In certain respect, the decline of the Roman Empire or for that matter any empire in recorded history can be attributed to the failure of counting large numbers without place values as described by exponentiation and logarithm. Both are mathematical expressions or notations for subduing infinitely large numbers: googol and googolplex.
A googol is 10 raise to the power 100. A googolplex is 10 raise to the power of a googol. Their immensity could hardly be imagined since reality had never been represented by either. The human population on earth is about 6 billions or 6 times 10 raise to the power 9. The typical number of stars in a galaxy is estimated at 10 millions to 1 trillion. The estimate for the number of galaxy in the visible universe is about 100 billions. Since everything is made of matter (mainly protons, neutrons, and electrons) the calculated number of particles in the universe is 4 times 10 raise to the power 79. This extremely large number is 21 powers of 10 less than a googol.
Therefore the one-to-many relationship between a person and the stars is 1 to few hundred billions. If nature is fair and square then every star must be related to only one person, living or dead. The ultimate question is where are the missing persons?
If souls are recycled then the universe is simply infinitely bounded but not infinitely populated. The number of souls could never exceed a googolplex.


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