# You're a ghost... now what?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-ghost-now-what/1004394>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 17, 2024, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-ghost-now-what/1004394 "2024-07-17T18:49:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 5

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**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2024, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-ghost-now-what/1004394/81 "2024-07-20T00:43:34Z")

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> [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](#):
>
> Because with about a million times more dead people than currently living people,

Current estimate is 117 billion is the total number of humans ever. That’s only about 14 times the current population not millions.

> **[How Many Humans Have Ever Lived?](https://www.visualcapitalist.com/cp/how-many-humans-have-ever-lived/)**
>
> This impactful hour glass visualization shows all of humanity, including the 7% of humans who are alive today

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**Author:** ![truthseeker3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e68b1a/32.png) [@truthseeker3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/truthseeker3)\
**Post date:** [July 20, 2024, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-ghost-now-what/1004394/82 "2024-07-20T16:31:19Z")

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Would you consider a tweak?

If you’re giving me the ability to come and go as I please, that strongly implies the ability to change velocity, so it might make more sense for restrictions to be based on quasi-human acceleration instead. Allowing 10 seconds to reach a speed of 10 mph gives us a nice round acceleration of 1 mph per second. At that rate, you can reach light speed in 670 million seconds - roughly 20 years - during which time you would travel about 0.1 light-years. Thus, if your favorite star is x light-years away, you can visit it by: accelerating for 20 years; coasting at light speed for x-1 years; decelerating (perhaps moonwalking in the Michael Jackson sense) for 20 years; and then making a few course corrections.

Note: you may wish to check my math before getting started - I didn’t feel the need to be super precise, what with us being already dead and all.

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**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\
**Post date:** [July 22, 2024, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-ghost-now-what/1004394/83 "2024-07-22T20:29:30Z")

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> [@Cartooniverse](#):
>
> I like this thread. Many are trying to categorize or define what the ghost would be. Am I of infinite size? Can I fit into the hip pocket of an 11 year old so I can go on the Coney Island Cyclone? And what would it MEAN to me to do so, since I lack mass and with it inertia and all corporeal sensations?

Not necessarily ALL. A lot of people seem to assume that you’ll still have access to your visual and auditory functions. Maybe you can find Patrick Swayze and get him to teach you how to access some inertial features.

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**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\
**Post date:** [July 23, 2024, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-ghost-now-what/1004394/84 "2024-07-23T17:18:18Z")

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🤣

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