GW2500
Senior Member
- Joined
- Jan 11, 2008
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So I was hoping someone could figure out the error in my math, b/c right now I'm confused. So this is what I was thinking about, its regard to generations.
So a person was created from two people (mom and dad). That person's parents have a mom and dad, and those parents had moms and dads. Basically to figure out the number of great grandparents a person has its an exponential equation. 2^x (w/ x being number of generations) will give you how many direct descendants you have from a certain number of generations. So great grandparents are 3 generations ago, so 2^3 gets you 8, which is correct. Here's where it gets tricky. Go back 2000 years ago. So lets say the average generation is 30 years (which I imagine its even less than that). So 2000 years divided by 30 would give you 66 and 2/3. So 66 generations. Now apply the formula 2^66 . Its a really large number, well past trillions, and given that the population is the largest its ever been at 6.9 billion obviously there is a flaw in my thought. The thing is I can't figure out where I am wrong. Any one out there know what I'm missing?
So a person was created from two people (mom and dad). That person's parents have a mom and dad, and those parents had moms and dads. Basically to figure out the number of great grandparents a person has its an exponential equation. 2^x (w/ x being number of generations) will give you how many direct descendants you have from a certain number of generations. So great grandparents are 3 generations ago, so 2^3 gets you 8, which is correct. Here's where it gets tricky. Go back 2000 years ago. So lets say the average generation is 30 years (which I imagine its even less than that). So 2000 years divided by 30 would give you 66 and 2/3. So 66 generations. Now apply the formula 2^66 . Its a really large number, well past trillions, and given that the population is the largest its ever been at 6.9 billion obviously there is a flaw in my thought. The thing is I can't figure out where I am wrong. Any one out there know what I'm missing?