An Undeniable Connection.

View the videos, listen to the podcasts, read the articles and write an entry considering the following:
· consider the scientific and technological advancements that make the project possible;
· consider the impact of our highly mobile, global society on migration;
· describe the importance of the Genographic Project;
· project future migration patterns

"Where do I come from?"
Let's admit it. Every person, at some point in their life, has asked that eternal question. Being humans, it is our nature to question everything around us and this is certainly no different. The spoken tales of our ancestors can only go so far, often becoming too blurred and distorted to be seriously taken into account considering the source from which it is usually coming from. Most people are not even that lucky, for the memories of our ancestors become lost with the passage of time. However, the break-through Genographic Project that is being started by The National Geographic and IBM gives hope to a seemingly hopeless situation.
In order to accomplish such a gargantuan task, one can only imagine how advanced the technology must be. Trying to link your family tree all the way back to the first human can be considered the equivalent to mapping the evolution of the descendants of the dinosaurs. Many DNA-assessing advancements must have been made in order to access the long-lost DNA of ancestors that have gone before us, taking all evidence of their existence with them. However, all these break-through advancements can only be imagined by the general public because the participation kits hold nothing of said advancements. For $99.95, one can buy a participation kit which contains the following:

• cheek scraper
• multimedia DVD
• National Geographic Genographic Map
• Brochure
• Confidential Genographic Project ID #

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I have yet to see one break-through technology that has been said to be used in this project. The contents of the participation kit is hardly worth $99.95 and I would have to go as far as to wonder if it is even worth $15 - it truly is disappointing. Whatever scientific and technological advancements (or lack thereof) that were made to make this project possible can only be left to the imagination if the participation kit is any indication.
Throughout history, man has been known as normads simply for the fact that he has always been migrating depending upon the environmental conditions. We haven't change much since then; our society continues to migrate, maybe more than ever now. However, the difference is that it isn't so much because of environmental condition anymore. Our impact on migration has become much more complex than simply the physical environment in which we live. Now, we migrate for our own future goals, ambitions, opportunities, and dreams. Our society has completely rewritten the reason for the migration that was started 60,000 years ago.
The importance of the Genographic Project ties in with our highly mobile society. Our inclination to travel and migrate has left many wondering exactly who they are and why they are where they are. Although diversity is an amazing thing, it can also consume someone so much, that they are lost to who they are as individuals, especially in the cultural aspect. The Genographic Project attempts to give people the chance to rediscover their heritage and thus gives them a much more profound respect for the great diversity of our society. I believe that one cannot truly grasp this wonderful concept unless one first has an understanding of their own unique heritage. The Genographic Porject allows us to acknowledge that we have all evolved so differently, yet are able to reconnect as one despite our cultural differences.
I feel that migration will only increase in the future, given how things are appearing in the present. Humans in general are curious creatures and can never ignore the chance of discovering something new. We are continuously being introduced to new aspects in the world around us. Curiousity and human nature demand that we follow to discover everything we possibly can. The tendency to migrate was an essential part of the first human beings and continues in all humanbeings throughout history - it has continued this far and has no reason to stop.