[jonathanbgood]

I read that this is an urban myth and actually only a few percent of the people who have ever lived are alive today.

[jules]

Ever lived != lived since year 1. That said I just looked at the table on wikipedia and did some simple calculations. In any case even if more people died since year 1 than are alive today, not many more died.

If you take ALL deaths, that does greatly outnumber the people alive today.