“how can we possibly defend our collective interests under the current system? the states refuse to provide the expected number of soldiers even when we face invasion and rebellion.” the author of this imagined quote most likely would agree with which statement? confederation is the best form of government because it gives final authority to state and local leaders. confederation is the worst form of government because it does not give enough authority to the national leaders. federation is the best form of government because it limits the power of national leaders. federation is the worst form of government because it does not give enough authority to the state and local leaders.

The author of this imagined quote most likely would agree with the following statement: Confederation is the worst form of government because it does not give enough authority to the national leaders.

Explanation: In a confederation the power lies with states and its leaders which can lead to chaos and weakness in the federal government’s control of individual states. This weakened federal system can result in low state-run military defense systems necessary to protect citizens as a whole.

Confederation is the worst form of government because it does not give enough authority to the national leaders.

as university of miami psychologists debra lieberman and adam smith pointed out in a recent article in the journal current directions in psychological science, humans have social and psychological mechanisms to deter incest. with very few exceptions, marriages between brothers and sisters and between parents and their children are verboten in every human culture. the primary psychological anti-incest mechanism is the yuck response. even the idea of sex with their mom or dad, bro or sis is upsetting to most people. the psychologist jonathan haidt has found that nearly everyone is repelled by the prospect of brother-sister sex, even in hypothetical situations in which there is no chance of pregnancy).

the biological cost of incest

this raises an interesting question: just what’s so bad about incest? sure, having sex with your dad or your sister seems gross — but why? some anthropologists have argued that incest taboos are learned social conventions. this explanation, however, doesn’t make sense to me as it does not explain the widespread existence of anti-incest mechanisms in creatures ranging from cockroaches to chimpanzees. second, the incest taboo is about as close to a universal law as human moral rules get.

why should mechanisms to avoid incest be so widespread both in nature and across human societies? the answer is simple. the problem with having sex close with relatives is that there is an astonishingly high chance that your offspring will be born with a serious birth defect.