# Do the math or take a guess

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-math-or-take-a-guess/2594>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [August 17, 1999, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-math-or-take-a-guess/2594 "1999-08-17T19:07:00Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Neobican](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Neobican](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neobican)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 1999, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-math-or-take-a-guess/2594/1 "1999-08-17T19:07:00Z")

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This thought popped in my head one night, so I decided to ask. How many people have there ever benn? As in how many people have ever benn born, or a worldwide historical census? If the total population is somewhere in the range of 5.5 to 6 billion, I wonder if that many people have already walked the earth before, anyone have any idea how to figure that out to come up with an approximate number?

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**Author:** ![Jimpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c68b51/32.png) [@Jimpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jimpy)\
**Post date:** [August 17, 1999, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-the-math-or-take-a-guess/2594/2 "1999-08-17T19:10:00Z")

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Cecil’s already done the work for us–  
[http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2\_085.html](http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a2_085.html)

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**Jim Petty  
 _An oak tree is just a nut that stood it’s ground_**  
[Don’t click here](http://hometown.aol.com/jimpetty/page/index.htm)