Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!mhuxr!mhuxt!houxm!ihnp4!fortune!stirling
From: stirling@fortune.UUCP (Patrick Stirling)
Newsgroups: net.misc,net.bio
Subject: Re: World population benchmark
Message-ID: <5988@fortune.UUCP>
Date: Tue, 15-Jul-86 14:05:40 EDT
Article-I.D.: fortune.5988
Posted: Tue Jul 15 14:05:40 1986
Date-Received: Thu, 17-Jul-86 04:44:59 EDT
References: <3553@hplabsb.UUCP> <599@bcsaic.UUCP>
Reply-To: stirling@fortune.UUCP (Patrick stirling)
Distribution: net
Organization: Fortune Systems, Belmont, CA
Lines: 24
Keywords: Billions and billions, population, United Nations
Xref: watmath net.misc:9894 net.bio:607

In article <599@bcsaic.UUCP> michaelm@bcsaic.UUCP (michael maxwell) writes:
>In article <3553@hplabsb.UUCP> marvit@hplabsb.UUCP (Peter Marvit) writes:
>>According to the world population watchers at the United Nations, today
>>(7 July) the 5 billionth person will be born.
>
>Something I've always wondered: of all the people who've ever lived,
>what percentage are alive today?  I suspect it's a rather large
>percentage, and it makes me wonder why there aren't more people like
>Plato, Galileo, Michaelangelo, Bach, Einstein. 
>Mike Maxwell

I remember reading about 10 years ago, when the world population was around
4bn, that the dead outnumbered the living about 30 to one. Actually it shouldn't
be too hard to come up with an estimate; I think the world pop. was pretty levelor at least increasing very slowly until the 20th Century. If humans have been 
around for about 1,000,000 years, average lifespan ~25-35 years maybe, average
generation about the same, all we need is an average population up to 1900
(1billion?) and some net.statistics.wizard should be able to supply an answer
... any takers? About the rate of appearance of 'geniuses' ... I suspect that 
several factors have to be present and correct for one to occur, for example
there wer several during the renaissance, and many from ancient Greece. It
must be more than statistical chance.

patrick
{ihnp4, hplabs, amdcad, ucbvax!dual}!fortune!stirling