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The Why Factor: Why do we care where we come from?

Factual: Life Stories

Woman admiring the sunset

17/06/2019 GMT

Why do we care where we come from?

BBC World Service - The Why Factor, Why do we care where we come from?

The need to discover our past and what this tells us about ourselves

We all want a good story to tell about where we come from. Why do we seek the answers in the lives of our ancestors – even in the DNA they passed on to us?

Most of us feel some need to know a roadmap of our past, our connections with a family tree which took root before we were born. We look for stories to tell about where we come from and seek answers in the lives of our ancestors, even in the DNA they pass on to us. In this edition of the Why Factor, Viv Jones asks why we have such a fundamental need to discover the stories of our heritage, and what they tell us about ourselves. 

Contributors:
Sandy Banks, journalist
Caitriona Palmer, author of ‘An Affair With My Mother’
Fenella Cannell, Associate Professor  Of Anthropology, London School of Economics
Tim Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in Health Law and Policy, University of Alberta
Catherine St Clair, founder of NPE Friends Fellowship

Image: Woman admiring the sunset 
Credit: Getty Images

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