how long has human beings been on the earth?

Answer 1

3.5 million years

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/10/061002214649.htm
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060926111354.htm

i am christian but the only way i could believe that we were here for only 6,000 years is if Adam and Eve were aliens and brought there vast knowledge with them. or we started classifying humans as humans only when we was religious(silly).
religion has been interpreted too many times. and is too likely to have some flaws. so in this instance i have to go with science.

Answer 2

Modern humans have been around for about 120,000 years. At that time there were a few other evolutionary branches that were close to modern humans as well (such as Neanderthals), but humans in our form were so sucessful at reproducing and spreading that these other populations disappeared.
Hominids from which we evolved began to appear about 1-2 million years ago. We're relative newcomers on this planet, but we most certainly have been around for longer than the 6,000 years or so that bible-ites claim. There are *written* records of human history older than 10,000 years, that 6,000 year claim is ludicrous.

Answer 3

Depends on what you define as 'human being,' most anthropologist estimate that the latest version of hominids (homo sapiens) first made their appearance around 100-160,000 years ago. Can you count earlier ancestors to the hominids in your definition....all the way back to Lucy some 2 to 4 million years ago?

The 6,000 year old claim just blows me away, especially in this modern era. But, alas, obsolete genes do not die overnite.

Answer 4

Modern Humans have been on earth for around 100,000 years. The first human species was around 200,000 years ago.

Answer 5

I think only a few thousand years, but the earth has been here for millions of years

Answer 6

Africa North Africa North Africa Paleolithic

Epipaleolithic
Neolithic c7500 BC
Iron Age
Roman

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa Early Stone Age

Middle Stone Age
Late Stone Age
Neolithic c4000 BC

Asia Near East Levantine Stone age (2,000,000 BP - 3300 BCE)

Bronze age (3300 BCE - 1200 BCE)
Iron age (1200 BCE - 586 BCE)
Historical periods (586 BCE - present)

South Asia South Asian Periods
East Asia East Asia Periods Neolithic c. 6000 BC
North Asia North Asia Periods
Japan Japan Periods Paleolithic c. 100,000 - c. 10,000 BC

Jomon period c. 10,000 BC - 300 BC
Yayoi period c 300 BC - AD 250
Yamoto period c. AD 250 - 710

Americas North America North America Lithic/Paleo-Indian (pre 8000 BC)

Archaic (c. 8000-1000 BC)
Formative(c. 1000 BC - AD 500)
Classic (c. AD 500 - 1200)
Post-Classic (c.1200 - 1900)

Mesoamerica Mesoamerica Lithic/Paleo-Indian (pre 8000 BC)

Archaic (c. 8000-1000 BC)
Formative(c. 1000 BC - AD 250)
Classic ( AD 250 - 900)
Post-Classic (AD 900 -1515)

South America South America Lithic/Paleo-Indian (pre c. 8200 BC)

Archaic (c. 8200 - 1000 BC)
Formative (c. 1000 BC - AD 500)
Classic (c. AD 500 - 1200)
Post-Classic (c. AD 1200 - 1900)

Australasia Australia Australia
New Zealand New Zealand Archaic period (AD 1000 - 1350/1650)

Classic period (AD 1350-1800) or (1650-1800 in eastern South Island)

Oceania Oceania
Europe Northern Europe Northern Europe Mesolithic

Neolithic
Bronze Age
Iron Age
Roman Iron Age (c. AD 1 - 400)
Germanic Iron Age (c. AD 400- 800)
Viking Age (c. AD 800 - 1066)
Medieval period (1066 - c. 1500)
Post-medieval period (c. 1500 - c. 1800)
Industrial/Modern

Western Europe Western Europe Paleolithic

Mesolithic
Neolithic
Iron Age
Roman
Early medieval period (c. AD 400- 800)
Medieval period (800 - c. 1500)
Post-medieval period (c. 1500 - c. 1800)
Industrial/Modern

South eastern Europe South eastern Europe Paleolithic

Epipaleolithic
Neolithic
Chalcolithic
Bronze Age
Iron Age
Hellenistic period
Roman
Byzantine period

Answer 7

If you are a human being, about 3.5 million years; if you are a Christian, about 6000 years.

Answer 8

about 6,000 years