The mathematics of it are not quite correct.
It is true that a 2^100 is a big number, but it is not logical that 2^100 is where your genes come from. Look at is this way.
4 generations ago, there were Abe, Betty, Craig and Debbie.
Abe and Betty begat Ellen and Frank, Craig and Debbie begat Gary and Hellen.
Frank and Hellen begat Kenny, while Ellan and Gary begat Linda
Kenny and Linda begat you.
Now, by permutation, we have 2^3 or 8 ancestors. But, as you can see from the example, only 4 ancestors were needed. This combination can be extended out indefinately.
So our genes don't come from 2^n parents in the distant past. From what I've read, a population of 10,000 diverse humans could produce the genetic differentiation present in our current population, over 65 millenia. |
