User:Phlox/Genealogy- what we are doing

The unit of history is customarily the great men, the big events. Without these people, we would not be who we are or have the kind of lives we have. Here at Genealogy wikia, we recognize that our history is of much larger numbers of largely anonymous individuals taking small actions. These small actions include the crucial decision to have a family- an act which if not taken would mean our inexistence. What we do here renders the lives of these important individuals less anonymous.

Typical genealogies are concerned with statistics concerning individuals. This is a first step, but simple tablular information does little to restore these ancestors from anonymity. For the descendants of these people their histories and their stories have a guaranteed audience in perpetuity. Recording such a massive scale Microhistorical approach was not feasible until very recently, when plumetting costs of mass storage and collaboration possible due to the internet has brought this within reach to a global audience.

The article each of us write today about an ancestor may not be about a figure of great importance to everyone, but it will be about of crucial importance to everyone who is that person's descendent. Who knows when- some descendent will read what you have contributed and will benefit from your work.