SOLUTION: Regarding question #65739. The one about the number of people when counting yourself through your great grandparents using 40 "greats". Since the number obtained is roughly 1000 t

Algebra ->  Sequences-and-series -> SOLUTION: Regarding question #65739. The one about the number of people when counting yourself through your great grandparents using 40 "greats". Since the number obtained is roughly 1000 t      Log On


   

Question 65876: Regarding question #65739. The one about the number of people when counting yourself through your great grandparents using 40 "greats". Since the number obtained is roughly 1000 times the number of people that have ever lived, this is absurd. There must be something wrong with the reasoning. What is it?
Answer by Edwin McCravy(20056) About Me  (Show Source):
You can put this solution on YOUR website!
The one about the number of people when counting yourself through your great grandparents using 40 "greats". Since the number obtained is roughly 1000 times the number of people that have ever lived, this is absurd. There must be something wrong with the reasoning. What is it?
`
The explanation is that people inevitably marry their distant cousins, so that most positions far up in an ancestral tree are not filled by distinct people.
`
Edwin