Tim Urban Quotes

“According to Rutgers anthropology professor Robin Fox, 80% of all marriages in history have been between second cousins or closer.

The reason for this is that for most of human history, people spent most of their lives in the same five mile radius, and the other people in that same area tended to be immediate and extended family.

To get away from their extended family when courting, men would have to walk over five miles away, which after a long day of hunting you just don’t feel like doing.”

“I don’t know you, but I can almost guarantee that you don’t ask your grandparents (or older parents) enough questions about their lives and the lives of their parents.

We’re all incredibly self-absorbed, and in being so, we forget to care about the context of the lives we’re so immersed in.

We can use Google to learn anything we want about world history and our country’s history, but our own personal history — which we really should know quite well — can only be accessed by asking questions.”

“In 150 years, all 7,100,000,000 people alive today will be dead, but all of our genes will be doing just fine, living in other people.”

“The last 200 years of your ancestry, contain 127 romantic relationships, each involving at least one critical sex moment and most of them probably involving deep love. You’re the product of 127 romances, just in the last 200 years alone.”