EVieira wrote:
There is no potential benefit. The benefits of genes passed on is that the BEST genes are passed on, and they are not necesserarily the ones in your family line. By inbreeding you reduce the size of the gene pool and thus the chance of a good gene passed on is reduced, simply because there is a large chance he is not in the pool. Se the earlier post about deafness in Martha`s Vineyard.
As a species, the best for your DNA is diversity. The more diverse, the bigger the pool, the better the genes in the long run.
...which brings us full circle, incest is fucked up any way you put it.
You're taking things from a whole-species perspective, whereas I was focusing more on an individual basis.
The "benefit" I spoke of was in terms of individuals passing on more of their
own genes, which is reproductive "success" from an individual's standpoint.
However, the downfall of that approach is exactly what you pointed out - from a species standpoint, you want the good genes to live on, and you want diversity, which random sexual mating outside of your immediate family provides. Incest definitely increases the chances that "bad" genes will accumulate. No denying that.
The point I guess I was trying to get at is that immediate family incest is bad in nearly every way, whereas marrying a cousin may actually have more of a taboo associated with it than is deserved.
