this post was submitted on 18 Jul 2023
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Not me personally, but my grandpa was transferred out of Pearl Harbor a week before the attack. I often think about how some random person’s decision that many years ago created my entire family line.
I mean that doesn't really require your grandpa to die for your family line not to happen. In many cases something as simple as taking an earlier bus or leaving a little early so your grandpa doesn't meet your grandma would also do. In fact it is sort of freaky how a little one minute change in your schedule could potentially change the lives of dozens or hundreds of people. Looking left instead of right just as someone sneezes might put you in bed for a few days, stepping on something at the wrong angle might screw your ankle for days,... and those changes quickly spiral out of control in everyone's future timeline for all the people you might interact with.
If we're talking about future humans, we get into the exponential growth stage pretty quickly.
You have 2 kids, and they each average 2 kids, and they each average 2 kids, etc, etc
2, 4, 8, 16, etc - 2 ^ n where n is number of generations
After 20 generations we're already talking a million descendants. With a rough range of 20 years per generation we get 400 years.
That number only blows up from there. In 30 generations we're at a billion in 600 years.
One minor decision whether to take a train or a bus or what have you can have wide ranging effects on potentially billions of humans far into the future. It's a bit absurd thinking about it. Everything you do has potential to radically change the future. Of course, your family line could just as well die out with you.
Now imagine how many descendants you have in your family tree going all the way back to the cavemen. Think of how many infinite little decisions led to the chances of your dad fucking your mom on that specific minute of that specific day. It's effectively a 10 ^ -∞ chance of you being born. And yet you're still here.
My grandad was on the HMS Arethusa playing poker with shipmates in WW2, went to the toilet on another part of the ship just as it was bombed. All the other poker players he left were killed.
I also sometimes think about how my grandad's bowel movements creating my entire family line.
My grandfather was slated to go defend a town from the Nazis, but a tank rolled over his leg so he couldn't go. Everyone in that town was wiped out.