The podcast delves into unusual questions surrounding the brain and our experiences, such as the possibility of creating new senses for humans. The host also explores the concept of memory and how it can impact our recollection of events.
The theory that humans have no natural aversion towards incest, and instead invented it for good reasons. The extent to which each species tries to avoid it depends on how much they try to avoid it, and not based on what seems gross or creepy to them.
The backward Westernmark effect is the occurrence of strong physical attraction between individuals who were raised together before six years old, including biological relatives and non-blood siblings. This phenomenon is explained with warnings given to adopted individuals who may experience this when reuniting with biological family members, and the importance of not acting on this attraction to avoid ruining their lives.
Incestuous relationships among the elite ruling class were more common throughout history, with some even considering it a requirement for their status. The Roman Egyptian period saw a fad of sibling marriages among the commoners.
This podcast discusses the evolutionary reasons behind marrying outside of your kin network, and how it can help support a larger society by removing the possibility of genetic mishaps from inbreeding.
European royal families were suspicious of people who wanted to marry outside their family as a result of a society which had a lot of intra-family marriages. Intra-family marriages and inbreeding between close relations was looked at as 'keeping it in the family', a social norm for those who were wealthy.
The host explores the abusive and dominant version of incest, which involves a family member in a position of power molesting another member. They also discuss the connection between our brains and experiences in their new podcast.
Marrying a family member may not be as genetically risky as we once thought, as the chances of producing offspring with genetic disorders or abnormalities are actually quite low. In fact, the mixing of good genes from close relatives can result in offspring with potentially superior genes.
In a tangent note from the Roe v. Wade episode, the hosts address the use of the phrase "gave up" when referring to adoption and discuss cultural differences in adoption and marriage practices.
This podcast delves into questions like whether we can create new senses for humans, in order to understand how our brains interpret and process experiences.