6 Popular Reasons People Research Their Genealogy
Today, DNA testing is a frequently used procedure for an array of reasons. DNA testing has become readily available to the general public and is often used to determine one’s ancestry and genealogy. It has become a new trend for people to look up their past because of the accessibility of DNA testing.
The process of painting a picture of who your ancestors were and your history is a time consuming and complex process, so why bother researching it? The simplest answer is that it is interesting to learn about your ancestors and their contributions to the world! However, there are a number of other reasons too, discussed below.
1. Practical Reasons
A common reason people look into their genealogy is for practical purposes. Tracing medical conditions, tracing family inheritance and land ownership, finding birth parents, proof of paternity or maternity and to determine if one is related to someone famous are all triggers for people to want to research their ancestry and genealogy.
People often research their genealogy for historical purposes as well. It is interesting and useful to collect knowledge of one’s family history, the history of one’s community and determine the validity of historical stories related to one’s family.
Once someone has an understanding of their ancestors, it is possible to reconnect with old family members and maintain their respective culture and traditions related to one’s blood line.
2. Psychological Reasons
Understanding genealogy is a common practice in nearly all cultures and societies because it is a part of who you are which everyone has a thirst to conceptualize on some level.
Psychologically, people at some point in their life find themselves wondering where they came from, why there are here now and what will happen in the future. Part of knowing yourself and how you fit into the world is knowing your collective past eluding to why people have a natural hunger to know about their ancestry.
3. Philosophical Reasons
People have been questioning where humans and other life forms came from and how we got to where we are today through philosophical practices for hundreds of years.
Religion and science have aimed to answer these questions for a long time, some opinions overlap and some collide. Both bodies of knowledge use philosophy as a starting point to answer big, looming questions, such as ‘how did we get here?’
4. Compassion
Gaining an understanding of one’s family history can inspire compassion, particularly to those who have relatives in other parts of the world. Knowing the history and current situation of another part of the world where you came from can inspire compassion towards those who aren’t related to you in that region, especially if that part of the world is in dire circumstances.
5. Inspires Further Learning
During your research of your ancestry and genealogy, you may learn that your ancestors spoke a different language or ate exotic meals that you never tried before.
As a result of this new found knowledge, you may want to learn how to speak that new language or cook a new dish which once a part of your ancestors culture. You may even be inspired to travel to the part of the world where you ancestors are from.
6. Hobby
Collecting information about your family tree is a lengthy process, although, it is rewarding and interesting to those involved. History itself is fascinating but the history about your past is even more interesting because you are learning about people’s lives that are directly related to you.
People have made a hobby out of collecting information in regards to their family tree. This information can be passed onto future generations of one’s family for connectivity.
