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danathecount t1_j9updiv wrote

Reply to comment by NewCanadianMTurker in TIL residents of Tangier Island, 12 miles off the coast of Virginia, have remained so isolated they still speak a dialect similar to the original colonists from the 1700s by emily_9511

There is actually research on this topic, as this problem applies to colonizing space.

Apparently, you only need a starting population of 160 people to have enough genetic diversity for a healthy population, but that's in a vacuum (no pun intended). I'm sure it would be a lower number if every so often new genetics are introduced to the population - which is probably the case on Tangier Island.

On a side note, Iceland has an app where you can make sure the person you want to be with isn't related to you.

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p314159i t1_j9w1zuv wrote

It should also be noted that the reason that app exists is not that this is a problem in iceland specifically but rather than iceland is a place where the data exists specifically because extensive records of the whole population going back generations exist.

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CDinDC t1_j9wnhtb wrote

Iceland also needs this app because their surname system doesn’t make it clear who might be a cousin. If I meet someone with my great-grandmother’s maiden name as a last name, I know to avoid mating with them.

In Iceland, surnames are just your fathers first name + dóttir or son. It can be a lot less clear that you might be genetically connected to a hook up.

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MattyKatty t1_j9y7i4d wrote

> If I meet someone with my great-grandmother’s maiden name as a last name, I know to avoid mating with them.

That far removed, and that being the only familial connection, you would very likely be fine. Unless your great-grandmother also happened to be her own aunt/cousin, I guess.

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Sharrakor t1_j9yfgu3 wrote

You know your great-grandmothers' maiden names?

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-UpsetDesk t1_j9yulbz wrote

… You don’t?

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Sharrakor t1_j9yvewy wrote

I just remembered that I made a family tree years ago, so upon looking them up, now I do. I will probably forget before the end of the day, though.

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NewCanadianMTurker t1_j9uq4o3 wrote

Interesting! But I'd imagine people would have to settle for a lot less than their ideal partner when there's so few to choose from. Even if the initial 160 people is composed entirely of loving couples, it would cause problems in the long-run if the children of these couples don't like each other very much.

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zomebieclownfish t1_j9uzrfp wrote

In my experience with mating, a plethora of alcohol can bring the risk of not finding a match to nearly zero.

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SaintUlvemann t1_j9wv6ek wrote

>But I'd imagine people would have to settle for a lot less than their ideal partner...

Well I grew up in a rural area, a town with fewer people than my intro biology class at undergrad. I've also lived in cities, including as a kid prior to moving to the rural community that I now consider my hometown.

I think that people who haven't been in small-population social contexts radically, radically underestimate just how strongly one's preferences are shaped by one's environment. Love is a sociological phenomenon, and I can't really explain it any better than that article does.

When you're living in a social context with fewer people, your sense of what makes an ideal relationship changes to fit the social context that you find yourself in. Maybe you won't have as much in common with your partner... and maybe that will be okay, and you will still enjoy the time you have together. Maybe there will be more things that annoy you about your partner... or, maybe not, since, having grown up in a similar restricted social context, you'll be more likely to share certain habits.

I'm not offering any rose-colored glasses here; life in a small community is only as good as the people around you, and people are not always good. But we people have a habit of growing and changing in accordance with our circumstances.

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p314159i t1_j9w2a0k wrote

Jealousy over everyone thinking the same person from a limited pool is the most compatible with them seems like it would be a bigger problem than people not being able to find anyone who was compatible.

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LurkForYourLives t1_j9xtva7 wrote

….have you met the majority of our entire world yet? Women have only relatively recently had any choice in who they married. We’ve been chattel for aeons.

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