Last Child

T

tinfoil_star

Registered Member
(From my livejournal, Mon. Nov 5th)


Here's food for thought:

Assuming the human race all originated from one pair of humans, that would mean that we all are related. Correct? Corrent. Well, do you suppose that means that the last child ever born will be a part of everyone who came before 'it'?


p/s: Consider viewing the population of humans as a geometrical diamond, perhaps... The population started small (the tip), grew, is still growing, but will eventually reach it's peak (center of diamond) narrow down and we'll be gone (remaining tip). Maybe it's not a symetrical diamond, but it's just a thought I had
 
Hey Tinfoil Star,

The mitrochondrial Homo sapien Eve (or Lucy) lived roughly 150 to 200 thousand years ago, though the genus Homo has had a 2 million-year history.

DNA evidence suggests that for some reason the entire human population bottlenecked down to roughly 10 thousand persons approximately 65 thousand years ago.

I saw an article in Science magazine some time back (I could find the issue number from my notes if anyone is interested) suggesting that most Europeans today are descended from only 10 persons (if my memory is accurate) arriving from Asia in three groups. The first group arrived in Europe nearly 40 thousand years ago.

I've always been impressed with the sheer number of my ancestors. For example, go back only 500 years, allowing 25 years per generation. Ignore possible cross relations. In only the past 500 years, how many people had to meet and get cozy in order that you now exist?

The answer; 500/25 = 20 generations,
2^20 = 1,048,576 persons. In only the past 500 years you had just over one million direct ancestors!

It's a favorite idea of mine that we have forgotten that we are all one large extended family. The simple calculation above helps to remind us of that fact.

"We are a single gene pool from which individuals are drawn in each generation and into which they are dissolved the next generation, forever united as a species by heritage and a common future"
E.O. Wilson, Consilience

Your bro,
Mike
 
That made me think .. only thing is, if you were to try and draw this shape out, it probably wouldn't be a diamond, because at points in human history population probably went down, then up, and down, and so on. Even if that didn't happen the rate of population growth would change the shape.. Maybe more of a star shape?

But, uh, I have no idea why I just thought of that :) .
 
May be we did not come from two humans the same way the dinos or tigers did not come from two but evolved from lesser specis simultaneously just like people apply for patents at the same time or new ideas are generated at the same time all over the world independently....
 
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