Re: [XPOST] A unique number for every "person" - can it be done?

From: gerard46 (gerard46_at_rtt.net)
Date: 02/27/05 

Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2005 22:02:14 GMT

| Percival wrote:
|> gerard46 wrote:
---snipped---
|> Given that the 10^80 atoms in the universe
|> can only "make" so many people, a finite table should suffice.
---snipped---

| Only so many people at one time. People are born and they die. He wants it
| throughout history. Then again, a fingerprint would nearly be the same
| thing.

I once read somewhere that as of the dawn of our history (starting from
40,000 years ago), that there were "only" a few millions of people who
had lived (and that includes baby-deaths, as I recall). There was a
graph showing the total living population of the earth, as well as the
total of people who had lived, up to any point (year).

If anyone knows of a website that shows this graph or a version of it,
it would be nice to view again. There weren't that many (dead) people
on earth. Of course, "many" is a subjective term, but not beyond
grasping (understanding).

But, the phrase "throughout history" implies any amount of future, and
I don't see any reason to believe that ANY system that we come up will
still be in use 100 years from now, let alone say, a million years.
After all, how many sucessfull species have "only" lived on this earth
for a mere 200 or so million years? And here we are, a few million
so far? So, think ahead, 1 billion years.. heck, 10 billion years.
I forget, the age of the universe, is what, 11-->20 billion years ?
Even if we underestimate that by a few billion... just another digit
or two each record in the database.

Whatever system any previous nation or civilization came up with, it
was discarded ... not for being shortsighted, but the reasons and need
for accuracy change. Not to mention, that's theirs, and we want ours.

There will always be human beings born in places that don't subscribe
to the current census, or for want, or living "under the radar"
(underground, that is, beyond the law). ______________________Gerard S.

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