth.htm or here: http://etnhum.etn.lu.se/~fg/worries/oildepl/LOGEXP/Thousan.pdf

I simply did a web search on world population, and time.

-Equinox

[tamara]

I found two more sources from the 60's that give estimates of 69 billion (Keyfitz,1969) and 96 billion(Wellenmeyer etal,1962) and a more recent one in an article in Poulation Today by Carl Haub that estimates it at 106 billion..maybe I'm back in business. Also, the predictions of future population growth could be wrong. Unfortunately it is pretty certain that humanity witll be faced with another plague of some sort- not a cheery thought, but likely nonetheless. even If there have only been 80 billion lives altogether, each human soul would have an average of 20 lives. So the waiting around thing doesn't really matter because in my view we only come here for some specific purpose.

[Calzaer]

I don't think it disproves it, but I may have to adjust my own beliefs because I don't believe in new souls. I believe that we were all created at the same time..I thought the pro reincarnation figures seemed high, that's why I wanted another source. Back to the drawing board. thanks.

Do what I do: include animals, plants, and trees into the equation.

And if that doesn't work for you, how about civilizations on other planets?

[Ben Trismegistus]

I found two more sources from the 60's that give estimates of 69 billion (Keyfitz,1969) and 96 billion(Wellenmeyer etal,1962) and a more recent one in an article in Poulation Today by Carl Haub that estimates it at 106 billion..maybe I'm back in business. .
Well, I don't know how much you can trust data that's 30-40 years old, but that's up to you.

But I'm curious, why are you so tied to your idea of all the souls being created at once?

[Kes]

Alternatively, maybe some people don't have souls...?


I could believe it! :hehehehe:

[Equinox]

Alternatively, maybe some people don't have souls...?


I could believe it!

The gnostics did believe it. They believed that most people (and all animals) had no souls, and that death for those was permanent. A few people (such as the Gnostics themselves) had souls.

Saying 23 from the gospel of Thomas:

23 Jesus said, "I shall choose you, one from a thousand and two from ten thousand, and they will stand as a single one."


-Equinox, who is preparing to give a presentation at the UU fellowship on lost Christianities from the 2nd and 3rd centuries.

[Kes]

The gnostics did believe it.


Ahh, yes..... The Gnostics.... "Defending Christianity from Christians since 30 CE."

:lol:

[BrightStar]

Hi all!!!
Yep,I've heard that,the idea that there are more folks on the planet now than the number of folks added together thoughout History.
I just figure there has to be life on other planets,and maybe we reincarnate from and to these other planets as well.
What can I say,I'm a little bit of a sci-fi fan!!!(:
Peace and Love
BrightStar

[Xentor]

If Death were a real singular being, it'd have a hard time right now.

[Caliburn]

I'm big on reincarnation, I beleive that the total number of people to have ever exsisted is Earth's current population, I beleive the explanation for the pop-burst was just a was of dormant souls. I.E. ghosts, daemons, etc...

[tamara]

the Population today article that estimates it at 106 billion is from November/December of 2002. I am just trying to form a clear idea of what I believe about reincarnation..I don't really know what that is yet, but I like the idea of us all being part of The All..someone described it as God being likened to a giant crystal that exploded(I think of the big bang theory) and each of us was created with a shard of that crystal in our souls.If we were created during the big bang, then it seems like we would have to have been created at the same time it seems to me. Wasn't everything that is created during the big bang?... or at least the makings for all that is? I"m not chained to this idea, I just need to do a lot more reading ,studying and discussing the subject. The christian Gnostics are fascinating ..Gnosticism was the first religion I studied after leaving the Baptist church..I couldn't believe the respect they gave women. The idea that there were other gospels that were cast aside by people with ulterior motives astounded me. It got me wondering what else was out there.