I don't know whether it is the right place, but here is a very interesting article about depression from an evolutionary point of view and the role of low mood in survival: http://www.sciencebasedmedicine.org/depression-re-examined-a-new-way-to-look-at-an-old-puzzle/

dragharrow, I think we would get along just fine. I also do not care much about things, my flat has empty white walls and books all over the place. The only decoration are my plants, really. I buy books (now in electronic form), comics and music. And that's about it. I've heard people complain that my flat is so ascetic, so unfashionable, that white walls are not trendy, colours are not in. Well, those people do not get invited to my place anymore  And fashionable/trendy are probably words that I hate the most.
I've also been accused by someone in my family that I am "wild" (as in "wild animal"). Because I did not feel like buying a china dinner set for 12 people. As if I would ever invite that many people over for dinner. Well, that's older generation for you. Status symbols are everything. And for me they mean nothing.

Coming back to the topic because I've come upon a good example of problems that a translator has to face. Yesterday I read a review of the novel, the author is not important, could be even Bakker for all purposes. Anyway, the reviewer claimed that the translation is bad because the sentences are long and complicated, which makes the book difficult to read. Now I know that it's exactly the way the original book was written and that the original wasn't a light and easy read, either. So the translator decided to stick to the original sentence structure as much as possible - and got blamed for that. But on the other hand, cutting the sentences and making the book easier to read would go against the author's intent and someone would certainly point that out. Any way you look, you lose.

By "our", I mean political scene in one not-very-small central European country. Which is quite unlike American or British one.

Well, I think it's just a question of finding your niche with people who are like you. I was a very bright kid and my primary school was a total nightmare. But it got better and when I went to university, I found my place among nerds and the fandom. I go to conventions, I meet my nerdy friends every Thursday evening in a pub and chat with them on our own social media during the week, and I'm not bitter. True, our politicial scene sucks, the mainstream media are dumb, but I simply don't care. I have my niche and stick to it.

Dunyain Nostradamus !

Dunyain Bene Gesserit and Kwisatz Haderach?

So, I'm not a biologist, as I've already written in another thread. But I happen to know a bit about inbreeding, although in relation to household pets. Namely, I have a few friends who breed pedigree cats and they claim that, when done properly, inbreeding can be quite useful.
First of all, it is useful to actually remove defective genetic stock from the pool. If you have a line of cats that you suspect of carrying defective genes, you breed two closely related cats from that line (mother/son or father/daughter work the best). And if their offspring shows signs of for example musculoskeletal problems, you remove the whole line from your breeding programme.
On the other hand, selective inbreeding is also used to make a desirable feature (like deeply green eyes or rich fur) stronger in the population, so that it does not get lost when new blood is added.
Of course, this can apply to dunyain only if we assume that they have absolutely no sexual taboos and someone keeps track of their selective breeding programme throughout the yeats.