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How many people have ever lived on Earth?

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Re: How many people have ever lived on Earth?

#61

Makes me wonder how many more billions will have to die before we bother to put some actual effort into ending death, but I know that's a very obscure opinion. https://nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon

Why would you want to end death?

Because I love life and there’s nothing after this?

Re: How many people have ever lived on Earth?

#63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes, because I totally want to continue working to pay taxes, rent, utilities, clothing, food, etc. forever. Frankly, I am not trying to hasten my death, but I am looking forward to it. Finally a break from the eternal go go go go, just to maintain life.

Or you could just take that break from work now and do better things with life without having to necessarily wait for death.

I have a family who is relying on me, so that is not possible.

Re: How many people have ever lived on Earth?

#67

Makes me wonder how many more billions will have to die before we bother to put some actual effort into ending death, but I know that's a very obscure opinion. https://nickbostrom.com/fable/dragon

I think technically what would be desirable would be to end or pause aging, not death. I have this feeling that if I reach some crazy 3 figure age and have the body to go with it, death is going to be a welcome concept.

Re: How many people have ever lived on Earth?

#68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why would you want to end death?

Because I love life and there’s nothing after this?

Jesus claimed to offer everlasting life to those who believe in him (see Gospel of John). Worth looking into?

Re: How many people have ever lived on Earth?

#69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a common misconception about how life expectancy works. If you have 10 children, 9 of them die at age 5, and the 10th dies at age 55, the life expectancy of your children is 10. Those 9 children who die early aren't going to go through puberty and become parents, but the life expectancy of those who do reach that stage is decently long. Low life expectancy doesn't mean you're considered some decrepit geriatri…

I think a more useful metric would be average life expectancy of the subset of people who lived over say 20 or 30. We could compare that number at 1600s with the present to see the net impact of lifestyle changes (fast food, minimum exercise) vs advances in medical care.

ourworldindata has some neat graphs for this. Even though they cover only small slice of history and geography, its still provides some insight how longevity has evolved: https://ourworldindata.org/life-expectancy#it-is-not-only-ab...

Re: How many people have ever lived on Earth?

#70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because I love life and there’s nothing after this?

Jesus claimed to offer everlasting life to those who believe in him (see Gospel of John). Worth looking into?

So did Muhammad (see Quran). Worth looking into?
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