Mathematicians have used a controversial statistical formula to predict when humanity could go extinct.
The calculation, known as the ‘doomsday argument,’ starts with an estimate that roughly 117 billion people have lived throughout human history.
Researchers then assume that people alive today occupy a random place in humanity’s timeline rather than an unusually early one.
Under that assumption, there is a 95 percent chance that the 117 billion people who have already lived represent at least five percent of all humans who will ever exist.
Because 100 percent is 20 times larger than five percent, mathematicians multiply 117 billion by 20, producing a maximum
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