How long has mankind existed?

Question

How long has mankind existed?

Answer 1

Depends on what you mean by "man".  Assuming that you mean modern man (us, in other words), approximately 40,000 years.

Answer 2

This depends on your definition of man.  Scientists believe that the separation between the ancestors of modern man and the ancestors of a  modern apes occured between 4-7 million years ago.  Modern looking Cro-Magnon man appeared somewhere between 100,000 and 200,000 years ago.  However, there was a dramatic change in tool use and creativity about 40,000 years ago.  This was not a physical change, but involved thinking and problem solving.  If you ask fundementalist Christians, the answer is around 6,000 years ago when God created man.

Answer 3

Homo Sapiens, or modern man, evolved about 150.000 years ago.

Answer 4

You should learn to seek out the answer in the place that is more foreign than euro-centric maps.