Six months ago, I got an email from a man in Israel who had read one of my books, and the email said, "You don't know me, but I'm your 12th cousin." And it said, "I have a family tree with 80,000 people on it, including you, Karl Marx, and several European aristocrats." Now I did not know what to make of this. Part of me was like, okay, when's he going to ask me to wire 10,000 dollars to his Nigerian bank, right? I also thought, 80,000 relatives, do I want that? I have enough trouble with some of the ones I have already. And I won't name names, but you know who you are. But another part of me said, this is remarkable. Here I am alone in my office, but I'm not alone at all. I'm connected to 80,000 people around the world, and that's four Madison Square Gardens full of cousins. And some of them are going to be great, and some of them are going to be irritating, but they're all related to me.
6个月前,我收到一封电子邮件, 一位来自以色列 读过我一本书的男士, 邮件里说: “你不认识我, 但我是你的第12代表亲” 还说,“我的家族树里有8万人, 你也在里面, 卡尔.马克思, 还有几个欧洲贵族。” 我不知道该做何反应, 一部份的我大概会做出 「好吧」这样的反应 当他要我汇 1万美金到 他在尼日利亚银行的账户的时候, 我也在想,8万个亲戚, 我需要他们吗? 我现在的亲戚里面, 有些已经够让我头大了。 我不想指名道姓, 但你们知道我在说你们。 但另一方面的我又觉得, 这事太赞了。 我现在一个人呆在办公室里, 却一点也不孤单。 我和世界各地的 8万人有关联, 那可是整整四个麦迪逊广场花园 的亲戚。 他们中间有的会很不错, 有的又会很烦人, 但都和我有关联。
So this email inspired me to dive into genealogy, which I always thought was a very staid and proper field, but it turns out it's going through a fascinating revolution, and a controversial one. Partly, this is because of DNA and genetic testing, but partly, it's because of the Internet. There are sites that now take the Wikipedia approach to family trees, collaboration and crowdsourcing, and what you do is, you load your family tree on, and then these sites search to see if the A.J. Jacobs in your tree is the same as the A.J. Jacobs in another tree, and if it is, then you can combine, and then you combine and combine and combine until you get these massive, mega-family trees with thousands of people on them, or even millions. I'm on something on Geni called the world family tree, which has no less than a jaw-dropping 75 million people. So that's 75 million people connected by blood or marriage, sometimes both. (Laughter) It's in all seven continents, including Antarctica. I'm on it. Many of you are on it, whether you know it or not, and you can see the links. Here's my cousin Gwyneth Paltrow. She has no idea I exist, but we are officially cousins. We have just 17 links between us.
因此,在这封邮件的启发下, 我迷上了谱系学。 我一向觉得这个领域 非常严肃古板,又一本正经, 但结果我发现这一领域 正经历一场革命, 既令人神往又充满争议。 部分原因是DNA和基因测试, 也有部分原因是互联网。 现在有些网站在用维基百科的方法 来建立家族树, 大家协作,人力搜索。 你需要做的就是, 上传你的家族树至网站, 然后这些网站就会搜索, 看你家族树上的 A.J. Jacobs, 和另一个家族树上的 A.J. Jacobs是否相同, 如果是,那么你就可以联接了, 然后你就继续联接下去, 最后你会得到一个 庞大无比的家族树, 里面有几千, 甚至上百万的人。 我是 Geni 网站上一个叫做 世界家族树里的某一成员。 它是一个超过7500万人, 多到令人惊讶的家族树。 意味着这7500万人有血缘关系 或是婚姻关系,有时候两者都有。 (笑声) 它横跨了七大洲,包括南极洲。 我被列在上面, 你们很多人也被列在上面, 不管你们知不知道这件事, 你可以看到这些连结。 这是我的表亲葛妮丝·派特洛。 她根本不知道有我这个人存在, 但我们是公开的表亲关系。 我们之间有17个连结。 这里是我的表亲巴拉克.欧巴马。
And there's my cousin Barack Obama. (Laughter) And he is my aunt's fifth great-aunt's husband's father's wife's seventh great-nephew, so practically my old brother.
(笑声) 他是我姨妈的第15个姨婆的老公的 父亲的老婆的第 7个甥孙。 基本上可以说是我的哥哥。 及我的表亲,当然,
And my cousin, of course, the actor Kevin Bacon -- (Laughter) — who is my first cousin's twice removed's wife's niece's husband's first cousin once removed's niece's husband. So six degrees of Kevin Bacon, plus or minus several degrees.
演员凯文·贝肯 (笑声) 他是我第一表亲的隔二代的 老婆的外甥的老公的表亲的隔一代的 外甥的老公。 所以我与凯文·贝肯是六度关系, 或正负七度关系。
Now, I'm not boasting, because all of you have famous people and historical figures in your tree, because we are all connected, and 75 million may seem like a lot, but in a few years, it's quite likely we will have a family tree with all, almost all, seven billion people on Earth.
我不是在吹牛,你们全部 都有名人或是历史人物 在家族树里面, 因为我们全被连结在一起, 7500万听起来很多, 但是几年过后很可能 我们的家族树 会包含所有在地球上的70亿人。
But does it really matter? What's the importance? And I do think it is important, and I'll give you five reasons why, really quickly.
但是这有什么意义吗? 这有什么重要? 我确实认为这很重要, 我给你们五个理由,
First, it's got scientific value. This is an unprecedented history of the human race, and it's giving us valuable data about how diseases are inherited, how people migrate, and there's a team of scientists at MIT right now studying the world family tree.
第一,这有科学上的价值。 这在人类史上史无前例, 它给我们疾病如何遗传的重要资讯, 人类如何迁移, 而现在麻省理工有个科学家团队正在 研究这个世界家族树。 第二,它让历史活现重生。
Number two, it brings history alive. I found out I'm connected to Albert Einstein, so I told my seven-year-old son that, and he was totally engaged. Now Albert Einstein is not some dead white guy with weird hair. He's Uncle Albert. (Laughter) And my son wanted to know, "What did he say? What is E = MC squared?" Also, it's not all good news. I found a link to Jeffrey Dahmer, the serial killer, but I will say that's on my wife's side. (Laughter) (Applause) So I want to make that clear. Sorry, honey.
我发现我和阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦也有连结, 我把这件事我告诉我七岁大的儿子, 他完全被吸引住了。 现在阿尔伯特·爱因斯坦不再只是个 有着奇怪发型的作古白人。 而是阿尔伯特叔叔了。 (笑声) 然后我儿子想知道, “他说什么?”“什么是E=MC 平方?” 但也不全是好消息。 我发现我跟连续杀人犯 杰弗瑞·达莫有关系, 但我会说,他是在我老婆那边的。 (笑声)(掌声) 我只是想说明清楚, 抱歉,亲爱的。
Number three, interconnectedness. We all come from the same ancestor, and you don't have to believe the literal Bible version, but scientists talk about Y chromosomal Adam and mitochondrial Eve, and these were about 100,000 to 300,000 years ago. We all have a bit of their DNA in us. They are our great-great-great-great-great-great -- continue that for about 7,000 times -- grandparents, and so that means we literally all are biological cousins as well, and estimates vary, but probably the farthest cousin you have on Earth is about a 50th cousin. Now, it's not just ancestors we share, descendants. If you have kids, and they have kids, look how quickly the descendants accumulate. So in 10, 12 generations, you're going to have thousands of offspring, and millions of offspring.
第三,互联性。 我们全都来自于同一个祖先, 你不需要相信圣经上所说的, 但是科学家把 Y 染色体比喻成亚当, 粒腺体比喻成夏娃, 这大概是10万到30万年前发生的。 我们体内都有着他们的 DNA。 他们是你们的曾曾曾曾.......祖父母 大概有 7千代的曾祖父母, 这也意味着我们也是 生物学上的表亲, 预测可能有出入,但是很可能 你在地球上 最远房的表亲有大约 50 个。 好,现在不光是祖先, 我们的后代也有关系。 如果你有小孩,他们也有小孩, 看看后代累积的速度有多快。 在10代,12代之后, 你们会有着数千, 甚至数百万的后代。
Number four, a kinder world. Now, I know that there are family feuds. I have three sons, so I see how they fight. But I think that there's also a human bias to treat your family a little better than strangers. I think this tree is going to be bad news for bigots, because they're going to have to realize that they are cousins with thousands of people in whatever ethnic group they happen to have issues with, and I think you look back at history, and a lot of the terrible things we've done to each other is because one group thinks another group is sub-human, and you can't do that anymore. We're not just part of the same species. We're part of the same family. We share 99.9 percent of our DNA.
第四,更友好的世界。 我知道现在很多家庭之间都有争执。 我有三个儿子, 我知道他们怎么吵架的。 但是我认为人类在 对待自己家人比对待陌生人 要来的好,这点是有偏见的。 我觉得家族树 对固执的人来说是个坏消息, 因为他们將必須了解 不管他们和哪个族群团体有冲突, 彼此仍有亲戚关系, 而当你们回顾历史, 很多我们对彼此做的坏事 都是因为一群人认为 另一群人是次等人, 现在你不能再这么做了。 我们不止是同一个物种。 我们是一个家族的一部份。 我们的 DNA 有 99.9% 相同。 最后是第五点,
Now the final one is number five, a democratizing effect. Some genealogy has an elitist strain, like people say, "Oh, I'm descended from Mary Queen of Scots and you're not, so you cannot join my country club." But that's really going to be hard to do now, because everyone is related. I'm descended from Mary Queen of Scots -- by marriage, but still.
对民主化的影响。 有些族谱有着菁英血脉, 有人会说:“喔,我是 玛莉皇后的后代, 而你不是,所以你不能 加入我的乡村俱乐部。 ” 但是这些现在已经成为过去式了, 因为每个人都是有亲戚关系的。 我是玛莉皇后的后代, 是由于婚姻关系, 但总归還是有关系的。 所以,从家庭的观点来看,
So it's really a fascinating time in the history of family, because it's changing so fast. There is gay marriage and sperm donors and there's intermarriage on an unprecedented scale, and this makes some of my more conservative cousins a little nervous, but I actually think it's a good thing. I think the more inclusive the idea of family is, the better, because then you have more potential caretakers, and as my aunt's eighth cousin twice removed Hillary Clinton says -- (Laughter) — it takes a village.
这真是一个精彩的时刻, 因为它改变得如此迅速。 同性婚姻、捐精者、 有史以来最大规模的通婚, 都让我一些比较保守的表亲 有点紧张, 但事实上我觉得这是件好事。 我认为,家族的理念 越多样性,越好, 这样一来你就有了 更多潜在的看管人, 如同我阿姨的八等表亲的隔二代 希拉里·克林顿所说的-- (笑声) 会要一整村的人。
So I have all these hundreds and thousands, millions of new cousins. I thought, what can I do with this information? And that's when I decided, why not throw a party? So that's what I'm doing. And you're all invited. Next year, next summer, I will be hosting what I hope is the biggest and best family reunion in history. (Applause) Thank you. I want you there. I want you there. It's going to be at the New York Hall of Science, which is a great venue, but it's also on the site of the former World's Fair, which is, I think, very appropriate, because I see this as a family reunion meets a world's fair. There's going to be exhibits and food, music. Paul McCartney is 11 steps away, so I'm hoping he brings his guitar. He hasn't RSVP'd yet, but fingers crossed. And there is going to be a day of speakers, of fascinating cousins. It's early, but I've already, I've got some lined up. Cass Sunstein, my cousin who is perhaps the most brilliant legal scholar, will be talking. He was a former member of the Obama administration. And on the other side of the political spectrum, George H.W. Bush, number 41, the father, he has agreed to participate, and Nick Kroll, the comedian, and Dr. Oz, and many more to come. And, of course, the most important is that you, I want you guys there, and I invite you to go to GlobalFamilyReunion.org and figure out how you're on the family tree, because these are big issues, family and tribe, and I don't know all the answers, but I have a lot of smart relatives, including you guys, so together, I think we can figure it out. Only together can we solve these big problems. So from cousin to cousin, I thank you. I can't wait to see you. Goodbye.
而我拥有这些数百数千, 甚至数百万个表亲。 我在想,我能够用这些资讯做些什么呢? 于是我决定, 为何不办个派对呢? 这就是我现在正在做的。 你们所有人都被邀请了。 明年,明年夏天, 我将会主办一个 我希望是有史以来最大的家族聚会。 (掌声) 谢谢,我希望你们会到。 我希望你们会到。 它会办在纽约科学馆, 那是个很棒的场地, 那里也是上次世界博览会的举办场地, 我觉得那个地方非常适合, 因为我把这个家族聚会 看作是一次世界博览会。 聚会里会有展览、食物、音乐。 保罗·麦卡尼在11层关系之外, 我希望他会带着他的吉他来。 他还没有答覆,就让我们祈祷吧。 会有一天的时间留给演讲者, 或是很吸引人的表亲。 现在还早,但是我已经, 我这边已经有人在排队了。 凯斯·桑斯坦(Cass Sunstein)或许是 我最厉害的法学家表亲, 他也会演讲。 他曾是欧巴马政府的一员。 而政界成员的另一边, 乔治 H.W. 布什, 美国第 41 任总统,老布什, 他已经答应会参加, 喜剧演员尼克·科罗尔(Nick Kroll)、 奥兹医师(Dr. Oz), 还有更多人都将出席。 当然,最重要的就是你们, 我希望各位能出席, 同时我邀请你们造访 GlobalFamilyReunion.org 试着找出你在家族树的位置, 因为这些是很庞大的家族架构 我也不知道答案, 但是我有很多聪明的亲戚, 包括你们各位, 所以让我们合力吧, 我认为我们能找出答案。 只有合力我们才能 解决这些大问题。 所以我的各位表亲们, 谢谢你们, 我等不及要见到你们了。 再会。
(Applause)
(掌声)