v1, 5000x5000
world population -200000 BCE to 2012 in a symmetrical linear graph
x scale: 1.4 million people per pixel (cheated before ~10,000 BCE)
y scale: 40 years per pixel
processing source
A data visualization work in progress by Forrest Oliphant.
Only 10,000 generations (probably less) separate every human from our most recent common ancestor. Your closest love and the worst terrorist on earth, Rush Limbaugh and Noam Chomsky, the cute baby on the tram and that asshole that puked in your apartment's elevator, Osama bin Ladin and the Dalai Lama,,, all of these people are are YOUR cousins, x times removed. Here I try to visualize our family tree.
v1, 5000x5000
world population -200000 BCE to 2012 in a symmetrical linear graph
x scale: 1.4 million people per pixel (cheated before ~10,000 BCE)
y scale: 40 years per pixel
processing source
References and further reading:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_population
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Y-chromosomal_Adam
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Most_recent_common_ancestor
http://www.dalailama.com/