| 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
before.
Given 25 years per generation, 40 generations occur in 1000 years.
We each have 1.099 trillion ancestors in the
last 1000 years,
and double that every 25 years more. Millions and billions of 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!
Go back far enough, and everyone back then is, in all probably, your ancestor.
We are ALL one family.
| 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 |
Download
ancestors_calc.xls
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.
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