The One Trillion Principle
How many ancestors do we have? One day I started to count.
I was not prepared for the answer or its implications.
We each have 2 parents, mine: Aegidius and Maria,
My 4 grandparents, Johanna Quirina, Petrus Gerardus, Petrus Jacobus, and
Petronilla,
8 great-grandparents, 16 great-great-grandparents, 32, 64, 128, 256,
512 great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandparents,
1,024 2,048 4,092 8,184 16,368
Fifteen generations ago 32,736 great, great..... grandparents.
Counting back, every generation twice as many ancestors as the generation
of descendants.
Given 25 years per generation, 40 generations occur in 1000 years.
We each have one trillion ancestors in the
last 1000 years,
and double that every 25 years more. Millions and billions, trillions...
Suddenly I realized, we have more ancestors than there are stars in the
heavens,
more than the number of humans in all of time. How could this be? Think
about it.
We all have and we all share the same ancestors! Duplications fill everyone's ancestry tree.
Go back far enough, and everyone with descendants is, in all probably, your ancestor, and everyone's.
We are ALL one family.
As an anthropologist, I am truly saddened listening to news of wars, strife, conquest, starving children, etc., while knowing how related we all are. I hope this mathematical perspective will influence our conceptions of our relations to others everywhere, irrespective of belief systems, unique traditions, freckles, hair color, place of birth, etc. Please pass on this principle to promote peace and tolerance. Thank you.
Return to Anthropology Pages |
| Ancestors |
Generations |
Time/Year |
| 2 | 1 | 1975 |
| 4 | 2 | 1950 |
| 8 | 3 | 1925 |
| 16 | 4 | 1900 |
| 32 | 5 | 1875 |
| 64 | 6 | 1850 |
| 128 | 7 | 1825 |
| 256 | 8 | 1800 |
| 512 | 9 | 1775 |
| 1,024 | 10 | 1750 |
| 2,048 | 11 | 1725 |
| 4,096 | 12 | 1700 |
| 8,192 | 13 | 1675 |
| 16,384 | 14 | 1650 |
| 32,768 | 15 | 1625 |
| 65,536 | 16 | 1600 |
| 131,072 | 17 | 1575 |
| 262,144 | 18 | 1550 |
| 524,288 | 19 | 1525 |
| 1,048,576 | 20 | 1500 |
| 2,097,152 | 21 | 1475 |
| 4,194,304 | 22 | 1450 |
| 8,388,608 | 23 | 1425 |
| 16,777,216 | 24 | 1400 |
| 33,554,432 | 25 | 1375 |
| 67,108,864 | 26 | 1350 |
| 134,217,728 | 27 | 1325 |
| 268,435,456 | 28 | 1300 |
| 536,870,912 | 29 | 1275 |
| 1,073,741,824 | 30 | 1250 |
| 2,147,483,648 | 31 | 1225 |
| 4,294,967,296 | 32 | 1200 |
| 8,589,934,592 | 33 | 1175 |
| 17,179,869,184 | 34 | 1150 |
| 34,359,738,368 | 35 | 1125 |
| 68,719,476,736 | 36 | 1100 |
| 137,438,953,472 | 37 | 1075 |
| 274,877,906,944 | 38 | 1050 |
| 549,755,813,888 | 39 | 1025 |
| 1,099,511,627,776 | 40 | 1000 |
Further Reading
We Are Family Aug. 7, 2013. USC Dornsife’s Peter Ralph has reconstructed European ancestry, using DNA to demonstrate just how closely everyone on Earth is related to everyone else.
"... everybody who was alive in Europe a thousand years ago and who had children, is an ancestor of everyone alive today who has some European ancestry."
Your comments, etc. will be appreciated. Contact.
©2006 by James Q. Jacobs. All rights reserved.
