Ancestral lineage research has been argued by many people to be important in recent times, whilst there are also those who believe it is a fruitless endeavour. In this essay, I will seek to show why I believe that whilst both views have their merits, knowing more about one’s family can be beneficial for those who have been estranged from their roots.
Firstly, family history is of no real use in our modern world in terms of economic advantages. Gone are the days of delineating heirs and “pure bloodlines”, and being a son or daughter of a past monarchy means little in most countries today. Concerning oneself with a long lost past, rather than looking ahead and tending to the generations we have now is a waste of the precious time we have to engage and learn from the generations that are still around us. Learning that one is part Chinese or Korean, for example, does not ultimately change who they are as a person or who they should associate with.
On the other hand, learning about ancestry is a way of feeling closer to one’s own family, for it is a way of seeing the roots of one’s own family tree and honouring where we come from. This could potentially be of great comfort to orphans, or those who do not know who their parents are. DNA tests, for example, have helped many people without family to track down their long lost relatives and discover brothers and sisters they never knew they had. Helping reconnect families can be seen as a positive social impact of ancestral lineage