do you get freaked out knowing you dont know who you were related to in 950AD?

[iOrlando]

Its a freaky thought...but i would venture to say that most people if not all people dont know who their relatives were in say 900AD - 1100AD. Or said in another way...picture your offspring in year 3000 not ever knowing that you existed even though you helped to create them.

assuming you had 3 kids and your offspring had 2 kids each each generation, you would be partly responsible for 768 human beings by the 10th generation.

You ever think about that?

 

[GoCubsGo]

Yeah I am pretty freaking pissed off because I'd also like to know who is skimping on the bday presents.

 

[themoonisdown09]

It does hurt your head when you think about it, but I figure, we're all related if you go back to the beginning anyways.

 

[yg17]

Nope. Don't know who my relatives in 950 were, don't really care either. Would be nice to know but I won't lose any sleep over it.

 

[arkitect]

you would be partly responsible for 768 human beings by the 10th generation.

You ever think about that?

I wish more people would think before they start popping out children.
The long term effects are pretty dire.

 

[iOrlando]

i wonder why family trees/heritage was never really treasured during the ages. was it that wars and constant movement just made it difficult to keep track? or people just dont care...i mean its interesting...but if you found out who you were related to in 950AD what would you do about it? There seems to be a reinsurgance in that kind of stuff lately but you can only go back so far before it just gets hard.

Maybe its easier for non-americans? where immigration wasnt as big of an issue? for many americans..their roots just seem to stop at ellis island with the name changing and such.

though about it a little more...all you needed was one baby to be orphaned or involved in some freak sword accident and the family tree would have been lost forever...

 

[-aggie-]

I'd only care if it turned out I was heir to the throne of England.

 

[eawmp1]

Since true paternity is often in question, who truly knows all the branches of the family tree?

 

[yg17]

I'd only care if it turned out I was heir to the throne of England.

This nice man emailed me and told me I'm the only living heir to the throne of Nigeria and I can claim my multi million dollar inheritance by sending him my bank account and PIN numbers.

 

[rdowns]

This nice man emailed me and told me I'm the only living heir to the throne of Nigeria and I can claim my multi million dollar inheritance by sending him my bank account and PIN numbers.

How cool, I got the same. We must be separated at birth.

 

[yellow]

Yes I do think of this kind of thing, and I've always wanted to get my mitochondrial DNA checked to get some inkling of where I came from.

 

[dmmcintyre3]

This nice man emailed me and told me I'm the only living heir to the throne of Nigeria and I can claim my multi million dollar inheritance by sending him my bank account and PIN numbers.

How cool, I got the same. We must be separated at birth.

Those are scams, don't do them unless you want to loose your entire bank account

 

[SilentPanda]

I actually dug into my family tree back to about 1600 using Ancestry.com and some resources my family had. You'd be amazed how far back you can get if you try. I had to cancel my subscription to Ancestry.com though as it was becoming very addicting... they keep your tree intact though so you can continue it if/when you come back which is nice. They also have a ton of old scanned documents. Very interesting to see grandparents and great grandparents on a census or military card.

 

[rdowns]

Those are scams, don't do them unless you want to loose your entire bank account

DUH

Do you have proof of this or do you just come onto Internet boards and spout nonsense?

 

[-aggie-]

Those are scams, don't do them unless you want to loose your entire bank account

Really? Link?

 

[Queso]

This is something I've personally thought through. Not only will there come a point where I cease to exist, there will come another point a few decades later where everyone that knew me ceases to exist, and another point a few decades after that where nobody will care that I ever existed at all. Even my grave will become forgotten.

And I'm glad to say I don't really care that much. I won't even notice as I'll be dead

The truth is, unless you're lucky enough to be a Shakespeare, great enough to be a Ghandi or evil enough to be a Hitler you're not getting into the history books. Deal with it.

 

[arkitect]

Those are scams, don't do them unless you want to loose your entire bank account

Really?
Because the email I received last year was like totally legit and the daughter (of a minister who cannot be named) was true to her word and deposited $****** into my account. (I blanked the actual sum because I do not want the IRS on my tail.)

I certainly would recommend to all my friends to follow up on these emails.
YMMV, of course.

You are really, really missing out on one of life's great opportunities by not replying to these emails.
Would you turn down the Spanish lottery tickets as well?

Even my grave will become forgotten.

You're going to have a grave?
Just going up in smoke for me thanks.

 

[yg17]

Those are scams, don't do them unless you want to loose your entire bank account

I hope not. I already sent him all my info. If this is real, I'm gonna be rich!!!!!

 

[-aggie-]

I hope not. I already sent him all my info. If this is real, I'm gonna be rich!!!!!

Some people get all the luck.

 

[0098386]

In all fairness there wasn't much to record stuff with back then. We have photos my great-great-great grandparents and we can trace our family back to the 1700's (back to a chap called Edmund, of all people ) but it all ends there.

 

[arkitect]

back to a chap called Edmund, of all people ) but it all ends there.

Wow. Edmund the Martyr of East Anglia? Impressive.

 

[maflynn]

Its a freaky thought...but i would venture to say that most people if not all people dont know who their relatives were in say 900AD - 1100AD.

Agreed, and let me add could care less which I'm in that category. Does it really matter I know the name of my ancestors who lived in Ireland 1000AD?

I'd rather look forward to the future not behind in the past, especially the distant past

 

[yellow]

I actually dug into my family tree back to about 1600 using Ancestry.com and some resources my family had. You'd be amazed how far back you can get if you try. I had to cancel my subscription to Ancestry.com though as it was becoming very addicting... they keep your tree intact though so you can continue it if/when you come back which is nice. They also have a ton of old scanned documents. Very interesting to see grandparents and great grandparents on a census or military card.

From what I've see so far I'm a little disappointed, this is great if your family has been in the US for a while, but I'm 2nd generation, so I'm not learning anything I didn't already know.

 

[Berlepsch]

Its a freaky thought...but i would venture to say that most people if not all people dont know who their relatives were in say 900AD - 1100AD. Or said in another way...picture your offspring in year 3000 not ever knowing that you existed even though you helped to create them.

assuming you had 3 kids and your offspring had 2 kids each each generation, you would be partly responsible for 768 human beings by the 10th generation.

You ever think about that?

My uncle did a bit of genealogy, and he could trace back one branch of our family to a farm in the West of Germany that was already mentioned in documents from around 1000AD. Actually he and my father were born only a few kilometers from that place.

Regarding your arithmetics - my ancestors from that farm 1000 years ago lived 33 generations before me, assuming that 1 generation = 30 years. With each generation that I go back in time, the number of ancestors roughly doubles (2 parents, 6 parents + grand parents, 14 p+gp+ggp, 2^(n+1)-2 for the nth generation before me). That makes a mind-boggling 17 billion people over 33 generations, more than currently living on earth!

 

[dukebound85]

Agreed, and let me add couldn't care less which I'm in that category. Does it really matter I know the name of my ancestors who lived in Ireland 1000AD?

I'd rather look forward to the future not behind in the past, especially the distant past

fixed

othwerwise, makes noooo sense