For a real mind-bender, someone here once pointed out that a person’s parents are negative-second-cousins of each other, since they have an “ancestor of order -1” in common.
For some reason these facts never sank in my head. Then someone in a prior cousins thread said “It’s all about Grandparents” and it all made sense.
If they share common grandparents, then they are first cousins.
The further back in the line (great-great…) simply raises the cousin number.
The removed bit is easy: generations. The “shortest path” bit was fuzzy to me, so thanks for clearing that up.
Are there any kinship systems that have less confusing kinship terms than those we use here in the USA?
That question may in itself sound confusing, so I’'ll keep trying!
Take for example, our kinship term “second cousin, twice removed”. Are there other cultures that could maybe express this same term in a clearer way than we do in the USA?
Will we always be stuck with the kinship terms (and even the kinship system) that we use presently, or can other cultures come to our rescue, and help us to become more inclusive and perhaps show us an easier and even a better way to define kinship?