>I could come up with a number and stick to it, and dare anyone to prove me wrong :).
>
>You could, but then you'd be buying into a pointless "how many angels can dance on a pinpoint" style argument where I get to say "prove it" endlessly to keep you on the defensive.
>
>Don't worry, I won't present your non-answer as a "proof" that your scientific beliefs have no merit ;-)

Actually, I'd agree with your point that the answer is not the problem, it's the definition of the question. First, one would need the exact limits of the Solar system; then there'd be the question of it not being a system in a strict sense - it's permanently receiving mass from the outlying regions and emitting it at the same time. In cases like that, we may need to limit our question to the number of molecules at a certain moment, a snapshot of the process, and even then there's the Sol itself which is always creating new molecules and having other molecules consumed in the process... so, how precise would the answer have to be?

But I wasn't into any scholastic dispute, I was only into "what does the book say, how many". IOW, how many specific cases of humans being created are there. Should be a finite number, as the book is just a few megabytes long.