News, Australian Man Fathers Baby With Daughter.

[charolastra00]

This doesn't bother me as much as it should. The part that bothers me is that they had children (one of whom died with a heart defect).

The father was not at all involved in his daughter's life. It's not as if he raised her and started sleeping with her when she was a teenager. He hadn't seen her in 30 years. Had they not been irresponsible and decided to have a child, it probably wouldn't really even bother me at all.

[professorsenator]

Originally Posted by charolastra00

The father was not at all involved in his daughter's life....He hadn't seen her in 30 years.

A similar situation was reported in Germany not too long ago between a brother and sister who were raised separately, met as young adults, and subsequently had children together. There is psycho-social data which indicates that the near-universal psychological revulsion toward incest is based upon physical proximity during social development at early stages in life (which is itself almost certainly a useful product of evolutionary biology).

Cases such as the one in Australia linked in this thread (and the aforementioned instance in Germany) provide anecdotal evidence that comports with this data since in both instances the people involved were not close during those developmentally crucial early years.

[sierraAZ]

Originally Posted by professorsenator

A similar situation was reported in Germany not too long ago between a brother and sister who were raised separately, met as young adults, and subsequently had children together. There is psycho-social data which indicates that the near-universal psychological revulsion toward incest is based upon physical proximity during social development at early stages in life (which is itself almost certainly a useful product of evolutionary biology).

Cases such as the one in Australia linked in this thread (and the aforementioned instance in Germany) provide anecdotal evidence that comports with this data since in both instances the people involved were not close during those developmentally crucial early years.

I remember the other case, too. It was discussed somewhere on city-data. I share your opinion. If you haven't been with these people throughout your formative years, I'd imagine they don't feel any different to you than non-relatives. This father and daughter look so darn alike. Kinda proves the 'liking your own image' theory.

[professorsenator]

Here's an interesting follow-up piece on the biology of incest: Human Nature : Incest in Nature