Have you ever stopped and thought about how many ancestors you have in a given generation? As we go back each generation, the number of our ancestors double, becoming an astoundingly large number. Take a look at the following table I put together to get a picture of how fortunate we are to be alive. The table includes an estimated year in which our ancestors were living. Can you imagine the sequence of events and chance meetings that had to take place in order for our parents to meet and give birth to us?
* This table is based on the assumptions that you are 30 years old, no incest took place in the family, and a new generation was produced every 30 years. The first generation starts with you.
Generation | No. of Parents/Ancestors | Est. Year |
---|---|---|
– | – | 2015 |
1 (You) | 2 | 1985 |
2 | 4 | 1955 |
3 | 8 | 1925 |
4 | 16 | 1895 |
5 | 32 | 1865 |
6 | 64 | 1835 |
7 | 128 | 1805 |
8 | 256 | 1775 |
9 | 512 | 1745 |
10 | 1,024 | 1715 |
11 | 2,048 | 1685 |
12 | 4,096 | 1655 |
13 | 8,192 | 1625 |
14 | 16,384 | 1595 |
15 | 32,768 | 1565 |
16 | 65,536 | 1535 |
17 | 131,072 | 1505 |
18 | 262,144 | 1475 |
19 | 524,288 | 1445 |
20 | 1,048,576 | 1415 |