prophex and the poor

I'm glad you are now admitting that. I didn't like the way you were bad-mouthing science in earlier threads. Without science, there would be a lot more disease and death. I'm not claiming that. Sure, I could have found jobs that pay a lot more. But I didn't go into science for the money. I'm paid well enough. I like what I do, and it is a lot more meaningful than some kinds of work.It's not up to me what you do with your life. Choose wisely, and my best wishes for you.I'm interested in your current avatar. Is that you and your brother? If it is, then which is which?

I'll clarify that. You have the white shirt, and he has the tan shirt.Some day you will change your avatar, and anybody reading it might be confused as to what you were saying.Anyway, thanks. Good to hear.(AbE: thanks for the new picture)This message has been edited by nwr, 01-11-2006 11:01 PM

We didn't experience anything pre-science, because we weren't around.Ignoring that quibble, I think the answer is still that there is more death and disease now than at pre-scientific times. That's because science has allowed a far larger population than could have been supported in pre-scientific times. With larger population, there will be more death and disease.Most of the people who have ever died have likely died within the last 100 years.

I was probably mistaken. Thanks for spotting that. Nevertheless, the number of deaths over the last 100 years is likely a significant proportion of the total number of human deaths ever.This is mainly due to the world population being larger during the last 100 years than previously.Here is some information on current and historic world populations. To estimate total deaths, you would also need historic information on life expectancy. I'm not sure if that is readily available.

I doubt that it makes a lot of difference.Sure, our knowledge of the past is quite uncertain. All indications are of far smaller human populations.

I'm not sure where the millions of years comes from, unless you are including hominids as humans. Causes of death is a difficult problem. A high rate of infant death would make it harder to estimate the total number of deaths. I think you are interpreting "science" too broadly.