Goldstein! is on on about nous, les pédés, and how, like, humanity may use its post-singularity biotech transhumanist powers to eradicate homosexuality, but by accident. Well, the prevalent nature-nurture dichotomy that holds sexuality to be determined either by genetic inheritance or by social conditioning, which to his credit Goldstein! doesn't seem to hold personally, is patently ridiculous. Human sexuality is complex, and preference for one sex over another, or neither over both, or what have you, is plainly a result of genetic predisposition, conditions in utero, social interaction, acculturation, etc. All those valences make it unlikely that an in-utero screening will be able to say with anything approaching certainty that this boy will like boys, this girl will like girls, this future MtF trannie-fag with bi tendencies will . . . ah, nevermind. Perhaps with sufficient advances in genetics and neurobiology we can construct something probabalistic--this or that fetus more or less likely to be queer, but I find little merit to the fear that people may begin aborting or altering their potentially fey children.
I am, however, interested in a this comment:
I have a gay son. I am okay with it if he is but I would be a liar if I said that I wouldn’t prefer he was heterosexual. The young man is so un-obviously gay, however, it is at times hard for me to believe that he hasn’t made a choice.This is bizarre. Imagine if the son were effeminate, but straight, a condition more common than homosexuality in my experience. Would Dad wonder if he had chosen, contra his natural disposition, to like girls?
That aside, I think it's clear that the majority of those behaviors and interests we associate with the gay cliché are not genetic or otherwise innate. What have genes got to do with liking American musicals, or standing contraposto all the time? Cultural indicators are cultural indicators, and isn't a stronger case made for innate sexuality by noting how many men who exhibit none of the outward signs we associate with faggotry nonetheless prefer to have sex with other men, and how many women who likewise make no cultural display of their preference for sex with women nonetheless do have sex with women?
28 comments:
I saw the labels "faggotry" and "goldstein" together and naturally assumed the sad little closet case had finally snapped under the pressure and come out on his blog.
"or standing contraposto" Is that the same as second position? ---Certainly doesn't sound like the missionary position.
Post-Singularity biotech transhumanist powers eliminating homosexuality? Doesn't he know that post-humans are all bisexual? Not to mention capable of changing sex at will?
But could science and judicial activism lead to the eventually eradication of adjectives?
I don't find it hard at all to believe that science will eventually determine enough about homosexuality to nip it in the bud, and/or reprogram people toward heterosexuality as they grow up. But I don't find the prospect particularly alarming, either, so long as the state stays out of it.
The great thing about faggotry is that, no matter how large in absolute numbers the set of gay men is, there's always enough men to go around. Contrast to breeders: if the Chinese dislike girls and kill 5% of them in utero, they end up with millions of men who cannot ever marry because there simply are not enough women. This is a recipe for social instability, or at the very least, a lot of frustrated men who can never attain their goals in life.
Goldstein is such a horrid little shit. Recently I followed a LG&M link over there and someone insulted him in a comments section. He had one of his scumbag commenters look up the guys IP and manage to track it down to some work address, which they called and emailed. Meanwhile, the insulting party apologized and begged them not to, but of course to no avail.
I mean, I want to cut him some slack for being mentally ill. I realize he has to rely on his wife to support his family and that really fucks with his alpha male Republican desires, but my God...
This is bizarre. Imagine if the son were effeminate, but straight, a condition more common than homosexuality in my experience. Would Dad wonder if he had chosen, contra his natural disposition, to like girls?
Only if his name was John Edwards.
i stand contraposto all the time
I love that place. It's like one of those psychology experiments in which the subject recognizes something, but cannot name it. They are all capable of pretty high-level reasoning, and recognize when their opinions stand in opposition to another, but they are all completely impotent when it comes to explaining why their opinion is superior.
For example, someone over there responded to your unassailable point that the absence of particular cultural indicators is a stronger argument in favor of innateness by suggesting that in other cultures the gays might share stereotypical cultural indicators, too.
Which means, therefore, ergo....
How fascinating.
Greg Cochran hypothesized that many stereotypical tendencies associated with male homosexuals result from the same cause as their orientation: a pathogen that penetrated the blood-brain barrier and altered the development of their noggins. He thinks schizophrenia and narcolepsy have similar causes, so better in vitro anti-biotics could get rid of all of them.
Wow, Greg Cochran! I hypothesize the same pathogen causes a reaction which makes one a reactionary dolt, fearful of people from other cultures, and likely to hang out at Protein Wisdom, Red State, or John Boehner's rectum. Maybe all less desirable traits (admiring Jeff Goldstein, believing in the "Global war on terrorism", being afraid of helping the poor, or fearing leftists) are caused by viruses?
Let's hope I can get a government grant to research Pablo's pathology (nothing against him really, I just liked the alliteration)
this made me think of something - in "our posthuman future" francis fukuyama compares gayness to baldness, suggesting they are basically the same - accepted, but if given the choice, most would say "yeah I'm gonna go with hair-4-life on my kid and hell let's make it a combo meal - make sure the little fucker is straight (I want to make sure I get my kinda grandkids)". As weird and fucked up as that sounds the more I think about it the more I fear he might be right. having said this, if the guys in the white coats ever determine that some lack of some amino acid or whatever in utero is the likely cause of gay fever, I would bet that a lot of otherwise progressive "I love gay people, my best friend is gay" parents-to-be will be paying the extra whatever the hell it costs to ensure the straightness of their offspring. sad and weird and horrifying. Also look for 6'4" blond, blue eyed, athletic, musically inclined superbeings, coming soon to a cash only delivery room near you.
Completely unrelated post.
The picture on your blog looks like the Pittsburgh Golden Triangle. I was stationed in Pittsburgh for a year, back in the 1990/1991. Great city. I loved living there. I was living in Mt Lebanon, and working at CMU.
one time my ear hurt real bad. but then I also love teh boobs. and it's at times like those i am glad i'm a man... and so is Lola.
Anonymous 4:58 wins. :)
Greg Cochran is not fond of Protein Wisdom/RedState, nor the War on Terra. A quote from him: "If we're talking pundits, the American right doesn't have room for anyone who knows jack shit about anything, or whose predictions have ever come true. And of course they're all liars. In the words of one of their semi-prominent members, himself plenty despicable:
"Science, logic, rational inquiry, thoughtful reflection, mean nothing to them, nothing. It's all posturing and moral status games and sucking up to halfwits like GWB and clinging to crackpot religion, and of coures amoral careerism. "
I think my correspondent forgot to mention their propensity for eating shit and rolling around in their own vomit, but nobody's perfect."
For more on the effects an infection can have on what we might think as our personal essence, check out Toxoplasma gondii's South American origins and its influence on culture.
my toe hurts real bad.
Enoch, you are no happyfeet. See, he's a cool journalist and you're a tool, dolt, and an IT guy.
But, speaking of painful body parts, Jeff's ass is hurt and he needs the healing kiss you so often provide.
I agree. I am no Feets. I am a huge fan of the Feets, to be sure. But a poor analog if I were to even try. You, on the other hand, are a coward... Anon?
Also, I am missing a toe.
O!
Greg C may not be areactionary dolt, but man oh man (lol) he is obsessed with MANHOOD. MEN. manliness. aLL FAILINGS IN THE MODERN WORLD ARE THE FAULT OF SISSYNESS! LOL
Greg should run over and be a mover and shaker over at "Goldstein's, MMA, cock-slapping emporium."
I hope enoch hasn't left, as I am still giggling over his combo name criticizing someone else for cowardice. List your real name and I'll list mine.
How can enoch be a coward? THE LORD watches over him every second of the day, and knows all and plans all. Enoch should give it all up because THE LORD will protect him. (Gag me).
yeah, those mtf trannie-fags with bi tendencies, too complicated; we'll just have to abort them.
the fix i'd like to see: restructure society so that everybody's allowed to say oh yes, i freely choose to be a/bi/hetero/homo/pan/trans/non-sexual.
if the gift of life were truly a miracle, I would not be here.
there is nothing fucking miraculous about my silly ass. all the correct choices in the world wouldn't do a thing to change that fact.
cripes. I can't wait until the planet is rendered uninhabitable.
. . . thus fulfilling our evolutionary purpose . . .
these petri dish walls are too high yo.
how do we know when we're winning?
Lemme guess - this is one of Nishi's haunts?
Ok - Anon - here you go: Matt Collins, New Berlin, WI
Now show me yours, young brave. ;)
As for Brian - what does the Lord have to do with this? And where did you get the silly notion that Faith equals Fatalism? Why, that's just 'tarded.
I do think some of your commenters have hit it on the nose... and I do think Jeff has a point as well, as much as this may hurt your sensibilities: It is only a matter of time before even members of the "enlightened" Intelligentsia on the coasts (left and right) not-so-subtly (though quietly) request gene therapy for their budding embryo when they find he has teh "gay gene". Of course, it'll play like a democrat party exit poll... people will say they voted for teh black guy, when in fact the numbers will prove otherwise.
As for Jeff... he is too Liberal by half for my sensibilities. Nonetheless, I do happen to enjoy the crew over there at PW.
Further, I am open to hearing out any argument, from left, center, right. Because truth, even slivers of truth, can come from unlikely sources. Because you do not like ALL the posts (or even most of the posts) by a given blogger, doesn't mean that occasionally they might uncover a portion of the truth... or argue a decent line of reason.
How boring the world would be if everyone agreed with me.
My toe still hurts.
As for Brian - what does the Lord have to do with this? And where did you get the silly notion that Faith equals Fatalism? Why, that's just 'tarded.
I just read a little bit at your other site. Once I read too much of that fatalistic grovelling before that nasty piece of work that is Jehovah...that was all I needed.
Post a Comment