For example, the idea that cousin marriage is, to use a scientific term, icky.

例如，表親結婚的這個想法，用個「科學」名詞來說，就是令人不快。

First off, cousin marriage is way more common than you may think.

首先，表親婚姻可能比你所想發生得更頻繁。

Approximately 10% of the world's families are headed by couples who are second cousins or closer.

全球約有 10% 的家族是由第二代堂、表親（甚至更近親）關係的夫妻所主。（譯註：第二代堂、表親指「同曾祖父、母的人」）

That's more than 750 million people.

那就超過了 7 億 5 千萬人。

And it may be wildly out of fashion in Europe and North America now,

它現在在歐洲和北美可能已經非常不盛行，

but like hoop skirts and top hats, cousin marriage used to be a much more common sight.

但就如同裙撐和高頂禮帽一樣，表親婚姻曾是很普遍的。

People Like Charles Darwin, Edgar Allan Poe, and Albert Einstein all married their first cousins.

像是達爾文、愛倫·坡以及愛因斯坦等人，都是與其第一代堂、表親結婚。（譯註：第二代堂、表親指「同祖父、母的人」）

President Franklin Delano Roosevelt married his fifth cousin, Eleanor Roosevelt⏤she didn't even have to change her last name.

美國前總統羅斯福是與其第五代堂、表親愛蓮娜·羅斯福結婚，她甚至不需要改姓。（譯註：第五代堂、表親指「同曾曾曾曾祖父、母的人」）

One study looking at millions of genealogy profiles concluded that between 1650 and 1850, the average person was fourth cousins with their spouse.

一項針對數百萬份家譜資料進行調查的研究結論是，在 1650 年至 1850 年間，一般人與其伴侶是屬於第四代堂、表親的關係。

I know, I know; what the hell is fourth cousin?

我知道、我知道，第四代堂、表親究竟是什麼？

Well, it basically means that the average person had the same great-great-great-grandparent as their romantic partner.

嗯，它基本上表示這個人與另一半共享了同一位曾曾曾祖父母。

So, why was that?

那麼，為什麼會那樣呢？

Well, marrying a cousin meant keeping money and power within the family and maintaining your social relationships.

嗯，跟堂、表親結婚表示可以將財富與權力保留在家族當中，並維繫社交關係。

It was also about proximity.

那也是與生活圈距離遠近有關。

If you weren't traveling far in your young life, you're more likely to end up with someone you already know, like a second cousin.

如果你在年輕時沒有遠行，你最終的伴侶很可能是已經認識的人，例如第二代堂、表親。

But, even with the onset of the railroad and the Industrial Revolution, it still took another 50 years for cousin marriage to go out of style in Western Society.

但是，即時有了鐵路和工業革命的出現，西方社會中的表親婚姻也多花了 50 年才退流行。

Mobility may have played a factor.

機動性可能是個因素。

But researchers also think that greater autonomy for women and smaller family sizes, meaning that they were just fewer cousins to marry, also influenced the change.

但研究人員也認為女性較大的自主權以及較小的家庭表示能結連理的堂、表親變少了，也對這個改變有影響。

Though it became much less popular on both sides of the Atlantic, it was only in the US that it became illegal.

雖然這個做法在大西洋兩岸都變得較不受歡迎，它只有在美國才變成不合法的。

Following the Civil War, the American government took a greater interest in overseeing more elements of daily life, including marriage.

美國在內戰之後，其政府對監督包括婚姻在內的更多日常生活要素產生了更大的興趣。

American states began to outlaw not only interracial marriage but cousin marriage as well.

美國各州不僅開始立法禁止跨種族婚姻，也禁止堂、表親婚姻。

Today, 32 states either outright ban the practice or restrict it to those who seek genetic counseling, are beyond reproductive age, or are sterile.

截至今日，有 32 州不是直接禁止這些行為，或是予以限制，將範圍縮小到尋求遺傳諮詢者、過生育年齡者，或是不孕者。

It's estimated that less than 1% of American couples are cousins,

據估計，美國約 1% 以下的夫妻是堂、表親關係，

but the widespread illegality, not to mention the social stigma, makes quantifying it quite difficult.

但是廣布的違法性使得量化它變得困難，更別提其社會汙名了。

If you ask people why cousin marriage seems wrong, health might come up.

如果你問人們堂、表親婚姻為什麼感覺像是件錯事，健康因素可能會是回答。

The fear of birth defects and genetic disorders has influenced the change in social norms.

對於出生缺陷以及遺傳性疾病的恐懼影響了社會規範的改變。

But, in 2002, researchers from the National Society of Genetic Counselors found that the increased risk was a minor one.

但在 2002 年，全國遺傳諮詢師協會的研究人員發現，增加的風險很小。

In the general population, the risk that a child will be born with serious complications is 3 to 4%.

在一般大眾當中，孩子出生後有嚴重併發症的風險是 3 到 4%。

With a first-cousin couple, the risk Increased by 1.7 to 2.8 percentage points.

就第一代堂、表親婚姻而言，其風險增加了 1.7 到 2.8 個百分點。

And with those figures, the researchers concluded that there was no biological reason to discourage cousins from marrying.

而研究人員透過這些數字得到的結論是，沒有生物學上的理由可以阻止堂、表親結婚。

Look, I totally get it

聽著，我完全明白。

Whether you fancy your cousin or not, depending on where you're from, this can still be a bit of a taboo subject.

無論你是否看上了你的堂、表親，根據你所在的地方，這可能仍然是個禁忌的話題。

But the truth is, our feelings around it are shaped by the culture we live in and not necessarily by whether it's objectively dangerous or not.

但事實是，我們對它的感受是由我們所處的文化所決定，而不一定是由它客觀上是否危險。

After all, if it wasn't for cousin marriage, you probably wouldn't be here.

畢竟，如果不是因為表親婚姻，你大概就不會存在世界上了。