>Since, if you do the math, following current trends,
>in a few hundred years the total mass of human beings
>will outnumber that of the Earth, clearly it has some meaning.
Following what trends? Pop growth is slowing.
AVERAGE ANNUAL POPULATION GROWTH by World Bank country grouping
1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s world 2.0% 1.9% 1.7% 1.4% 1.2% low income 2.4% 2.5% 2.4% 2.1% 1.8% middle income 2.1% 1.9% 1.6% 1.2% 0.9% high income 1.1% 0.8% 0.6% 0.7% 0.6%