Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/05/22/what-if-every-human-ever-born.html
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Still on my reading list:
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It staggers the mind.
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The planet would have its equivalent of a BSOD within a couple of months. The only way this could possibly work is if aliens build a Riverworld.
(the voicework on that video is deep in the Uncanny Valley)
[ETA: so glad to see that PJF’s masterwork is the first thing that jumps to mind for others. You’re in for a treat, @Brainspore]
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This assumes reincarnation is not a thing. If we’re sharing all these souls, maybe every human ever born IS alive today,
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They’d say “what the fuck is this?” and then nope back out of there.
Next question.
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There would be many hungry zombies. Not a good idea.
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But historical zombies, a mini-genre that I’m almost absolutely sure won’t be a short-lived, oversaturated flash-in-the-pan!
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We could ask the Founding Fathers of the United States how they envisioned some of the amendments in the Bill of Rights to be applied, particularly the First and Second. We could also ask the former Presidents for their opinion of how the current occupant of the Oval Office is conducting himself.
In science and mathematics, a meeting between Einstein and Stephen Hawking would be interesting to witness, as would one between Carl Sagan and Neil deGrasse Tyson. And I’d be curious if Pierre de Fermat remembered the proof that he would have written in the margin had that margin been a bit larger.
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Very roughly, 7 percent of all people who have ever been born are alive today.
If we stipulate reincarnation as an actual thing, and posit the hypothesis that pretty nearly all souls are presently incarnate, that would imply, on average, about 15 or 16 previous incarnations for each person alive today.
Seems legit 
edit to add: Half died as infants.
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The first thing I thought of was all the flesh-bursting recycled gore from all the humans who had either intentionally or unintentionally consumed the flesh of other humans over the ages. What a mess.
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Um, the second of those has already happened?
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100 billion people have been born?
Not surprising, but still trippy.
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Agreed, the first book is the best one. I recommend the first three, but by that point you’ll probably burn through the last two just to get some closure.
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110 billion people and no food…would you like your cannibalism straight up or glossed over in a refined Soylent Green-Plus biscuit? (fava beans and a nice chianti will cost extra)
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