23 and ME

[PussyGalore]

how long ago was that test? they have been greatly improved and refined over the last 10yrs or so

they get updated all the time as more info is learned about dna itself

what do we believe--the long record of oral tradition and hokey writings that the earth is 6000 yrs old or the science that says it is far far older?

dna testing = science. family records and genealogy/lineage is only as accurate as the writer wants it to be or can be remembered. family origins can be tailor written so the 'want' of who a family is matches social opinion/acceptance/popularity

and it is so often clearly wrong. look at elizabeth warren as one popular example of so many misrepresentations/mis remembering/ deliberate distortion of a family past.

she claims to be native america cause her grandma says so. then why not take the test?

why is dna accepted so widely when we want to see a person convicted/exonerated yet we doubt it when it shows things which may be uncomfortable about our family history?

Couple things:

My mom has been doing genealogical research on both sides of our family (patriarchal and matriarchal) for nearly 50 years. She has contacts in Germany that have provided her with extensive government records of our family lineage. She has also traveled there to do more research. She has been to New York and the East coast several times and even has census records from colonial times. She has tramped through cemeteries, poured through dull public archives and can account for basically everyone that has preceded our current generation. (She literally knows where the bodies are buried.) She has even worked with Mormon archivists to find records because they have extensive records on everyone, not just Mormons. (We're not Mormon.)

In short, Mom is no slouch. Her ancestral claims are well documented by government records. There is no Slavic blood in our family line. And as I said, if one slipped in somehow the genetic marker would have been watered down greatly by this point. So the test results showing that our family is primarily of Slav descent is clearly wrong. It's just not possible based upon the empirical evidence in hand.

And as for the tests themselves, we had them done about a year ago. It didn't take long for us to figure out that they're a gimmick, pure and simple. I'm not against science and I think if truly applied properly DNA testing can reveal a lot, but I believe these companies are using a cheap simplistic testing method that incorporates statistical "hunches" instead of actual genetic proof. They are businesses looking to make a profit so of course they use the cheapest method possible for testing. As Rac said, these tests track traits, not DNA certitude. And she's absolutely right.

More proof that these tests are gimmicks is the inclusion of Neanderthal markers. This means absolutely nothing in the scheme of things and is only included in the tests to make them seem fun and interesting. Basically the Neanderthal marker is a shiny object intended to distract you from figuring out that the tests themselves are hokum. "Oh look Jenny, we're 6% caveman, lol!"

On the bright side, at least these tests our family took didn't end up claiming that we were of Dutch descent, so thank God for small favors.

 

[YJ02]

Many claimed it to get free land, even though they had ZERO Native American heritage.

and that is where the science can be used to disprove their family legends

we cant pick and choose what science we want to believe and which ones we dont

yes, of course they are making money! they are not doing it out of charity

but part of the money does help advance the international genome mapping project

in this instance, monetizing can be a good thing; can you imagine how far some other areas of medical science could get if they could monetize it somehow?

 

[YJ02]

Couple things:

My mom has been doing genealogical research on both sides of our family (patriarchal and matriarchal) for nearly 50 years. She has contacts in Germany that have provided her with extensive government records of our family lineage. She has also traveled there to do more research. She has been to New York and the East coast several times and even has census records from colonial times. She has tramped through cemeteries, poured through dull public archives and can account for basically everyone that has preceded our current generation. (She literally knows where the bodies are buried.) She has even worked with Mormon archivists to find records because they have extensive records on everyone, not just Mormons. (We're not Mormon.)

In short, Mom is no slouch. Her ancestral claims are well documented by government records. There is no Slavic blood in our family line. And as I said, if one slipped in somehow the genetic marker would have been watered down greatly by this point. So the test results showing that our family is primarily of Slav descent is clearly wrong. It's just not possible based upon the empirical evidence in hand.

And as for the tests themselves, we had them done about a year ago. It didn't take long for us to figure out that they're a gimmick, pure and simple. I'm not against science and I think if truly applied properly DNA testing can reveal a lot, but I believe these companies are using a cheap simplistic testing method that incorporates statistical "hunches" instead of actual genetic proof. They are businesses looking to make a profit so of course they use the cheapest method possible for testing. As Rac said, these tests track traits, not DNA certitude. And she's absolutely right.

More proof that these tests are gimmicks is the inclusion of Neanderthal markers. This means absolutely nothing in the scheme of things and is only included in the tests to make them seem fun and interesting. Basically the Neanderthal marker is a shiny object intended to distract you from figuring out that the tests themselves are hokum. "Oh look Jenny, we're 6% caveman, lol!"

On the bright side, at least these tests our family took didn't end up claiming that we were of Dutch descent, so thank God for small favors.

so if the test had backed up the family tradition then you'd have no problem with it?

they do, more often then not, support family traditions

and-while I am not Slavic, what is wrong with being Slavic?

Be proud man!

 

[PussyGalore]

so if the test had backed up the family tradition then you'd have no problem with it?

they do, more often then not, support family traditions

and-while I am not Slavic, what is wrong with being Slavic?

Be proud man!

This has nothing to do with tradition. It has to do with empirical data.

And yeah, if the tests matched our genealogical data it would be more believable. That goes without saying.

I have nothing against Slavs. My issue is with the egregious error in the test results. I have no Slavic ancestors and none of them lived in a Slavic region. But the test results claimed that our family was predominantly Slavic. There is simply no way that can be true. People are being conned by these tests. It's obvious as hell.

 

[Overmind One]

This has nothing to do with tradition. It has to do with empirical data.

And yeah, if the tests matched our genealogical data it would be more believable. That goes without saying.

I have nothing against Slavs. My issue is with the egregious error in the test results. I have no Slavic ancestors and none of them lived in a Slavic region. But the test results claimed that our family was predominantly Slavic. There is simply no way that can be true. People are being conned by these tests. It's obvious as hell.

Could this explain it?