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Except that in practice, it hardly ever happened until very recently. Ethnic groups lived far apart, and those folks who lived near a boundary between two diffe

Except that in practice, it hardly ever happened until very recently. Ethnic groups lived far apart, and those folks who lived near a boundary between two different ethnic groups would hardly ever interbreed with the others (whether that's mostly cultural or a lack of attraction, though, I'm not sure). Even now, it happens surprisingly infrequently.

foldr 17y ago
>and those folks who lived near a boundary between two different ethnic groups would hardly ever interbreed with the others If you are talking about prehistory, how can you know this?
- hughprime 17y ago
  Well, inferring from the observed behaviour of stone-age tribal peoples in historical times.
  - foldr 17y ago
    That's a bit vague. Has anyone run the stats on the incidence of cross-tribal sex? And where would they get the data?
    - Retric 17y ago
      They have studied violence and tribal group's have an insane level of homicide relative to the US average. When you look at children from spouse infidelity in modern times the numbers are something like 10 to 30%. So, I don't think the average family tree is as correct as people think. Add in rape / conquest and I expect most tribes where constantly exchanging DNA. The only real limitations where probably geographic.
      - nopassrecover 17y ago
        Although in past times (pre 60s), excepting cases of wartime, it would probably have been harder to cheat and get away with without serious consequence. As parental testing gets easier/more affordable (perhaps even mandatory at birth or at least for child maintenance collection) this may change. As it stands, culture encourages promiscuity under the guide of empowerment (whether this is positive or negative is a longer argument) and legislation certainly doesn't discourage cheating (e.g. fault-free divorce, child maintenance to support the female partner even in cases where the male partner ends up not being the actual father, alimony in the U.S.).
Tichy 17y ago
I was just guessing anyway - but I think it does not have to be a fully different ethnic group, maybe often people are attracted to someone who looks quite different. Of course there are those pysch experiments were people seem to rate the average face the highest, but I have heard the "attracted to exotic" variant too often, so I am a bit skeptic of that research.

foldr 17y ago

>and those folks who lived near a boundary between two different ethnic groups would hardly ever interbreed with the others If you are talking about prehistory, how can you know this?

hughprime 17y ago
Well, inferring from the observed behaviour of stone-age tribal peoples in historical times.
- foldr 17y ago
  That's a bit vague. Has anyone run the stats on the incidence of cross-tribal sex? And where would they get the data?
  - Retric 17y ago
    They have studied violence and tribal group's have an insane level of homicide relative to the US average. When you look at children from spouse infidelity in modern times the numbers are something like 10 to 30%. So, I don't think the average family tree is as correct as people think. Add in rape / conquest and I expect most tribes where constantly exchanging DNA. The only real limitations where probably geographic.
    - nopassrecover 17y ago
      Although in past times (pre 60s), excepting cases of wartime, it would probably have been harder to cheat and get away with without serious consequence. As parental testing gets easier/more affordable (perhaps even mandatory at birth or at least for child maintenance collection) this may change. As it stands, culture encourages promiscuity under the guide of empowerment (whether this is positive or negative is a longer argument) and legislation certainly doesn't discourage cheating (e.g. fault-free divorce, child maintenance to support the female partner even in cases where the male partner ends up not being the actual father, alimony in the U.S.).

Tichy 17y ago

I was just guessing anyway - but I think it does not have to be a fully different ethnic group, maybe often people are attracted to someone who looks quite different. Of course there are those pysch experiments were people seem to rate the average face the highest, but I have heard the "attracted to exotic" variant too often, so I am a bit skeptic of that research.