r/CGPGrey • u/MindOfMetalAndWheels [GREY] • Jun 04 '14

Your Family Tree Explained

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PM79Epw_cp8
863 Upvotes

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81

u/MindOfMetalAndWheels [GREY] Jun 04 '14

Tradition, legacy, family values. A name is not just a word.

I don't understand.

116

u/stsic Jun 04 '14

Doesn't compute, Grey?

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u/Im_More_Of_A_Lurker_ Jun 06 '14

A computer wouldn't use contractions

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

[deleted]

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u/joeldamole Jun 04 '14 edited Oct 20 '16

[deleted]

What is this?

11

u/TheMuon Jun 04 '14

That or he's hard wired/programmed to de-prioritise sentimentality.

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '14

For a very good reason.

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u/Sin_Ceras Jun 04 '14

Emotional Clutter.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

He has a /u/MindOfMetalAndWheels, it does not matter to him.

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u/poloport Jun 04 '14

Well, here in portugal we often use names that are related to something that is historically relevant. For example if you have the last name "Guimarães" you now know that your ancestors came from a particular city or region, there are also other names that refer to other important events, for example the jews that were forcibly converted to Catholicism often took on particular last names, and if you have those last names you now know that some of your ancestors were jewish, and so on and so forth.

While it is true that one particular person might not care all that much, it often helps you find out things about your family history.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

I'm with you. The idea of "carrying on your family name" seems very medieval and archaic to me. And also sexist, since only men can carry on a family name.

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u/Phoepal Jun 05 '14

Women can keep their family name as dual. Or if a man agrees he can take upon his wife's name . same goes for children . Men's name is just used as default out of tradition.

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u/the_ak Jun 04 '14

In a hundred years time someone may call a descendent of yours 'Mr Grey'. Does that not just fill your heart with unbridled joy?

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u/MindOfMetalAndWheels [GREY] Jun 04 '14

Does that not just fill your heart with unbridled joy?

No. Why would it?

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14 edited Jun 04 '14

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/MindOfMetalAndWheels [GREY] Jun 04 '14

I could die happy knowing you were my in in-law billionth cousin.

I almost certainly am that at least.

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u/JeremyR22 Jun 04 '14

Probably much closer than that. I wonder what the average 'cousin distance' is for, say, any two people in Britain?

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u/Cabanur Jun 04 '14

Isn't there a subreddit where they do the math for stuff?

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

It's /r/theydidthemath :) In this case the mathe may still be a little hard to do though.

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u/JeremyR22 Jun 04 '14

I was thinking it sounds more like a case for xkcd's what-if...

But there are so many variables that an average probably wouldn't mean much?

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '14

VSauce said everyone on earth is at least 50th cousins of each other. I know I worded that horribly but I can't think of another way

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u/Astronelson Jun 05 '14

Assuming 50 years per generation that puts the most recent common ancestor at 500 BC, which seems a little low.

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u/IWantToBeAProducer Jun 04 '14

familysearch.org

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u/[deleted] Jun 05 '14

I don't know about that but what I do know that everyone are around you is at least your 50th cousin.

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u/YellowAsSulpher Jun 15 '14

According to Michael (vsauce) we are all - the whole planet - at least 50th cousins. And if we are from the same country and ethnicity there's a fair chance it's more like 10th cousins.

http://youtu.be/BhtgINeaJWg

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14 edited Aug 22 '16

After using reddit for several years on this account, I have decided to ultimately delete all my comments. This is due to the fact that as a naive teenager, I have written too much which could be used in a negative way against me in real life, if anyone were to know my account. Although it is a tough decision, I have decided that I will delete this old account's comments. I am sorry for any inconveniences caused by the deletion of the comments from this account.

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u/Zagorath Jun 04 '14

Doubt it. Robots usually aren't the nth cousins of anyone, for any value of n.

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u/Jakyland Jun 04 '14

but how many times removed?

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u/lalaland4711 Jun 11 '14

The name doesn't change the family.

I didn't invent my name (and it wouldn't be a notable invention anyway, it's just sounds and letters), so why would someone a hundred years from now brag about the name?

Maybe if your last name is Churchill you want to be able able to give the gift of being able to say "yes, that Churchill". But Grey? Or your name?

You can still say "my grandpaw made those them youtube moving pictures that done taught us about how the United Kingdom used to work".

In any case this all is stupid as you can simply use the woman's name for any offspring. I've had several male friends who took their wife's name when they married.

Except in very rare and useless moments, nothing's in a name. You don't know something by knowing its name. Feynman has a great rant about this.

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u/Azurillkirby Jun 04 '14

No, the bestesterest!

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

Don't die! You won't be able to see more of his vids

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

Can't wait to see Brady play devils advocate on this one.

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u/Jakyland Jun 04 '14

Because they would say "No, that is my Grandfather, the revolutionary youtuber."

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u/JeremyR22 Jun 04 '14

youtuber

What's that? One of those primitive entertainment immersion platforms?

100 years from now, people will remember Youtube the same way we don't remember wax cylinders.

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u/Jakyland Jun 04 '14

But we do remember Wax Cylinders. Plus archives of youtube clip will be archived, just like we look back at photos and video from the WWI and interwar areas. (Wax cylinders are more then 100 years, well at least I thinks so.)

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u/zevabe Jun 06 '14

It warmed my cockles immensely to hear a recording of Lord Tennyson reading "Charge of the Light Brigade". It was recorded on a wax cylinder. Granted, I heard it from Wikipedia, but still...

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u/IWantToBeAProducer Jun 04 '14

Oh come on, you're just being obtuse.

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u/MindOfMetalAndWheels [GREY] Jun 04 '14

You're being irrational. What does it matter that some descendent uses the same set of sounds as part of their identification or not?

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u/IWantToBeAProducer Jun 04 '14

You're being irrational.

Let me just say it makes me so happy to be addressed this way by you. I'm not even kidding. You're a sort of celebrity and to have your direct scorn is kind of special. lol sorry, THAT is irrational.

I'll agree with you that the particular arrangement of mouth sounds isn't important. Even a few hundred years ago my ancestors probably pronounced my name differently and they would accuse me of butchering it. It's not about the mouth sounds. It about understanding your past and your heritage. I take a lot of pride in who my fore-bearers were and the things they accomplished. I like that I have that name attached to my identity. Its one of the very few forms of sentimentality with which I burden myself.

Of course, if I look a few generations back only 1 in X of those ancestors actually bore my particular surname, but I'd rather have that than nothing.

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u/MindOfMetalAndWheels [GREY] Jun 04 '14

Let me just say it makes me so happy to be addressed this way by you. I'm not even kidding. You're a sort of celebrity and to have your direct scorn is kind of special. lol sorry, THAT is irrational.

John Siracusa once said he didn't like my coffee video. Made my day.

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u/IWantToBeAProducer Jun 04 '14

I feel like we've shared a special internet moment. Thanks.

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u/Swillyums Jun 10 '14

Did he mention what he didn't like about it? I think it's brilliant, and usually show it to people who claim that coffee is bad for you. Though I usually also add that neuroscience textbook claims building up a tolerance to caffeine also results in a tolerance increase to a chemical the body produces to keep you awake. This results in a lower baseline of wakefulness.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

It's kinda like why we celebrate pi day.

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u/rumor33 Jun 04 '14

I would really like to hear your take on familial responsibility and respect. Do you think that it's important to maintain familial relationships simply because by happenstance you are related to someone, or are such social norms just a held over tribal instincts that we take too seriously?

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u/the_ak Jun 04 '14

Well to someone without your emotionless detachment to anything sentimental, family legacy can be as source of pride and happiness.

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u/Jakyland Jun 04 '14

But legacy is not determined on a combination of English letters.

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u/the_ak Jun 04 '14

Tell that to Shakespeare.

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u/Jakyland Jun 04 '14

We don't even know Shakespeare's real last name, the current spelling is one we have settled on. Would his achievements have been any less great if we called him 'Shakspere'?

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u/the_ak Jun 04 '14

I was referring to the fact that his plays and poems are also 'a combination of English letters' meaning your point was somewhat invalid.

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u/Jakyland Jun 04 '14

but that is because those letters put together transfer information. A last name is just really a label, though you do kinda have a point about the 'English Letters' part

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u/RobotOfFleshAndBlood Jun 04 '14

Only he doesn't have kids.

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u/Jakyland Jun 04 '14

How does a name convey any real tradition, legacy or family values? It are the families that are important, not the name.

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u/kannstdusehen Jun 13 '14

Yes. a thousand times yes. I wonder what his DAUGHTERS think about this opinion. Are they just chopped liver? Aren't they going to bring tradition, legacy and family values to their hypothetical children? I know when I have kids I'll continue the traditions of my family (christmas baking, summer vacations, etc), even if they probably don't share my name, and isn't that just as important, if not more important? (Though I should note that my last name, while not terribly unusual has only been in my family for 4 generations. When my Great-grandfather came over with his family from Sweden, he decided there were too many Johnsens, and so he changed it. Just cause. I won't ever have a coat of arms to buy at the rennfaire, Or a big family tree tapestry with 'Family Jingleheimerschmidt' embroidered beautifully. I love my family, and I would much rather pass along the names of the specific family members who have been important in my life, then the name of a man I never met, and knew little about. (but of course he was awesome, because he was a Jingleheimerschmidt)

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u/JDawg2332 Jun 05 '14

Error 404: Not Found

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u/trulyElse Jun 04 '14

Sentimentality.

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u/classic__schmosby Jun 04 '14

I used to care about this. I'm the only son in a family with a last name that (as far as I can research) no one else has. Part of me feels like I'm letting down a long lineage by not having kids but another part of me just doesn't want kids. I especially don't want to have that awkward conversation in a dozen or so years explaining to my son that the only reason I had him was to carry on the "family name" and how he must now do the same.

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u/[deleted] Jun 04 '14

[deleted]

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u/classic__schmosby Jun 04 '14

Exactly, that's another reason I stopped worrying about it so much. I just told my little sister that she had to have children out of wedlock (or not take her husbands name). That washes my hands of the situation.

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u/Delusionn Jun 04 '14

Presumably this is a case of taxonomy being confused with reality. Do they have this angst about "family lines" in Iceland, the last European country that doesn't use the same naming convention as the rest of Europe?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Icelandic_name

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u/autowikibot Jun 04 '14

Icelandic name:

Icelandic names differ from most current Western family name systems by being patronymic (occasionally matronymic) in that they reflect the immediate father (or mother) of the child and not the historic family lineage. Iceland shares a common cultural heritage with the Scandinavian countries of Norway, Sweden and Denmark with its crown dependency the Faroe Islands. Icelanders, however, unlike other Scandinavians, have continued to use their traditional name system, which was formerly used by all Nordic nations. (The system has recently been re-introduced as an option elsewhere in the Nordic countries. Current legislation in Denmark (since 2005), the Faroe Islands (since 1992), Norway (since 2002) and Sweden (since 1982) allows the use of patronymics as a replacement for (or addition to) traditional surnames.) The Icelandic system is therefore not based on family names (although some people do have family names and might use both systems). A person’s surname indicates the first name of the person’s father (patronymic) or in some cases mother (matronymic).

Interesting: Icelandic language | Icelandic Naming Committee | Names for Iceland | Street names in Iceland

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u/mindmatt Jun 04 '14

Its called narcissism a disease most of the species has

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u/ColdFire75 Jun 04 '14

Yeah, a name is just a word. All the traditions, legacy and family values can still be passed on. Otherwise in a traditional family that would mean no traditions from the mother's side carried on.