(July 9, 2015 at 7:01 pm)Mr.wizard Wrote:(July 9, 2015 at 6:58 pm)Pyrrho Wrote: The thing is, all it takes is one partner to cheat and you now have a risk of STDs. Right now, I only have to trust my wife, and she only has to trust me. But if there were a third person, we would each have two people to worry about cheating, and if there were a fourth person, we would all have three people to worry about cheating, etc.
The upshot is, one would have an increased risk of getting STDs if one had multiple spouses.
Just to be clear, I am not saying that this means that polygamy ought to be illegal, as it would be the same whether the group is married or not. I am just pointing out the fact that, in practice, one is taking a greater risk when there is a larger group of people with whom one is having sex.
Why does one cheating spouse out of ten put you at more of a risk then one cheating spouse out of one?
In 10 spouses, odds are higher that one of them will cheat you than with just one spouse.
If 10% of all people cheat, then, if you have 10 spouses, one of them is 100% likely to cheat, statistically speaking.
But if you only have 1 spouse, you have a 10% chance of having a cheating spouse.
