@ Guy Etchells - I agree that on reading this passage the claims seem extreme, but rather than being firstly ethnic, most results are geographic in nature in relation to a supposed database giving it an ethnic dimension. This database may not exist or not be as reliable or complete as proclaimed, but I am convinced that there is no sinister desire to divide by fictional ersatz racial categories. A guilty verdict seems likely, but the jury is still out. I will encourage Genetic Ancestor Ltd to post here so that they can defend themselves or be justly taken apart
I know there are holes in Oppenheimer's research but there seems to be evidence of distinct geographic distribution of genetic material. I understand that a majority of people in Britain and Ireland fall into a similar group distinct from continental Europe. I am interested what people think of this.
@ Ruskie - Proud of diverse ancestry? Why not? I believe we are all equal but also different, and I find difference interesting. If my mt results were valid, I would find it fascinating that I had better matches in a database collected in Russia than in my birth place in the UK. I would find it interesting that I had heritage in Northern Iran and Balouchistan and in the Faroes. My Genetic Ancestor mt map would suggest perhaps a nomadic ancestry which I find inherently more interesting. Many of us feel detached from our cultural milieu and are searching for something more (ask people of African Caribbean origin in England for instance). This makes us easy prey, but I have learnt and I am already moving on.
Something which is impossible to verify and therefore strictly speaking invalid is a spatial correlation between geographical spikes in interest in my artwork as delivered by google analytics and some of Genetic Ancestor's geographical loci. Unverifiable and vague, but there is a hint of a hint of something. Maybe.
@ dgibbins - thank you for the encouragement. A number of my relatives have been engaged in the paper trail, but there is nothing beyond my grandparent's generation. Maybe I am descended from aliens
I am no more anxious to be an Ashkenazi than to be related to an untouchable in India, but I am fascinated by the great Ashkenazi civilisation of the Russian pale: Minsk, Pinsk, Kaunas, Kishinev, etc. weakened first by the Russian Empire and then completely obliterated by the Nazis.
I am also powerfully drawn to Sephardic music. Probably means nothing. *shrugs*
