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Related - an article I wrote about the settlement of Tristan da Cunha and the history of micronations last year. [1] There are also some fascinating clips of th

Related - an article I wrote about the settlement of Tristan da Cunha and the history of micronations last year. [1] There are also some fascinating clips of the island on Youtube (including the odd, 19th century sounding variant of British English spoken there) if anyone is looking for interesting procrastination material. [2] [1] http://theappendix.net/issues/2014/7/the-king-of-the-islands-of-refreshment http://theappendix.net/issues/2014/7/the-king-of-the-islands... [2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKRvtk-GI0g https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kKRvtk-GI0g

javert 12y ago
They sound pretty American. More than British people, for example.
- mml 12y ago
  Not surprising. People interested in such things say that the southern U.S. accent is closer to 18th century British English than current British English is.
  - vacri 12y ago
    Which British accent? One linguist says that you get a noticeable difference about every 25 miles in the UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7843058.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7843058.stm
    - javert 12y ago
      Probably almost any of them. All the British accents I've ever heard sound less American than the Traistain de Cunha islanders.
IndianAstronaut 12y ago
The level of inbreeding on that island is quite scary. Although if they purged a lot of the deleterious alleles from the population, if they outbred with others, they could produce much healthier offspring and a lower likelihood of various genetic ailments.
- formulaT 12y ago
  Why do you think you have such certain knowledge of these things? It seems like knowledge of human genetics and diseases is in a very early stage. As far as I can tell the idea that inbreeding is bad is primarily political.
  - mikeash 12y ago
    The action of recessive genes is well understood, as are various diseases caused by them. Don't forget that European royalty conducted a long-running experiment on the effects of inbreeding, and the result was a great deal of deformities and disabilities. A whole genetic disorder is named this way: just look up "Habsburg jaw." Lots of other experiments on human inbreeding have been run on islands like the one in the story. Your post sounds an awful lot like, "I don't understand, therefore it is not understood."
    - formulaT 12y ago
      More like no one would ever write about the need for Jews to outbreed, and if they did they would be rebuffed with a bazillion qualifications about the science being uncertain. You only get to make sweeping statements when politics are on your side.
      - mikeash 12y ago
        The Jews are several orders of magnitude more numerous than these small island populations, and even then there are genetic diseases that are far more common among them.
        formulaT 12y ago
        So since the science of recessive genes is so well understood, how big does the population need to be before scientists instruct the group to start outbreeding?
        12y ago

javert 12y ago

They sound pretty American. More than British people, for example.

mml 12y ago
Not surprising. People interested in such things say that the southern U.S. accent is closer to 18th century British English than current British English is.
- vacri 12y ago
  Which British accent? One linguist says that you get a noticeable difference about every 25 miles in the UK http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7843058.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7843058.stm
  - javert 12y ago
    Probably almost any of them. All the British accents I've ever heard sound less American than the Traistain de Cunha islanders.

IndianAstronaut 12y ago

The level of inbreeding on that island is quite scary. Although if they purged a lot of the deleterious alleles from the population, if they outbred with others, they could produce much healthier offspring and a lower likelihood of various genetic ailments.

formulaT 12y ago
Why do you think you have such certain knowledge of these things? It seems like knowledge of human genetics and diseases is in a very early stage. As far as I can tell the idea that inbreeding is bad is primarily political.
- mikeash 12y ago
  The action of recessive genes is well understood, as are various diseases caused by them. Don't forget that European royalty conducted a long-running experiment on the effects of inbreeding, and the result was a great deal of deformities and disabilities. A whole genetic disorder is named this way: just look up "Habsburg jaw." Lots of other experiments on human inbreeding have been run on islands like the one in the story. Your post sounds an awful lot like, "I don't understand, therefore it is not understood."
  - formulaT 12y ago
    More like no one would ever write about the need for Jews to outbreed, and if they did they would be rebuffed with a bazillion qualifications about the science being uncertain. You only get to make sweeping statements when politics are on your side.
    - mikeash 12y ago
      The Jews are several orders of magnitude more numerous than these small island populations, and even then there are genetic diseases that are far more common among them.
      - formulaT 12y ago
        So since the science of recessive genes is so well understood, how big does the population need to be before scientists instruct the group to start outbreeding?
        12y ago