The technology of “time” is a beautiful thing. The organization that ‘hours’ and ‘minutes’ bring to our lives is undeniable. But our demarcation of time, just like that of length, is relative only to ourselves, and only to the degree that the rest of society agrees.

Time is a Human invention, and as such, it is subject to the whims of humanity (read “politics”) as to the increments that will be used, and “how” to use it. The foremost example of this is Daylight Savings Time – which, in my mind, lives in the same political arena as the never ending battle of – “Metrics vs. the Foot”.

(I seem to remember, back when I was in school in the 60’s, that we were told we would be on the metric system, like the rest of the industrial world, within the next ten years! – What happened to that?)

For most people, their frame of reference, when talking about relevant Human Beings or events, begins 2,014 years ago, at year Zero. Dates prior to that point in time don’t come up in conversation much, and when they do, we still tend to reference them backwards from that Gregorian “Zero Hour”, the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

In 46 BC, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar which had 365 days per year, with a leap day every four years. This calendar served for over 1,500 years before being corrected (slightly) by Pope Gregory XIII (1582) while he was trying to pinpoint the actual date for Easter.

Prior to these calendars, there had been no consensus judgment on what constituted an ‘historical’ starting point for Human Beings. Prior calendars began with the Ruler (or ruling family) who started them, and ended when they died. It took centuries, but the Gregorian calendar dating system took hold, and it has served as ‘the beginning of time’ for billions of minds ever since.

But, how terribly misleading it has been. Without intent, it keeps millions of years and history from becoming part of your life. It deadens our perception of events and people before the Year Zero. They have become subtly irrelevant to us – They, and all of their culture, have been lumped into the term – BC.

Not to knock the Ancestry websites, but they make us feel that the only ancestors we have that are “relevant”, are the ones in the last few hundred years. I feel that our thought processes about our history and ancestry have been stunted. We don’t think in big enough terms, when we think about our blood-lines, or our history.

I propose the addition of 60,000 years to our existence by converting all future dates to MH – Modern Human.

I feel that the proper starting point should be the time at which Mankind (Homo sapiens) left the cradle of Africa and began to explore the rest of the World.

Certainly, it’s a hard date to pin down, but the general time frame has been derived from the astounding amount of DNA research that has been processed over the past twenty years. For me, the science of our Human ancestry culminates in a study by DR. Spencer Wells. His epic genome research, conducted with the help of the National Geographic Society, became a book titled Deep Ancestry (2007) and it is a wealth of information about our family tree.

While science has proven that Mankind began in Africa about 3 million years ago (when we became bipedal), it has had a hard time nailing down a African migration time-table using only fossilized artifacts and carbon dating techniques. Dr. Spencer provides a reasonable place to begin, based on vast amounts of data.

He concludes that, about 60,000 years ago, one particular male (and/or his immediate male children), began the trek away from Africa with a small group. His clan must have thrived, because his genes are now in every living male that is not of solely African descent (and many who are). The migration that he was in, or began, was the first sustained trip out. His family, his wives, and their children were the first explorers that succeeded in planting a “flag” on another shore – not that the possession of land was their intent. I’m pretty sure they were just looking for food.

I use a map derived from Dr. Spencer’s DNA data as my Heading.

Until now, “Adam”, and his family, were not a part of your history. But, because we now are aware of their existence – it’s hard not to see that we are related, by blood, to almost everyone in the world. You, and anybody – a maximum separation of 60,000 years.

Obviously a lot has happened over that span of time. Wouldn’t you like to know the date (more or less) that your own branch decided to trek for Japan, or Spain, or in Steppen’s case, Germany?

With MH you can gain perspective. And the date will still fit on a check!

I realize that Mankind wasn’t inventing something new every day back then, but SO MUCH did happen. People traveled, met other people (the Neanderthals), changed complexions, and discovered lands where no Human had ever been. They created new tools, languages, foods, and societies. And, even then, they were already having an impact on the larger world environment. They have eaten entire species of animals out of existence. They have had changed the courses of rivers, and the course of events in the world. Our current dating system slights these events.

It is easier to find your place in ‘time’ if you know that you have been like ‘this‘, as a speaking, reasoning, rational Human Being for sixty thousand years already. Your ancestor’s actions might have been more ‘physical’ or primitive because their environment dictated it, but the reasoning behind their actions is the same as your own.

Also, this means that only about three thousand generations of relatives separate you and the very first, real First Family (60,000 yrs / 20 avg birth yr. span = 3,000). And it’s the same for EVERYBODY who is not of wholly African descent.

Rich or poor, Royal or peon – Black, Brown, Red, Yellow, White and every color in between. 3,000 families, or generations, of YOUR blood between you and “Adam”. And it’s not like African culture stopped growing when Adam left! – All cultures have a rich history from that point on.

Currently, all ancient history is designated as BC. And for most people, knowledge of history before that time is sparse, or even – Beyond Comprehension. Some people know a few things about the Neanderthals, the domestication of animals and wheat, the Greeks, and that Ice Ages came and went. But in terms of your Greater Ancestry, it’s all negative numbers, and it’s hard to find a personal ‘view’, if you will, of history that resides in ‘negative’ years.

Where that ‘official’ time marker starts is important to how you chronicle your place in relation to past events. How you look at time itself. And if you think it doesn’t affect your own perspective, see how many events that you personally can name and/or date prior to Year Zero.

It’s time we changed the date to reflect our connection as Humans, it would be more appropriate on so many levels.

Note: I would be remiss if I did not mention that there was a corresponding “Eve”, to the “Adam” in our past. Her mitochondrial DNA swims in the blood of every woman alive. Dr. Spencer places her in Africa about 170,000 years ago – over 100,000 years before “Adam”. Obviously, they never met. Little pockets of Human clans ebbed and flowed at different times, and in different places in Africa for millions of years – it was literally “feast or famine”. Sometimes entire bloodlines died out.

I’m OK with MH starting 170,000 years ago. It is a little more unwieldy writing it on the check – as in September 22, 172,014.  But, I’m open to discussion.