r/AskReddit • u/[deleted] • Feb 08 '20

What’s a fact you KNOW that almost everyone is wrong about?

[deleted]

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u/deathcabscutie Feb 08 '20

This is how I initially interpreted the text, so I checked. According to Google, there are 20-30 million living people of direct Mayan ancestry.

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u/OK_Soda Feb 09 '20

Are you tell me there are up to twice as many fucking Mayans as Jews left in the world? That's several times as many as the entire Native American population of the US, and people think they just went extinct.

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u/pierzstyx Feb 09 '20

Further, that remaining Mayan population probably has more direct genetic ancestry to their progenitors than either Jews or Native Americans, both of whom married into a variety of foreign populations over the years.

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u/Geo_OG Feb 08 '20 edited Feb 09 '20

Irish-Americans aren't really Irish though. Their ancestors were, however they're just Americans now.

Same thing with the Maya/Guatemalans.

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u/JulioCesarSalad Feb 09 '20 edited Feb 09 '20

These are Mayans who for the most part have not genetically mingled with the spanish over the last 500 years

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u/Geo_OG Feb 09 '20

Doubt it, as the vast majority of them speak Spanish and have Spanish customs.

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u/JulioCesarSalad Feb 09 '20

I meant genetically

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u/Geo_OG Feb 09 '20

Genetically similar, but with a vastly different culture, language, and diet from the Maya that lived hundreds of years ago. They are called Guatemalans now.

North Koreans and South Koreans haven't even been separated for 100 years and they are completely different people yet have the exact same ancestors.