causal

Cousin Marriage Reduces Ability Distribution

Cousin marriage is poor for assortativeness because most people lack many cousins of the right age and gender, forcing essentially random cousin matching; systematically carried out, it should reduce the distribution of abilities within a society compared to the tightly assortative Northern European pattern.

causalpending

Speaker

Gregory Clark

Evidence Quote

if it's systematically carried out, it should lead to a reduction in the distribution of abilities within a society compared to the very assortative Northern European pattern

Source

Gregory ClarkConversations with Tyler
Created: 6/13/2026, 3:23:31 AM

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