[SySnootles]

Polygamy is problematic for several reasons. It’s understandable when a tragedy causes a shortage of men. But when you have an equal male-female ratio, polygamy wastes the genetic diversity of men.

If one husband has five wives and fathers five children with each of them, you have 25 half-siblings who are unmarriageble to each other. If each of those five wives had children with her own husband, that would be 5 clans of genetically distinct individuals who could reproduce healthy offspring. How this not obvious to those people?

[brytlea]

It’s exactly like the conundrum that faces dog breeders when many people breed to a few popular sires. In a few generations, it becomes difficult to get any genetic diversity.

[bukkdems]

"olygamy is problematic for several reasons. It’s understandable when a tragedy causes a shortage of men. But when you have an equal male-female ratio, polygamy wastes the genetic diversity of men. If one husband has five wives and fathers five children with each of them, you have 25 half-siblings who are unmarriageble to each other. If each of those five wives had children with her own husband, that would be 5 clans of genetically distinct individuals who could reproduce healthy offspring. How this not obvious to those people?"

It would be good if the Copenhagen meeting had considered the real problems of the world.