How many living things are on this planet?

I believe it is uncountable - (that's my answer to the title question).
I was just sitting outdoors, amongst the trees, listening to cicadas & crickets, looking at the grass, imagining the number of worms, bugs, squirrels, birds, bats, flowers, vegetable plants, cats, dogs, ALL 'animals' (including other people, microscopic entities, sea life, dirt dwellers, etc.).....

And as I said - I think the question is impossible to answer.

Do any of you have a guess?

I'm saying: A trillion bejillion gazillion googillian billion million several hundred thousand and five.

Any other guesses?
We really aren't that awesome, folks. We're totally outnumbered. Shouldn't we make friends with the other species who cohabit this Earth?

I think so.

And I think it would behoove us to realize that. We are NOT the only "people" on this planet.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

houldn't we make friends with the other species who cohabit this Earth?

Yah, except for termites (they just cost us 725.oo for a treatment). Oh and Roaches…

But I love your imagination, Those awareness of life moments are precious. Akin to true worship.

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

An estimated 3,000 quintillion living things and
8.7 million different species.

I didn't guess though, I cheated.

Oh, and there are a 'whole bunch' of members to each species! Lol

I couldn't begin to tell you. Remember there are still undiscovered life forms on this planet. I can tell you that ants outnumber humans.

The total weight of all the ants on Earth is about the same as the weight of all the humans on earth.

Unless you leave food out and attract them, humans rarely have a need to think about ants. They're tiny, not poisonous and not particularly terrifying, like say, spiders. However, they far outnumber humans on earth--by one million to one!

Oh and I guess they all weigh the same as all the humans on the planet as well. That's pretty cool too I guess.

a reply to: AnteBellum

But, but, AnteBellum...
I didn't ask how many species...I asked how many LIVING THINGS....
including all the members of each species.



EDIT: Oh, wow, you changed your answer.
OK then!!
Multiple quintillions!

a reply to: Krazysh0t

It is very cool to think about.
I've heard the same about cockroaches.

We are totally outnumbered.

a reply to: intrptr

I saw a hand-painted sign in a yard (on the curb so all could see it) that said:

BED BUGS
$300

And that was all.
I laughed really hard at that one (it STILL makes me laugh)....my husband said: "Is that for a breeding pair? Or each?"

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

Considering every creature is an ecosystem of living things it would be impossible to determine.

a reply to: OrphanApology

That's what I am thinking. Yes. It would be impossible.
Thanks....

a reply to: BuzzyWigs

About your request to get along with the other animals. Humans have developed LARGELY symbiotic relationships with bacteria in our stomach to digest food. Types of Stomach Bacteria

You could even argue that humans have developed symbiotic relationships with canines (dogs) or felines (cats) since it has been shown that just petting them improves your health. And they, being domesticated, rely completely on human companionship (even if cats pretend like they don't need us).

a reply to: Krazysh0t

Yup!!
(Oh, yes, cats "need" us. I'm one of their slaves. LOL!!) (The dogs, too. And used to be the horses as well - but I had to rehome them.
)

Absolutely, pets help reduce stress. They keep us company. They acknowledge us as having 'powers'....if you can call it that.
When I close my laptop, the dogs hear it and get up saying, "Are we going outside, now, Mom? Now?"

I could tell so many stories about my interactions with animals - But - I don't mean to digress here...

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs
a reply to: intrptr

I saw a hand-painted sign in a yard (on the curb so all could see it) that said:

BED BUGS
$300

And that was all.
I laughed really hard at that one (it STILL makes me laugh)....my husband said: "Is that for a breeding pair? Or each?"

Lol, sounds like you can rent that bed for 300 a month.

Somewhere I read that the number of Bacteria living on our bodies (on, not in) is about the number of people on the planet. That number doubles when we take a shower.

a reply to: intrptr

Yeah, it's impossible to "wash them off". I've heard/read that, too.

If I recall correctly, there are more microorganisms in the human body than there are human cells....

But I'll go check to see if that's recalled correctly...........

Yep, here it is!:

The human body contains about 100 trillion cells, but only maybe one in 10 of those cells is actually — human. The rest are from bacteria, viruses and other microorganisms.

Finally, A Map Of All The Microbes On Your Body

originally posted by: BuzzyWigs


I'm saying: A trillion bejillion gazillion googillian billion million several hundred thousand and five.

That's just ridiculous. It's more like a trillion bejillion gazillion googillian billion million several hundred thousand and four.

You know... there are about as many things living in your body (actual little critters that move around and stuff) as there are people on the planet. So each of our bodies is sort of like a Mother Earth goddess to these things.

One?

Everything's existence depends on the existence of everything else. Earth is a closed system that, when viewed from afar, appears to operate as a singular entity.

Do the cells in our bodies count as living things?

a reply to: Cuervo

Oh.
My bad.

Thanks for the correction.


LOL!!

a reply to: NthOther

Everything's existence depends on the existence of everything else. Earth is a closed system that, when viewed from afar, appears to operate as a singular entity.

Totally agree with you.
But, no, I don't think it's "one". There are many living things that don't depend on the other living things....
and would still live. I think.

Wait.

No.

Wait. No - you are right!!! We DO depend on all other living things!!!!

Do the cells in our bodies count as living things?

Ermmm...not sure. Do they?? I think so.

You could calculate the total mass of the Earth, divide it by the mass of the smallest bacterium and that would give you an upper limit ...

mass of Earth = 5.97219 × 10^24 kilograms (10^24 = 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 kilograms

mass of smallest bacterium = 10^-12 grams (0.000,000,000,001 grams)
www.answers.com...

Most of earth is rock, water and air, so we could probably just use 0.001% of the mass of the earth, not that it would make much difference to the final result.

Divide 10^24 by 10^-12 and we get 10^36. So there could be around 10^36 living things on Earth

All of them!

and if you step on one... All of them -1

It's like everything else really, as a human, if we try to imagine everything, we get lost in the scope of it all. So we limit what we can imagine to what we can see, or immediately know.

Right now the entire world consists of 2 spiders and a fly.

Soon to be 1 fly less on this planet...