user8305: If all of us are re-incarnations of prior human beings, how do we account for the growing population? Where do “new” humans come from?

user8305: As per My knowledge of Buddhism Lord Buddha said this is a Question That Time Wast's. Buddha said you cannot ever find end for where new Humans come from.. its like you cannot find End of the Universe..

user7611: This question is born out of the misconception that Buddhism teaches reincarnation as in after death you can only become a human (I've seen this same question and criticism of reincarnation on many websites before), this portrayal in the media is completely wrong and inaccurate.
The Buddha says:

"Sariputta, there are these five destinations. What are the five? Hell, the animal realm, the realm of ghosts, human beings and devas" (Maha-sihanada Sutta, MN 12)

Those are the five possibilities for anyone's prior existence.
Modern day humans were not necessarily humans on Earth in their previous existence (actually quite unlikely), they could've been in a hellish world, an animal, a spirit, or in a heavenly world in their very last previous existence.
This means a growing human population does not contradict rebirth or re-existence (the world population was 3 billion in 1960, now it's more than 7 billion).
The Buddha for instance was not thought to have been a human on Earth in his last existence, but existing in the Tusita heaven before taking birth on Earth. He had a great childhood, good-natured parents, and lots of luxuries which few humans even in modern times have.
In short all "new" humans in their prior existence before taking birth as a human existed in a hellish world, as an animal, a ghost, a human, or in a heavenly world (and very unlikely to have been a human right before this existence).
It is just a popular misconception that Buddhism teaches that after death one is only born as a human on Earth again and again.
UPDATE: The Buddha seems to explain that the majority of humans and devas (heavenly beings) do not take birth as humans after passing away:

Then the Blessed One, picking up a little bit of dust with the tip of his fingernail, said to the monks, "What do you think, monks? Which is greater: the little bit of dust I have picked up with the tip of my fingernail, or the great earth?"
"The great earth is far greater, lord. The little bit of dust the Blessed One has picked up with the tip of his fingernail is next to nothing. It doesn't even count. It's no comparison. It's not even a fraction, this little bit of dust the Blessed One has picked up with the tip of his fingernail, when compared with the great earth.
"In the same way, monks, few are the beings who, on passing away from
the human realm, are reborn among human beings. Far more are the
beings who, on passing away from the human realm, are reborn in
hell... in the animal womb... in the domain of the hungry ghosts."
"In the same way, monks, few are the beings who, on passing away from
the deva realm, are reborn among human beings. Far more are the beings
who, on passing away from the deva realm, are reborn in hell... in the
animal womb... in the domain of the hungry ghosts." (Pansu Suttas, SN
56.102-113)

The stereotype portrayed in the media of Buddhist reincarnation (after death one is born as a human again) is here stated as extraordinarily rare by The Buddha himself.
The majority of humans and devas after death go to hell, the animal womb, or the realm of ghosts instead of being reborn as a human or a deva in a heavenly world.
So based on what The Buddha says I would expect that the majority of "new" humans came from hellish worlds, the animal realm, or the realm of ghosts since The Buddha explains how extremely unlikely birth as a human is after death as a human or deva.
But the number of existences is countless so everyone existed in one the five realms many times before which may cause confusion.
The Buddha also explains in the Cula-kammavibhanga Sutta (MN 135) how one can exhaust their good and bad kamma in a human state instead of in a heavenly or hellish world.
The Buddha also explains in the Maha Kammavibhanga Sutta (MN 136) how it's not true that all good people go to heaven or that all evil people go to hell and that some evil people go to heaven and some good people go to hell by explaining the different variables involved (one's past kamma, later kamma, views at the time of death).
I still don't know where the popular media portrayal view of rebirth only as a human comes from debunked by The Buddha himself.
Birth as human is really rare, usually more pleasant than many other destinations, and gives one many opportunities.

user8157: There is no evidence all of us are re-incarnations of prior human beings. If we were, the Buddha would have explicitly explained this.
MN 38 explains how a new child comes to be:

Bhikkhus, the conception of an embryo in a womb takes place through the union of three things. Here, there is the union of the
mother and father...it is the mother’s season and the
gandhabba is present....

SN 31.1 gives the impression 'gandhabba' is similar to sperm, i.e., sexual seeds that create life:

Bhikkhus, I will teach you about the devas (gods) of the gandhabba order. Listen to that....
And what, bhikkhus, are the
devas of the gandhabba order? There are, bhikkhus, devas dwelling in
the fragrant roots, devas dwelling in the fragrant heartwood, devas
dwelling in the fragrant softwood, devas dwelling in fragrant leaves,
devas dwelling in fragrant flowers, devas dwelling in fragrant fruits,
devas dwelling in fragrant sap and devas dwelling in fragrant scents.
These bhikkhus are called the devas of the gandhabba order.

Commentary by Bhikkhu Bodhi:

The gandhabbas are associated with fragrant substances, no doubt because the word is based on the stem gandha, meaning scent.

In the Pali language, the word for 'human' is 'manussa', which means 'high minded' or 'noble/good heart'. The word 'manussa' is not the same as 'puggala' ('people').
SN 56.102-131 explain 'animals', 'ghosts' & 'hell' beings are reborn 'human' & 'godly' by seeing the Four Noble Truths and also explain gods & humans pass away into hell, the animal realm & the animal kingdom by not seeing (adiṭṭhā) the Four Noble Truths.

user5838: We are not necessarily re-incarnations of prior human beings. There are 31 planes of existence in Buddhism. So the  present human beings could result from any of the 26 planes out of 31 planes of existence(except 5 non-returner Bhrama realms) which consist of unaccountably large number of beings. For example, imagine the number of beings living in  Animals realm (tiracchana yoni).

8305: <p>If all of us are re-incarnations of prior human beings, how do we account for the growing population? Where do “new” humans come from?</p>
 8305: <p>As per My knowledge of Buddhism Lord Buddha said this is a Question That Time Wast's. Buddha said you cannot ever find end for where new Humans come from.. its like you cannot find End of the Universe..</p>
 7611: <p>This question is born out of the misconception that Buddhism teaches reincarnation as in after death you can only become a human (I've seen this same question and criticism of reincarnation on many websites before), this portrayal in the media is completely wrong and inaccurate.</p>
<p>The Buddha says:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>&quot;Sariputta, there are these five destinations. What are the five? Hell, the animal realm, the realm of ghosts, human beings and devas&quot; (Maha-sihanada Sutta, MN 12)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Those are the five possibilities for anyone's prior existence.</p>
<p>Modern day humans were not necessarily humans on Earth in their previous existence (actually quite unlikely), they could've been in a hellish world, an animal, a spirit, or in a heavenly world in their very last previous existence.</p>
<p>This means a growing human population does not contradict rebirth or re-existence (the world population was 3 billion in 1960, now it's more than 7 billion).</p>
<p>The Buddha for instance was not thought to have been a human on Earth in his last existence, but existing in the Tusita heaven before taking birth on Earth. He had a great childhood, good-natured parents, and lots of luxuries which few humans even in modern times have.</p>
<p>In short all &quot;new&quot; humans in their prior existence before taking birth as a human existed in a hellish world, as an animal, a ghost, a human, or in a heavenly world (and very unlikely to have been a human right before this existence).</p>
<p>It is just a popular misconception that Buddhism teaches that after death one is only born as a human on Earth again and again.</p>
<p>UPDATE: The Buddha seems to explain that the majority of humans and devas (heavenly beings) do not take birth as humans after passing away:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Then the Blessed One, picking up a little bit of dust with the tip of his fingernail, said to the monks, &quot;What do you think, monks? Which is greater: the little bit of dust I have picked up with the tip of my fingernail, or the great earth?&quot;</p>
<p>&quot;The great earth is far greater, lord. The little bit of dust the Blessed One has picked up with the tip of his fingernail is next to nothing. It doesn't even count. It's no comparison. It's not even a fraction, this little bit of dust the Blessed One has picked up with the tip of his fingernail, when compared with the great earth.</p>
<p>&quot;In the same way, monks, few are the beings who, on passing away from
the human realm, are reborn among human beings. Far more are the
beings who, on passing away from the human realm, are reborn in
hell... in the animal womb... in the domain of the hungry ghosts.&quot;</p>
<p>&quot;In the same way, monks, few are the beings who, on passing away from
the deva realm, are reborn among human beings. Far more are the beings
who, on passing away from the deva realm, are reborn in hell... in the
animal womb... in the domain of the hungry ghosts.&quot; (Pansu Suttas, SN
56.102-113)</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The stereotype portrayed in the media of Buddhist reincarnation (after death one is born as a human again) is here stated as extraordinarily rare by The Buddha himself.</p>
<p>The majority of humans and devas after death go to hell, the animal womb, or the realm of ghosts instead of being reborn as a human or a deva in a heavenly world.</p>
<p>So based on what The Buddha says I would expect that the majority of &quot;new&quot; humans came from hellish worlds, the animal realm, or the realm of ghosts since The Buddha explains how extremely unlikely birth as a human is after death as a human or deva.</p>
<p>But the number of existences is countless so everyone existed in one the five realms many times before which may cause confusion.</p>
<p>The Buddha also explains in the Cula-kammavibhanga Sutta (MN 135) how one can exhaust their good and bad kamma in a human state instead of in a heavenly or hellish world.</p>
<p>The Buddha also explains in the Maha Kammavibhanga Sutta (MN 136) how it's not true that all good people go to heaven or that all evil people go to hell and that some evil people go to heaven and some good people go to hell by explaining the different variables involved (one's past kamma, later kamma, views at the time of death).</p>
<p>I still don't know where the popular media portrayal view of rebirth only as a human comes from debunked by The Buddha himself.</p>
<p>Birth as human is really rare, usually more pleasant than many other destinations, and gives one many opportunities.</p>
 8157: <p>There is no evidence all of us are re-incarnations of prior human beings. If we were, the Buddha would have explicitly explained this.</p>
<p>MN 38 explains how a new child comes to be:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Bhikkhus, the conception of an embryo in a womb takes place through the union of <strong>three things</strong>. Here, there is the <strong>union</strong> of the
mother and father...it is the <strong>mother’s season</strong> and the
<strong>gandhabba</strong> is present....</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>SN 31.1 gives the impression 'gandhabba' is similar to sperm, i.e., sexual seeds that create life:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>Bhikkhus, I will teach you about the devas (gods) of the gandhabba order. Listen to that....</em></p>
<p><em>And what, bhikkhus, are the
devas of the gandhabba order? There are, bhikkhus, devas dwelling in
the fragrant roots, devas dwelling in the fragrant heartwood, devas
dwelling in the fragrant softwood, devas dwelling in fragrant leaves,
devas dwelling in fragrant flowers, devas dwelling in fragrant fruits,
devas dwelling in fragrant sap and devas dwelling in fragrant scents.</em></p>
<p><em>These bhikkhus are called the devas of the gandhabba order.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>Commentary by Bhikkhu Bodhi:</p>
<blockquote>
<p><em>The gandhabbas are associated with fragrant substances, no doubt because the word is based on the stem gandha, meaning scent.</em></p>
</blockquote>
<p>In the Pali language, the word for 'human' is 'manussa', which means 'high minded' or 'noble/good heart'. The word 'manussa' is not the same as 'puggala' ('people').</p>
<p><a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/sn/sn56/sn56.102-113.than.html" rel="nofollow noreferrer">SN 56.102-131</a> explain 'animals', 'ghosts' &amp; 'hell' beings are reborn 'human' &amp; 'godly' by seeing the Four Noble Truths and also explain gods &amp; humans pass away into hell, the animal realm &amp; the animal kingdom by not seeing (adiṭṭhā) the Four Noble Truths.</p>
 5838: <p>We are <strong>not necessarily</strong> re-incarnations of prior human beings. There are <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/ptf/dhamma/sagga/loka.html" rel="noreferrer">31 planes of existence</a> in Buddhism. So the  present human beings could result from any of the 26 planes out of 31 planes of existence(except 5 non-returner Bhrama realms) which consist of unaccountably large number of beings. For example, imagine the number of beings living in  Animals realm (tiracchana yoni).</p>
