How Every Person at Some Point Will Be Either an Ancestor of All Who Are Alive or Those Who Are Dead

Cameron Duke from MinuteEarth explained another family paradox that predicts that every person, at some point in history, will either be an ancestor to everyone who is alive or to those who are no longer living, due to historical genealogies.

There is a point in human history where everyone alive at the time fits into one of two categories: Either they are the ancestor of nobody alive today, or they are an ancestor of everyone alive today because of how genealogy and genetic lineages work – and it is much more recent than you think.

Another Ancestor Paradox

Why Families That Go Back Many Generations Have Far Fewer Ancestors Than They Expected
Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.

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