> The most mind-boggling controversy in the contemporary philosophy of science is the “doomsday argument,” a claim that a mathematical formula can predict how l

> The most mind-boggling controversy in the contemporary philosophy of science is the “doomsday argument,” a claim that a mathematical formula can predict how long the human race will survive. It gives us even odds that our species will meet its end within the next 760 years. Coincidentally, 760 years is approximately the time required for a fertility rate of 1 to bring down the world population from 8 billion to less than ten, assuming one generation to be about 25 years, as 8e9*(1/2)^(760/25)~=5.6