What is your ethnicity?

[Andrew NDB]

I'm curious. I am half Colombian, 1/4 Swedish, 1/4 Norwegian.

[CyberCubed]

I am just a white boy. I was born in America. My parents were born in America. All 4 of my grandparents were born in America. I have no distinguishing features whatsoever of any race.

However if we go back to my great grandparents, they come from Eastern Europe and Russia. My great grandfather was from Spain or Portugal, my other Great grandparents hail from Mother Russia.

But since I, my parents, and all 4 grandparents were born in America, I never considered myself anything other than American. Aside from that, I am also Jewish, but don't tell anyone. Shhhhh.

[Wildcat]

Hispanic but I don't really look it. Neither does my sister. We have very light skin. Even kids in school never believed I was hispanic. Both parents are though. Born in the US. All family was.

[IndigoErth]

A mix of various parts of Europe with a dash of Native American for flavor.

I don't know exact amounts, though Scottish (maternal grandmother born a Boyd), Irish, and English probably dominate it. (And other small bits and pieces throw in according to the genealogy DNA tests taken by my mom and dad's brother.)

Far as I know I've got ancestors (the European ones) who have been in the U.S. back as far at least the1600s, maybe late 1500s. We've been around a while.

[Candy Kappa]

As far as I know, I don't have a whole lot of interesting ethnicity or nationalities in my family, it's more their occupations that are interesting.

My maternal grandpa was Danish, and I have a Scottish ancestors that suddenly had to flee Britain after 5. November 1605.

[ToTheNines]

One side is Scandinavian and Scotch-Irish, other is German and English. Probably various other boring European countries.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

Pakistani/Indian. I was born in Karachi, Pakistan but my fathers side of the family originally came from Hydrabad, India while my mothers side came from the North Eastern mountainious region of Abbotabad in Pakistan.

[FredWolfLeonardo]

It also depends on the cultural views of the people in terms of their quality of life, what exactly makes life better or worth living? The answers may surprise you when you look at other cultures.

For example, many Buddhists do not share the typical view that more longetivity, pleasure and comfort equal to a better life. Rather, their primary purpose is to obtain peace of mind (nirvana) and the material world is seen as an illusion that can easily distract one from the true path. Thus, many gave up a comfortable life and hold no attachment to it. I wouldn't be surprised if many Buddhist living in Brutal conditions were happier than the average Westerner living a pampered life.

[MsMarvelDuckie]

Happiness and a "good life" are subjective not just on a cultural level but a personal one as well. Each person defines what constitutes a good life based not only on his culture and ethnical influences but on his personal experiences and knowledge as well. For instance, many cultures focus on happiness in "the next life" over one's present condition. Yet many people consider personal wealth or accomplishment a measure of what makes them "happy".

[IndigoErth]

What's quality of life in prior generations have to do with interest in family history and genetic heritage anyhow...

I swear, people either think people long ago lived in a terrible world or a magical one. They weren't really all that different than us. They wouldn't miss what they didn't have, no more than we'd miss how life might be in 2117, and ailments with no cures were a fact of life. Advances in healthcare might help, but really we still live that way. Will people of the future think we lived in a horrible time with miserable lives because there was no cure for cancer, AIDS, and other diseases and war was still frequent? I mean, my dad died of a terminal illness most have never even heard of (to the point it took forever to even diagnose him until a month before he died), but I don't feel like it's the year 1800 because of it...

Anyhow...


If we're naming names, Patrick Henry is said to be in our family tree somewhere.

[CyberCubed]

The funny thing is unlike our ancestors thinking about the future, we all pretty much know what the future will be like. Most sci-fi movies, shows, comics, etc. take place in the future. In fact many of the things back in 80's and 90's movies that was considered "the future" we have today, like pocket phones, flat TV's, VR, video phone messaging when you see someones face, etc.

The only thing we didn't come up with is flying cars because it would be too dangerous in real life. If people are already crashing up the roads and can't drive straight as it is, I can't imagine flying cars with people crashing into buildings and nonsense like that.

[IndigoErth]

Sure... Maybe things the same generation can think up in fiction and later invent. I have a hard time thinking of such a short span of time as 'the future.' But there's probably plenty we can't even fathom that may exist in a couple hundred years.

Don't be silly... flying cars will prob pilot themselves. Considering they're starting to come out with earthbound cars that can do so. (On one hand I'm not sure I could ever trust a self-driving car, but on the other I look forward to the extra nap during the commute. Obviously a wake-up alarm when it pulls into the parking lot must be among its features.)

edit: Although small personal flying cars already exist. They're called airplanes, like the Cessna. (Though those tend to crash on their own without the pilot driver causing it.)




Curious about the so far lack of any Middle Eastern TMNT fans...

[Lethal Lullaby]

1/4 Korean at least, but basically white, the rest of me is.

[Stephen]

White/British

[MsMarvelDuckie]

For today, at least- 100% Irish, me lads and lassies!

The rest of the year it's maybe 45-50% But still.....

[IndigoErth]

I wish the genealogy DNA test we did didn't lump Scottish and Irish together, but I realize they are genetically very much alike so it's hard to tell, plus the migration of some families from Scotland to Ireland for a while before some generations moved onto the U.S. The Scottish part of my family was always obvious, with the maternal grandmother being a Boyd and all, though we're no doubt Irish as well, at least on my dad's side, and wouldn't mind knowing the percentage.



I feel like the allusive Middle Eastern member is like an ultra rare NPC we can't find. We'll never win that first, lowest rank of the Diversity Achievement at this rate...

[Prowler]

Originally Posted by IndigoErth

I wish the genealogy DNA test we did didn't lump Scottish and Irish together, but I realize they are genetically very much alike so it's hard to tell, plus the migration of some families from Scotland to Ireland for a while before some generations moved onto the U.S. The Scottish part of my family was always obvious, with the maternal grandmother being a Boyd and all, though we're no doubt Irish as well, at least on my dad's side, and wouldn't mind knowing the percentage.



I feel like the allusive Middle Eastern member is like an ultra rare NPC we can't find. We'll never win that first, lowest rank of the Diversity Achievement at this rate...

Those tests seem like BS. How can they prove you're 50% this and 25% that? Especially considering how much political borders have changed throughout history? And how can someone be 0% Asian or African when people from those continents also belong to the same species as Europeans and Amerindians do? How far in one's family tree does such a test even go?

[IndigoErth]

Not sure how far back it can go. If humanity came out of Africa, then no, it doesn't go nearly back that far obliviously. After a while some things will be watered down enough that heritage far enough away may no longer show up simply because there is so little left and, in the DNA lottery, an individual did not inherit genes from it even though it still exists back in the family history somewhere.

These tests are not based on exact linage. It's more like taking a handful of playing cards, drawing a circle on the floor, throwing the cards into the air and seeing which ones land in the circle. Those being the genetics someone inherits. Do it again for a sibling and it may be similar, but a little different.

The tests done from my mom and uncle give me a rough idea, and the things that came out high for them are likely probably still a good amount in me too, but I can't tell exact lineage percentage from them since it's their own genetic makeup.

I can say it does work though, at least the ones we did through Ancestry.com. Because that site has their results combined with their database, it compares yours with other members who have done it and it matches up people who have similar results and are likely your cousins, with a probability given.

I have a couple second cousins that, unknown to us, had already also done this test and are members of the site, and it put them right up top.

There is also the old family rumor on my mom's side, of an old family friend my grandfather and his brother called "Uncle Bill." Thing is... it was always rumored and suspected that this man was not just a family friend but may have actually been their biological father. (The man they grew up knowing as their father was also rumored to be sterile, so it may have been an 'arrangement' back then rather than an affair.) Looking at photos of both them as old men, my grandfather was also suspiciously the spitting image of him. And damned if this test did not finally prove it true when some of its suggested cousins were right within the living generations of that family.

So I can vouch for the fact that this thing definitely works. I'm fascinated that it proved the rumor true. Although it's very odd that I actually have no connection to the surname of my grandfather and maiden name of my mom... She should have grown up with a different maiden name entirely. And "Uncle Bill" is no pretend uncle... he's my actual great grandfather. (And through whom we should have been better off, but that's another story...)

[Cure]

They prove it with ****ing DNA. Are you seriously one of those people who doubts legitimate science?

[Cure]

My heritage sucks. Spanish music sucks, spanish traditions are dumb. The only good part is the food.