Demon,
I applaud you for a very well thought out post to support your side of the argument. However, you recieved your "statistics" from TWO biased sources (both were groups that promote the advancement of cousin relationships). The problem with this is that anyone can "manipulate" statistics to strengthen their side of the argument. Do you now see the problem with your argument? For example, it would be easy to surf the web and find a group that opposes cousin couples and their "facts" would only strenghten their side of the argument.
Incest is a taboo that is shunned by MOST cultures because it increases the chance that poor genes will be transmitted to the future generation. This is counter-productive to the EVOLUTION OF MAN and all of Darwin's theories. The main goal of all creatures in this world is to successfully mate and pass the best possible genes to the next generation so that their genes will survive the test of time. Again, incest is counter productive; thus, frowned upon by most cultures.
The cultures that do practice incest of any kind are always much more "primitive" in their way of life. Thus, they do not realize the implications of incest. These cultures are also isolated from the rest of the world and have no other choice.
BGMan said...
Same as with Muslim countries and India, where more than half of all marriages are between first or second cousins. It's a way of keeping the wealth in the family. You feel closer to your son-in-law if he's your nephew.
WRONG! Your "facts" are centuries outdated. Yes, this was very true when these cultures were primitive, but not today.
Starman said...
believe it or not , the chance of having something wrong with your child because of cousin/cousin mating is less than 1%
Hey buddy, this is only a slice of the pie! The point is that the recessive gene is passed onto the next generation. It may not become active immediately but throughout future generations the chances of developing a variety of health complications increases significantly.
There are two central concepts that need to be distinguished before this topic should go on any further - 1. Being attracted to your cousin 2. Incest - producing children from within your family.
We are all human and it is only normal to find a cousin attractive. More people than one would think feel this way, but because of social taboos will not admit it except maybe on their death bed. It is all fine and dandy to feel a sexual attraction to your cousin, but to go any further with those feelings is not in the best interest of your lineage.
Jason S. said...
Fvcking your sis is definitely disgusting ... but your cousin ? Why's that, huh ?
It is not "disgusting" to have sex with your sister or your cousin, the IMPLICATIONS of what can happen if you do so is disgusting. It is worse to have sex with your sister because the chances are higher that you will pass on poor genes that will become dominant. The chances of doing so with a cousin are still there and higher than a random couple, but lower than brother/sister because you have the either the uncle or aunt is not of your bloodline.
Quick said...
We all descended from a very few people. If cousins didn't marry, our population would have never increased. Chances are that some of your not too distant ancestors were cousins.
-Again, you are missing the rest of the "pie." Hypothetically, let us say that you are correct and that cousins did procreate to further enhance the size of the population. Those who by chance happened to mate two identical dominant counter-productive genes have been eliminated through evolution. Those cousins whom by chance did not have dominant counter producitve genes were able to successfully strenghten the population - but recessive genes remain hidden! That is why today some people are more prone that others to: asthma, heart disease, schitzophrenia, depression, other types of mental disorers, physical abnormalities, etc.
Demon said...
"They're your blood so stay away from them!"
-Demon, these people and their genes get "phased" out through the process of Evolution or they learn to get it right.
To those of you that are in favor of incest (not sexual attraction to one's cousin)...explain to me why you believe that incest is such a TABOO among the majority of cultures.
It's been a while, but I believe it was Einsteins 2nd Law that says: "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction."
Basically what this means is for every CAUSE there is an EFFECT.
We have identified the EFFECT as TABOO and I have identified the CAUSE as the INCEST. I want you to explain to me why incest is a taboo.
