Life

In the US, ancestry.com and the consumer genealogy industry, I think have become excellent examples of how corporate enterprises can powerfully reshape openness and social empathy. By democratizing genetics, and by historical archiving, this industry has activity deconstructed rigid social concepts of race, identity and otherness for tens of millions of Americans.

Genetic data frequently reveals mixed global heritage of individuals who previously held rigid, ethnocentric views of their identity. People become aware that they are not the 'the pure being' they thought they were. According to some of the published articles in journals, tracing of family trees foster "historical empathy". Customers reconstruct the micro-narratives of their ancestors' hardships - such as surviving famine, migration or enduring systematic oppression- which deepens their compassion for modern marginalized groups.

Back in my country, in Keralam, the Indian State that I am from, I can see a heightened interest in the re-reading of history. Many young historians have become much sought-after popular celebrities. The dominant narrative of history is being deconstructed and a subaltern reading of history, or a reconstructing of history is happening. I believe that this is helping many people to come out of their ghetto-minded thinking and their false 'identity' and become more open to the 'otherness' that they held for long.

"Life, uh, finds a way!"