Arithmetic of the Vanishing Many On Lineage, Compression, and the +1 That Refuses to Be Counted

There is a habit of the mind—quiet, almost courteous— to imagine that the past expands. That behind you lies a widening corridor of people, each step backward multiplying presence, as if history were generous with bodies. Two parents. Four grandparents. Eight before them. The sequence proceeds obediently, doubling with the calm confidence of arithmetic. And for a while, it…

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