ramses01 said:
Reasonable said:
Morally I couldn't care less - genetically it's bad news so I'd actually object on those grounds: bad for the species.
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It is not necessarily bad news genetically either. That would depend on the genetic fitness of adults in question. For highly fit adults, genetics would actually favor such a union over a randomly selected mate.
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Nope, that's not correct. If you start inbreeding with two perfect specimens then all seems fine at first, but if inbreeding continues (the issue is multi-generational inbreeding) then the end result is always negative. Genetically, for complex animals you need an intermingling gene pool. Too much in-breeding and you're going to see problems.
The odds are probably low, but the problem with incest is that if it were to continue over a number of generations - i.e. the son of a brother/sister with his sister and so on - it will negatively impact future generations.
Incest tends to be instinctively frowned on for a reason - and the other issue I see is that it is very probable children of known incest (and the couples) would be discriminated against and receive abuse. Not that this alone is a reason to avoid it, but it needs to be bourne in mind.