You'll never guess who Obama us related to.

  • Context: News 
  • Thread starter Thread starter jreelawg
  • Start date Start date
Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the claims of familial connections between President Obama and various political figures, including Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin, and George W. Bush. Participants explore the implications of these relationships and the statistical likelihood of such connections, with a focus on the concept of distant cousinship.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested
  • Exploratory
  • Conceptual clarification

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note that President Obama is claimed to be related to Dick Cheney, Sarah Palin, and Rush Limbaugh as distant cousins.
  • One participant questions the odds of two individuals being tenth cousins, suggesting it might be a rare occurrence.
  • Another participant compares the situation to the birthday paradox, stating that the probability of having a distant cousin relationship is relatively high among large populations.
  • A participant expresses skepticism about the validity of the claims, suggesting they may be exaggerated or a publicity stunt.
  • There is a humorous remark about the idea that if one goes far enough back, many people could be related, implying a common ancestry.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the validity and significance of the claims regarding familial relationships. Some find the connections amusing or trivial, while others question their accuracy and the methodology behind determining such relationships. The discussion remains unresolved regarding the legitimacy of the claims.

Contextual Notes

Participants reference statistical concepts and probabilities related to cousinship without providing definitive calculations or methodologies, leaving some assumptions and mathematical steps unaddressed.

jreelawg
Messages
125
Reaction score
0
It wasn't that long ago that it was discovered that President Obama was related to Vice President Dick Cheney.
...
Now comes the claim that the president is related to none other than former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
...
And if that weren't weird enough, Tyler is also claiming that conservative radio legend Rush Limbaugh is also a 10th cousin of President Obama, once removed.
...
According to the Associated Press report, the site also is reporting that President George W. Bush is also related to Obama and Palin.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/was...elated-to-sarah-palin-rush-limbaugh-bush.html
 

Attachments

  • barack-obama-picture.jpg
    barack-obama-picture.jpg
    31.5 KB · Views: 502
  • rush-limbaugh.jpg
    rush-limbaugh.jpg
    13.9 KB · Views: 477
  • Sarah-Palin-Oil-Spill-Issue-Should-Not-Let-Us-Hold-Back.jpg
    Sarah-Palin-Oil-Spill-Issue-Should-Not-Let-Us-Hold-Back.jpg
    27.8 KB · Views: 482
Last edited:
Physics news on Phys.org
See a resemblance? :smile:
 

Attachments

  • Bush.jpeg
    Bush.jpeg
    19.6 KB · Views: 496
  • cheney(12).jpg
    cheney(12).jpg
    31.4 KB · Views: 482
Before saying anything...

What are the odds that two people are within tenth cousins of one another?
 
This should be posted in the lame jokes thread! :biggrin:
 
I didn't check this for accuracy as that is left as an exercise for the student. :biggrin:

...Turns out that’s almost nil. Like the famous birthday paradox, where a room of 30 people usually has 2 who share a birthday, the probability there is no intersection in these large groups is quite low. it is 99.9999% likely from these numbers that any given person is at least a 16th cousin. And 97.2% likely that they are a 15th cousin — but only 1.4% likely that they are an 11th cousin. It’s a double exponential explosion. The rough formula used is that the probability of no match will be (1-2^C/P)^(2^C) where C is the cousin number and P is the total source population. To be strict this should be done with factorials but the numbers are large enough that pure exponentials work...
http://ideas.4brad.com/everybody-your-16th-cousin
 
A tenth cousin once removed? How remotely related is that? Wouldn't that be pushing things? I wonder how many giant leaps of faith the "ancestry" person had to make? Sounds like nothing other than a publicity stunt for the website.
 
jreelawg said:
See a resemblance? :smile:
I heard Bush may be related to both Jesus and Bin Ladin:
bush_jesus_christ.jpg
bush_undercover.jpg
 
Ivan Seeking said:
I didn't check this for accuracy as that is left as an exercise for the student. :biggrin:

Ivan you share a blood line with George W. Bush.

Just thought you'd like to know.
 
Pengwuino said:
Ivan you share a blood line with George W. Bush.

Just thought you'd like to know.

Hi Cuz!
[PLAIN]http://www.heatingoil.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/big-bird.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #10
Char.Limit makes a good point. If we go far back enough, many people may be related.
Actually we all are :biggrin: We share a common ancestor.
 
  • #11
Thank you, Siv.
 

Similar threads

News Was the 2008 election a repudiation of Bush and the Republican Party?
  • · Replies 21 ·
Replies
21
Views
5K
News Cheney Thinks Obama will Appreciate Expansion of Executive Power
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
3K
News William Ayers turned back at Canadian border
  • · Replies 26 ·
Replies
26
Views
5K
News Bush Honest & Trustworthy Until How Many Lies?
  • · Replies 65 ·
3
Replies
65
Views
12K
News The lie of media liberal bias continued.
  • · Replies 21 ·
Replies
21
Views
5K