XPost: alt.fan.heinlein   
   From: quadibloc@ca.invalid   
      
   On Thu, 12 Feb 2026 08:42:22 -0800, Paul S Person wrote:   
      
   > 3. The article reports that "Although the exact number of children with   
   > consanguineous parents across England is unclear, the data clearly shows   
   > their overrepresentation within mortality statistics and requires   
   > “urgent action”, according to researchers."   
   > but no data is provided to prove "overrepresentation". Suppose 10% of   
   > /all/ children have consanguineous parents: then the statistic that 7%   
   > of those who died during period did would reflect /underrepresentation/.   
   > Of course, the point here is that, as far as the article is concerned,   
   > nobody has any idea what that percentage is.   
      
   You have just remminded me of another science-fiction story, not by   
   Heinlein.   
      
   Its title was "If all men were brothers, would you let one marry your   
   sister?".   
      
   When the advocate of a society in which incest is completely normalized is   
   confronted by the viewpoint character from somewhere conventional about   
   the genetic risks of inbreeding, he replies simply something to the   
   effect: "What? This is the first thing you think about?" and apparently he   
   feels this has sufficiently refuted the point.   
      
   If the story was meant to open our minds to considering a different world   
   view, I felt that its advocate using such sloppy argumentative tactics   
   would cause it to fail in that end.   
      
   John Savard   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)