Alice filed for bankruptcy 5 years ago. How could this affect her in trying to purchase a new home? A) Bankruptcy could prevent Alice from obtaining new lines of credit to buy the home. B) Since Alice filed 5 years ago bankruptcy should not affect her home buying experience. C) Alice may need be able to increase her line of credit as a result of having previously filed bankruptcy. D) Filing bankruptcy in the past shows that Alice is a good investment to a potential lender, who may give her money to buy the home.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Bankruptcy is an unfortunate reality for many people, but it doesn’t mean you won’t be able to obtain a mortgage in the future.

While your credit score is likely to take a major hit, you can rebuild your credit over time to minimize its overall impact.

In the short term, check your credit report for any incorrect items and if possible try to get your bankruptcy discharged.

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.

what is the answer