If Charles Darwin was so smart and so into natural selection, why did he marry his first cousin?

Question

Just curious. I did a power point on Darwin and found out he married Emma, his first cousin. That is strange, being that he was a believer in natural selection.

I just can't see spending my whole life working on a theory, only to go against it. I know u can't help who u love-trust me.

Answer 1

He married the woman who appealed to him.

When the heart is concerned science goes out the window.

Answer 2

Because people didn't really understand how DNA worked back then. They understood that traits were passed on from parents to child but not that there was a higher chance of gene mutation. "In January, scientists found that humans and chimps have a higher than expected number of genetic mutations due to inbreeding. Inbreeding isn’t necessarily limited to matings between people who are close relatives, it can also refer to matings between members of a small population where the genetic variation is small. Some well-known recessive diseases that can arise from inbreeding are hemophilia and Tay Sachs disease." Most of this really wasn't known then, and family members have a lot of the same traits so it made sense to marry then to pass on those traits. But, generally you only get genetic illness if your family gene pool is already "polluted". "First-cousin marriage isn't a surefire recipe for congenital defects. True, marriage among close kin can increase the chance of pathological recessive genes meeting up in some unlucky individual, with dire consequences. The problem isn't cousin marriage per se, however, but rather how many such genes are floating around in the family pool. If the pool's pretty clean, the likelihood of genetic defects resulting from cousin marriage is low. A recent review (Bennett et al, Journal of Genetic Counseling, 2002) says that, on average, offspring of first-cousin unions have a 2 to 3 percent greater risk of birth defects than the general population, and a little over 4 percent greater risk of early death. While those margins aren't trivial, genetic testing and counseling can minimize the danger. An argument can be made that marriages of first cousins descended from strong stock can produce exceptional children. Charles Darwin, for example, married his first cousin Emma, which wasn't at all unusual in their prominent and successful family--their common grandparents were cousins too. Three of Charles and Emma's ten kids died in childhood, it's true, but that was standard for Victorian England; the others went on to productive and in some cases distinguished careers."

The bottom website has some interesting ideas on the dangers or lack there of, of first cousins getting married.

Answer 3

Natural selection, never said anything about disincluding love, when you love, you love, its as simple as that, we cannot do anything about where our emotions lead us, or who our hearts decide to fall in love with, its just the way things happen, the only influence on it all is self discipline, choice making and willpower....if you have fallen for someone you shouldnt have, thats the only thing that keeps you from doing the wrong thing.

Answer 4

hi.
fist enquire he married with his first cousin before his theory then he realised his fault and present that in theory.but if he married his cousin after his theory then he was really a smart that he succeeded to fool us.

Answer 5

He must have thought that she had favorable traits that would have made thier offspring more likely to survive and reproduce.

Answer 6

Facts are often trumped by love.

Answer 7

Perhaps he felt he could overcome genetic problems.

Or maybe she was really, really cute.

Answer 8

love

Answer 9

The heart and the head don't always agree....

Answer 10

"If he's so smart, then why is he dead?"
Homer Simpson.