3 ms·

The most important question is ofcourse, what do I have to do to be one of those common ancestors and have my dna be part of every human alive? Is it just havin

by tinco 14y ago

The most important question is ofcourse, what do I have to do to be one of those common ancestors and have my dna be part of every human alive? Is it just having as many wives as possible like solomon and khan, or is there a better strategy?

takluyver 14y ago
If you have several children, and raise them to well-adjusted adults who have children of their own, the chances are already very good. Assuming your average descendant has more than one child, and inbreeding is negligible, the number of descendants increases exponentially by generation. So the probability that none of your descendants in a given generation breed falls off rapidly. Of course, if you can father hundreds of children, that would also work. But you would probably run a much higher risk of being killed or imprisoned before you can spread your genes around much.
nicky0 14y ago
Have as many children as possible and encourage them all to breed prolifically.
- ctdonath 14y ago
  A friend is on her 14th. Get busy.
Cushman 14y ago
Well, your number of children is linear, but your number of descendants is exponential. For the CS students, what this means is that the number of children you have personally, even assuming they all reproduce, rapidly becomes immaterial next to the number of your descendants. The only reason having more children might be beneficial is if it significantly increases the odds that they personally, or their children successfully reproduce. If you have some other way of boosting those odds -- say, by being a successful parent to a smaller number of children -- that's just as good in the long run.
- derekp7 14y ago
  But each generation only carries half the DNA of the previous one. So after 5 generations there is a vanishingly small chance that anyone after that will still carry your DNA, with the exception of male lineage -- there you know that the Y chromosome has made it through.
3pt14159 14y ago
I know a guy that donates to the sperm bank non-stop in Canada. Since it is illegal to pay for sperm here, he's got to be contributing a significant percentage of the banks' resources. He figures he has at least 100 children at this point.
- AznHisoka 14y ago
  well, I guess that's 1 way to spread your seed across humanity...
hackinthebochs 14y ago
Cushman's answer is the correct one. You simply need to have some children. It doesn't matter how many you have as exponential effects will quickly swamp any linear effects of having more than your share now. What determines if you are a common ancestor is the particular genes you carry: do they give the carrier enhanced survival benefits? I can see someone like Kobe Bryant or Brad Pitt being a common ancestor. Edit: thinking about it more, there is something you can do: have as many children as you can with as many genetically diverse women as possible. The key here is diversity, you want to pair your genes up with as wide a range of genes as possible. The reasoning is that we can't predict what environment will be exerting selective pressures in the future. Thus the important factor is genetic diversity. This is basically hedging against unknown changes in the environment. Also, teach your kids to not be racist, so that they will do the same and pass that tendency onto their kids...

by tinco 14y ago

takluyver 14y ago

If you have several children, and raise them to well-adjusted adults who have children of their own, the chances are already very good. Assuming your average descendant has more than one child, and inbreeding is negligible, the number of descendants increases exponentially by generation. So the probability that none of your descendants in a given generation breed falls off rapidly. Of course, if you can father hundreds of children, that would also work. But you would probably run a much higher risk of being killed or imprisoned before you can spread your genes around much.

nicky0 14y ago

Have as many children as possible and encourage them all to breed prolifically.

ctdonath 14y ago
A friend is on her 14th. Get busy.

Cushman 14y ago

Well, your number of children is linear, but your number of descendants is exponential. For the CS students, what this means is that the number of children you have personally, even assuming they all reproduce, rapidly becomes immaterial next to the number of your descendants. The only reason having more children might be beneficial is if it significantly increases the odds that they personally, or their children successfully reproduce. If you have some other way of boosting those odds -- say, by being a successful parent to a smaller number of children -- that's just as good in the long run.

derekp7 14y ago
But each generation only carries half the DNA of the previous one. So after 5 generations there is a vanishingly small chance that anyone after that will still carry your DNA, with the exception of male lineage -- there you know that the Y chromosome has made it through.

3pt14159 14y ago

I know a guy that donates to the sperm bank non-stop in Canada. Since it is illegal to pay for sperm here, he's got to be contributing a significant percentage of the banks' resources. He figures he has at least 100 children at this point.

AznHisoka 14y ago
well, I guess that's 1 way to spread your seed across humanity...

hackinthebochs 14y ago

Cushman's answer is the correct one. You simply need to have some children. It doesn't matter how many you have as exponential effects will quickly swamp any linear effects of having more than your share now. What determines if you are a common ancestor is the particular genes you carry: do they give the carrier enhanced survival benefits? I can see someone like Kobe Bryant or Brad Pitt being a common ancestor. Edit: thinking about it more, there is something you can do: have as many children as you can with as many genetically diverse women as possible. The key here is diversity, you want to pair your genes up with as wide a range of genes as possible. The reasoning is that we can't predict what environment will be exerting selective pressures in the future. Thus the important factor is genetic diversity. This is basically hedging against unknown changes in the environment. Also, teach your kids to not be racist, so that they will do the same and pass that tendency onto their kids...