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we are family / wir sind eine familie
We have two parents, four grandparents, and so on.
60 generations ago, about 1,500 years in the past, each of us had one trillion (a one followed by 18 zeros) grandparents.
At that time, however, only 250 million people lived in the world – just one four-billionth of a trillion!
All living beings – animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, etc. – share a basic structure in their genes: DNA. We all descend from the same primordial ancestor.
Eventually, we die – some of the people in the collage may already be gone. What happens to our bodies?
They decay. Bacteria and enzymes break down the tissue. Nutrients are released. Flies lay their eggs, which hatch into maggots. They consume the tissue. Beetles, ants, and scavengers feed on the remains. Bacteria and fungi decompose the last organic materials. Our bodies become nutrient-rich soil.
Plants absorb these nutrients and are in turn eaten by animals and other living beings.
Everything we breathe, drink, and eat originated from our ancestors.
The cycle connects us to all living beings that have lived before us – and those who will live after us.
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