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Surprise DNA Results Are Turning Customer-Service Reps into Therapists

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Re: Surprise DNA Results Are Turning Customer-Service Reps into Therapists

#11

If ask Reddit is anything to go by this is slowly becoming normal. You have to wonder if 20-30 years from now mores will have shifted to reflect the reality that there are often familial buried secrets of every kind out there. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/search?q=Dna&restrict_sr=...

I read somewhere that paternal uncertainty is the leading cause of male violence in every culture in the world, from aboriginal Australia to New York. You wonder, if evolution (cultural or biological) has not allowed any variance in this trait - it must be necessary for reproduction. It would mean that men who don't get angry at the prospect of raising another man's children, inescapably raise another man's children.

Re: Surprise DNA Results Are Turning Customer-Service Reps into Therapists

#12

If ask Reddit is anything to go by this is slowly becoming normal. You have to wonder if 20-30 years from now mores will have shifted to reflect the reality that there are often familial buried secrets of every kind out there. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/search?q=Dna&restrict_sr=...

There was a study in the UK some decades ago showing that roughly 30% of kids weren't from the father's they thought they were. I got this reference indirectly from The Red Queen, an interesting book. It's packed away, so I can't give anything more specific.

The non-paternatity rate is very class dependant. In the upper-middle the rate is quite low, but in the underclasses it can get up to around 20%.

Re: Surprise DNA Results Are Turning Customer-Service Reps into Therapists

#13
interesting aside:

In education there is the issue of teaching mendelian genetics without causing a massive stink when some of the kids show traits they couldn't get from both parents.

This is often solved by intentionally avoiding real examples and using contrived examples that are not mendelian like eye color.

Re: Surprise DNA Results Are Turning Customer-Service Reps into Therapists

#14

interesting aside: In education there is the issue of teaching mendelian genetics without causing a massive stink when some of the kids show traits they couldn't get from both parents. This is often solved by intentionally avoiding real examples and using contrived examples that are not mendelian like eye color.

A friend of mine caused a huge stink in her village when she pointed out how two siblings had blue eyes but all parents and grandparents had brown eyes. There was much chaos.

Re: Surprise DNA Results Are Turning Customer-Service Reps into Therapists

#15
post #11

If ask Reddit is anything to go by this is slowly becoming normal. You have to wonder if 20-30 years from now mores will have shifted to reflect the reality that there are often familial buried secrets of every kind out there. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/search?q=Dna&restrict_sr=...

I read somewhere that paternal uncertainty is the leading cause of male violence in every culture in the world, from aboriginal Australia to New York. You wonder, if evolution (cultural or biological) has not allowed any variance in this trait - it must be necessary for reproduction. It would mean that men who don't get angry at the prospect of raising another man's children, inescapably raise another man's children.

http://www.martindaly.ca/uploads/2/3/7/0/23707972/cinderella...

>The most thorough analyses are from Canada, where data in a national archive of all homicides known to police indicate that children under 5 years of age were beaten to death by their putative genetic fathers at a rate of 2.6 deaths per million child-years at risk (residing with their fathers), while the corresponding rate for stepfathers was over 120 times higher at 321.6 (Daly&Wilson, 2001).

That is a very large odds ratio.

Re: Surprise DNA Results Are Turning Customer-Service Reps into Therapists

#16
post #15
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read somewhere that paternal uncertainty is the leading cause of male violence in every culture in the world, from aboriginal Australia to New York. You wonder, if evolution (cultural or biological) has not allowed any variance in this trait - it must be necessary for reproduction. It would mean that men who don't get angry at the prospect of raising another man's children, inescapably raise another man's children.

http://www.martindaly.ca/uploads/2/3/7/0/23707972/cinderella... >The most thorough analyses are from Canada, where data in a national archive of all homicides known to police indicate that children under 5 years of age were beaten to death by their putative genetic fathers at a rate of 2.6 deaths per million child-years at risk (residing with their fathers), while the corresponding rate for stepfathers was over 120 t…

You know, that does make me think about my step dad a bit differently...

Re: Surprise DNA Results Are Turning Customer-Service Reps into Therapists

#17
post #14

interesting aside: In education there is the issue of teaching mendelian genetics without causing a massive stink when some of the kids show traits they couldn't get from both parents. This is often solved by intentionally avoiding real examples and using contrived examples that are not mendelian like eye color.

A friend of mine caused a huge stink in her village when she pointed out how two siblings had blue eyes but all parents and grandparents had brown eyes. There was much chaos.

Blue eyes are recessive and brown eyes are extremely dominant though. With parents having brown eyes, there could still be up to theoretical 50% chance that the children could have them.

However, if both parents had blue eyes, then it's near impossible for the kids to have brown eyes if they're genetically related to both parents.

Re: Surprise DNA Results Are Turning Customer-Service Reps into Therapists

#19

If ask Reddit is anything to go by this is slowly becoming normal. You have to wonder if 20-30 years from now mores will have shifted to reflect the reality that there are often familial buried secrets of every kind out there. https://www.reddit.com/r/AskReddit/search?q=Dna&restrict_sr=...

There was a study in the UK some decades ago showing that roughly 30% of kids weren't from the father's they thought they were. I got this reference indirectly from The Red Queen, an interesting book. It's packed away, so I can't give anything more specific.

IIRC that might have been a convenience sample of families where non-paternity was suspected. Most estimates of historical non-paternity in Europe yield low single digits.

Re: Surprise DNA Results Are Turning Customer-Service Reps into Therapists

#20
Saying “this is science” alone as an answer to the validity is really doing science a disfavor. Not only are these consumer grade tests, but there’s been a lot of evidence of the fallibility of DNA testing (particularly for crime scene analysis) in recent years, let alone the fact that everything they show is based on models that are constantly updated and effectively best guesses. I really wish they’d be more upfront but it’d probably be too big a challenge to sweeping in new customers.
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