Vampires Mathematically Impossible!

[Komag]

I read an article and I forgot where (sorry), but the point was that the numbers of vampires would very quickly overrun the whole human population on the planet.

 

Let's say the first vampire came into existence in 1600AD. The world population at that time was about 500,000,000. If he bites one neck each month, after one month there are two vampires, then 4, then 8, etc. Here's the progression:

 

Jan 1

Feb 2

Mar 4

Apr 8

May 16

Jun 32

Jul 64

Aug 128

Sep 256

Oct 512

Nov 1,024 (round down to 1000)

Dec 2,000

 

Jan 4,000

Feb 8,000

Mar 16,000

Apr 32,000

May 64,000

Jun 128,000

Jul 256,000

Aug 512,000

Sep 1,024,000 (round down to 1,000,000)

Oct 2,000,000

Nov 4,000,000

Dec 8,000,000

 

Jan 16,000,000

Feb 32,000,000

Mar 64,000,000

Apr 128,000,000

May 256,000,000

Jun 512,000,000 (at this point all the world's half billion people are vampires)

 

If we took it from today's 6.5 billion people it just takes four more months

 

Jul 1,024,000,000 (round down to 1 billion)

Aug 2 billion

Sep 4 billion

Oct 8 billion (all of the world is vampires now)

 

If you think one bite per month is too much, you can set it at one per year, and it's still less than 30 years for the whole world population to turn vampire.

 

Of course, this doesn't take into account how much vampires much fight and kill each other off, or the activities of devoted vampire hunters like Simon Belmont and family. Plus, depending on what vampire legends you subscribe to, some or most of the biting/blood drinking just kills the victim instead of turning them into vampires. But those are just silly details!

[Dram]

LOL, Interesting though hehe

[demagogue]

I like the one where you put a penny on the first square of a chess board, two pennies on the second, etc. By the time you reach the end of the chess board, you have more money on the last square than ... well, you have a lot of money. I'll have to look the number up later; it's big.

Edited October 27, 2006 by demagogue

[SplaTtzZ]

Heh, I read this article as well. I thought the vampire explanation was a bit redundant, as most modern literature on vampires shows that when they bite they don't necessarily have to kill you or turn you into one of them. Anne Rice has that idea; but if I recall correctly it harks way back to Bram Stoker in the orginal Dracula.

 

I thought the ghost one was pretty good though. How he uses Newton's laws to explain why ghosts could not exist; because if they aren't corporeal, and can pass through walls, then they would inevitably fall through the earth, and would not be able to walk across the ground. The Thermodynamics explanation of those cold drafts in haunted houses wasn't bad either.

 

The best though was the section on zombies, and how there is a certain poison from shellfish or something that voodoo priests use to turn people almost completely braindead but retain their motor functions.

[Chiron]

The other explanation is that not all vampires can create new vampires.

Only those bitten by the "First" vampire can create new ones !

[SneaksieDave]

They're just managing their feed supply intelligently.

[Ombrenuit]

Well there is also the Buffy/Anne Rice approach to the problem where to become a Vampire, one must both be bitten by a Vampire and then drink the blood of one's sire.

Edited October 27, 2006 by Ombrenuit

[Macsen]

Komag, everyone but you is a Vampire. We'll get round to biting you eventually, once you improve the old B.O.

[Komag]

I'm never taking another shower, ever

[Dram]

I'm never taking another shower, ever

 

"What's that smell?....smells like old meat.....that can't be me, I washed just 2 days ago..."

 

[kohan69]

I, err, us, ..VAMPIREs feed on any mammalian blood, not just human.