Mysterious Extinction

[Doug1029]

On 11/27/2018 at 4:15 AM, Ozymandias said:

Oh, for God's sake! It is not biologically possible for one pair of adult humans to give rise to the entire human race, never mind the morality of incest.

Fox News? Get a life!!??

The Pharaohs married their sisters and other close relatives, as did many wealthy men in ancient times and even in China into the 20th century.  This was a practical solution to the problem of support for a woman who had no husband, for whatever reason.  It was a common practice and, apparently, a humane one.  In ancient Jewish society, a woman whose husband died was expected to marry and have children with his brother.  This was to keep the family line going.

Genetic studies have shown that the optimum degree of relatedness for production of healthy children is second cousin - having one great-grandparent in common.  That gives the best compromise against inbreeding, yet still obtaining the benefits of similar genes that lead to genetic compatibility.

A couple I knew in college met and started dating.  They flipped out over each other and were planning to get married when the boy's father and girl's mother took them aside and pointed out that they were half-brother-and-sister.  The marriage was called off.  That's how the affair finally got exposed.  How's that for having "the sins of the father" visited on his progeny?

Whether incest is moral or not depends entirely upon the society you live in and what alternatives that society offers.

Doug

[psyche101]

7 hours ago, Doug1o29 said:

The Pharaohs married their sisters and other close relatives, as did many wealthy men in ancient times and even in China into the 20th century.  This was a practical solution to the problem of support for a woman who had no husband, for whatever reason.  It was a common practice and, apparently, a humane one.  In ancient Jewish society, a woman whose husband died was expected to marry and have children with his brother.  This was to keep the family line going.

Genetic studies have shown that the optimum degree of relatedness for production of healthy children is second cousin - having one great-grandparent in common.  That gives the best compromise against inbreeding, yet still obtaining the benefits of similar genes that lead to genetic compatibility.

A couple I knew in college met and started dating.  They flipped out over each other and were planning to get married when the boy's father and girl's mother took them aside and pointed out that they were half-brother-and-sister.  The marriage was called off.  That's how the affair finally got exposed.  How's that for having "the sins of the father" visited on his progeny?

Whether incest is moral or not depends entirely upon the society you live in and what alternatives that society offers.

Doug

The cheetah population sufferers many genetic disabilities due to inbreeding after a population bottleneck.