Wired News: Human Family Tree: Shallow Roots

Wired News: Human Family Tree: Shallow Roots: "With the help of a statistician, a computer scientist and a supercomputer, Olson has calculated just how interconnected the human family tree is. You would have to go back in time only 2,000 to 5,000 years -- and probably on the low side of that range -- to find somebody who could count every person alive today as a descendant.

Furthermore, Olson and his colleagues have found that if you go back a little farther -- about 5,000 to 7,000 years ago -- everybody living today has exactly the same set of ancestors. In other words, every person who was alive at that time is either an ancestor to all 6 billion people living today, or their line died out and they have no remaining descendants."

Above is an excert from a three page article found at the Wired News link. Although, at some point we all share common ancestry, I don't subscribe to Mr. Olson's theory. There are far too many unknown variables to this 'calculation' than what can be accounted for. It, however, makes for an interesting read and allows one to entertain the thought ever so briefly. Check it out and you decide.