On 10/29/07, Ursus Maximus <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
>
> I'm well aware of the math, (I have degrees in Math and Physics and a
> masters in Operations Research (essentially applied mathematics) and I
> have read many times the "explanation" of how we all share all
> ancestors , but it just ain't true.
>
> Typically, we all share many, maybe most ancestors. But each of us
> also has a lot of ancestors who are our ancestor thousands of times
> over, due to local breeding populations etc. Not everyone is descended
> from David, or any other individual.
Hey, Ron...
I've never heard anyone (whether geneticist or lay-scientist) claim that 'we
share all ancestors.' Only my siblings share the exact same ancestry as I
do, and that's true of any human being (they only share the exact same
ancestry as their siblings (so long as they have the same mother and
father).
I also have never heard anyone claim that we all descend from David. I
think to find a single common ancestor which we all share, we'd have to go
back toward the beginning of the human race. Most of the time, though, when
people are claiming that we are all related to one another, they are not
making that kind of claim. I think what science and 'the numbers' would
more easily demonstrate is that you and I have an ancestor in common,
probably closer than we realize. Also, it would demonstrate that you and
Susan have an ancestor in common, though likely a different one than you'd
be able to trace along with me. Then again, Susan and I would be able to
look back at our ancestries and find overlap. But that is something else
different from the claim that we share all ancestors or that we are all
descended from David or some other identifiable individual personage in
history (except Lucy, perhaps?).
Ben
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