Genealogy research can come with some strange side effects. It makes time move much faster than you would expect it to, as you are absorbed into your research. It makes you interested in hanging out in graveyards. The most bizarre side effect of genealogy is that many genealogists start to develop emotional attachments towards ancestors who died long before the genealogist was ever born. Why do you care so much?
The actor and comedian Ricky Gervais said what I think are very interesting comments about genealogy. He had been asked to be on the UK version of the “Who Do You Think You Are?” television show. The UK version is similar, in many ways to the American version of the show which carries the same title. A big difference between the two versions of this show has to do with the celebrities that are selected to come onto the show, and have their family trees explored, in front of an audience. The American version of the show has famous people who are easily recognized by most Americans, and the UK version of the show has famous people who are easily recognized by most people in the UK.
Ricky Gervais has declined the numerous offers that he has received to be on the UK version of “Who Do You Think You Are?”. He says, perhaps jokingly, that he is concerned about discovering a devastating secret about his ancestors. I think this may be true for a lot of genealogists. Even though you don’t have a particular reason why you would suspect that there was a devastating secret lurking in the past, you may still fear uncovering it.
It’s a little strange to think about. Why should the scandals that happened generations ago with one of your ancestors make you feel emotional? You weren’t even born then, and whatever happened had nothing at all to do with you, personally. So, why the concern?
I also found another comment by Ricky Gervais to be interesting. He was talking about the show, and mentioned someone finding out that their great, great, grandmother was a prostitute. The news makes the person cry. He said: “What you crying for? You didn’t know her! Who cares?”
Personally, I think that he has a good point. Why do so many genealogists develop these strong emotional attachments , and deep sympathy, for people who are, in reality, strangers to them? Yes, this person may be your ancestor, and it isn’t unusual to feel sorry for someone who had a difficult life. But, to cry over it as though you just discovered the same news about someone in your family who is alive, and whom you are very close to, seems a bit odd to me.
Image by S Pakhrin on Flickr