Why Don’t You Have Sex With Your Sister? - Dr Debra Lieberman - #1041 episode artwork

EPISODE · Jan 3, 2026 · 1H 8M

Why Don’t You Have Sex With Your Sister? - Dr Debra Lieberman - #1041

from Modern Wisdom · host Chris Williamson

Dr. Debra Lieberman is an evolutionary psychologist, professor, and researcher. Why don’t we feel sexual attraction toward our siblings or close family? Evolution seems to have hard-wired the brain to prevent inbreeding, a pattern shared with many other animals. So how does this mechanism work, and what are the moral or ethical arguments surrounding incest? Expect to learn why evolution has designed you to not want sex with your sister, how animals actually detect who their relatives are, what the high level explanation is for why humans don’t want sex with their kin, the moral argument if it is okay if two adult siblings had consensual sex, how big the actual genetic risk is for first cousins, what crying adn tears actually communicate from an evolutionary perspective and much more… Timestamps: (0:00) Why Don’t We Want to Have Sex With Our Siblings? (7:57) What Triggers Our Incest Avoidance Mechanism? (19:04) Is Incest Disgust a Moral Pressure? (27:19) How Only Children Make Sense of Incest (31:11) Why Is Incest P**n So Popular? (37:19) Why Do We Cry? (52:53) What Happens When No One is Watching (58:07) Why We Use Tears to Convey Emotions (01:06:30) Where to Find Debra Sponsors: See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: ⁠https://chriswillx.com/deals⁠ New pricing since recording: Function is now just $365, plus get $25 off at https://functionhealth.com/modernwisdom Get 35% off your first subscription on the best supplements from Momentous at https://livemomentous.com/modernwisdom Get a free bottle of D3K2, an AG1 Welcome Kit, and more when you first subscribe at https://ag1.info/modernwisdom Get a Free Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular flavours with your first purchase at https://drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom Extra Stuff: Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: ⁠https://chriswillx.com/books⁠ Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: ⁠https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom⁠ Episodes You Might Enjoy: #577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠ #712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠ #700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠ - Get In Touch: Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx⁠ Twitter: ⁠https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx⁠ YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast⁠ Email: ⁠https://chriswillx.com/contact⁠ - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Dr. Debra Lieberman is an evolutionary psychologist, professor, and researcher. Why don’t we feel sexual attraction toward our siblings or close family? Evolution seems to have hard-wired the brain to prevent inbreeding, a pattern shared with many other animals. So how does this mechanism work, and what are the moral or ethical arguments surrounding incest? Expect to learn why evolution has designed you to not want sex with your sister, how animals actually detect who their relatives are, what the high level explanation is for why humans don’t want sex with their kin, the moral argument if it is okay if two adult siblings had consensual sex, how big the actual genetic risk is for first cousins, what crying adn tears actually communicate from an evolutionary perspective and much more… Timestamps: (0:00) Why Don’t We Want to Have Sex With Our Siblings? (7:57) What Triggers Our Incest Avoidance Mechanism? (19:04) Is Incest Disgust a Moral Pressure? (27:19) How Only Children Make Sense of Incest (31:11) Why Is Incest P**n So Popular? (37:19) Why Do We Cry? (52:53) What Happens When No One is Watching (58:07) Why We Use Tears to Convey Emotions (01:06:30) Where to Find Debra Sponsors: See discounts for all the products I use and recommend: ⁠https://chriswillx.com/deals⁠ New pricing since recording: Function is now just $365, plus get $25 off at https://functionhealth.com/modernwisdom Get 35% off your first subscription on the best supplements from Momentous at https://livemomentous.com/modernwisdom Get a free bottle of D3K2, an AG1 Welcome Kit, and more when you first subscribe at https://ag1.info/modernwisdom Get a Free Sample Pack of LMNT’s most popular flavours with your first purchase at https://drinklmnt.com/modernwisdom Extra Stuff: Get my free reading list of 100 books to read before you die: ⁠https://chriswillx.com/books⁠ Try my productivity energy drink Neutonic: ⁠https://neutonic.com/modernwisdom⁠ Episodes You Might Enjoy: #577 - David Goggins - This Is How To Master Your Life: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Goggins⁠⁠⁠ #712 - Dr Jordan Peterson - How To Destroy Your Negative Beliefs: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Peterson⁠⁠⁠ #700 - Dr Andrew Huberman - The Secret Tools To Hack Your Brain: ⁠⁠⁠lnkfi.re/SN-Huberman⁠⁠ - Get In Touch: Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/chriswillx⁠ Twitter: ⁠https://www.twitter.com/chriswillx⁠ YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/modernwisdompodcast⁠ Email: ⁠https://chriswillx.com/contact⁠ - Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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Why Don’t You Have Sex With Your Sister? - Dr Debra Lieberman - #1041

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This episode was published on January 3, 2026.

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Dr. Debra Lieberman is an evolutionary psychologist, professor, and researcher. Why don’t we feel sexual attraction toward our siblings or close family? Evolution seems to have hard-wired the brain to prevent inbreeding, a pattern shared with many...

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