whpearson comments on Open Thread: May 2010, Part 2 - Less Wrong

3 Post author: Kevin 20 May 2010 07:30PM

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Comment author: whpearson 21 May 2010 02:31:38PM *  2 points [-]

I would think you could do with some explanation of why people aren't genetically programmed to avoid eating X. Assuming that it has been around for an evolutionarily significant period. Some explanations could be that it interacts with something in the new diet or that humans have lost a gene required to process it.

Some taboos have survived well into the modern times due to innate, noncultural instincts. Take for example avoiding incest and the taboo around that. That is still alive and well. We could probably screen for genetic faults, or have sperm/egg donations for sibling couples nowadays but we don't see many people saying we should relax that taboo.

Edit: The instinct is called the Westermarck Effect and has been show resistant to cultural pressure. The question is why cultural pressure works to break down other taboos, especially with regards to mating/relationships, which we should be good at by now. We have been doing them long enough.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 21 May 2010 02:37:44PM 1 point [-]

There might be emotional as well as genetic reasons for avoiding incest. We don't really know much about the subject. If anyone's having an emotionally healthy (or at least no worse than average) incestuous relationship, they aren't going to be talking about it.