Laptop, Laptop, On the Floor, What's the Headcount Outside Our Doors?

Tonight, Daniel asked me how many people there are in the world.  At his age, I would have asked my brother, Joseph, for he seemed to know all things.  Unfortunately, for us this evening, however, that far-inferior resource known as the "Internet" had to suffice.  We were in the family room, watching TV, and I had my laptop nearby, so it only took a few keyboard clicks before I had a number:  Just a bit less than seven billion, which, I explained to Daniel, is 7,000 million.

Daniel posed a reasonable challenge to the figure:

"Wait, are they counting us?"

I don't think they were counting our family, which would make the figure actually just a bit less than 6,999,999, 995.  But I didn't break the news to him.

Then he had an even more reasonable question, and a disturbing one:

"Does the computer know about everybody?"

(April 22, 2013)