- 03 Nov 2018 23:50
#14959792
As far as I know, homosexuality is weakly heritable, so there's probably some genetic involvement although less than many other traits. That doesn't mean that there isn't a strong biological basis which we haven't identified yet. Genes are not the only factor in determining human behaviour and a weak genetic predisposition doesn't mean that it is a choice or purely cultural.
That said, I'm leaning towards an at least partially cultural explanation for recent developments in western countries, because homosexual identity seems to have become kind of trendy and perhaps even a status marker among a subgroup of teenagers and young adults. This will probably continue as long as we elevate identifying with it as special, brave or even heroic.
Will we ever stop with nonsense like this I wonder. Anxiety almost certainly has a significant genetic component as well and parents' behaviour is at least as much influenced by a child's personality as the other way around. Overall, parenting, unless it is genuinely abusive, doesn't have much influence on how a child turns out to be.
That said, I'm leaning towards an at least partially cultural explanation for recent developments in western countries, because homosexual identity seems to have become kind of trendy and perhaps even a status marker among a subgroup of teenagers and young adults. This will probably continue as long as we elevate identifying with it as special, brave or even heroic.
ThirdTerm wrote:
The 2017 study showed that childhood separation anxiety as a culturally universal correlate of androphilia in men. Homosexual men tend to recall higher levels of separation anxiety, resulting from being separated from major attachment figures, such as one’s primary caregiver or close family members. Research in Samoa has similarly demonstrated that individuals who are feminine in appearance and biologically male also recall greater childhood separation. Probably there are more gay men in Western society because children are often left alone by their working mothers, while stay-at-home mothers take better care of their children in non-Western society, which is more culturally conservative.
Will we ever stop with nonsense like this I wonder. Anxiety almost certainly has a significant genetic component as well and parents' behaviour is at least as much influenced by a child's personality as the other way around. Overall, parenting, unless it is genuinely abusive, doesn't have much influence on how a child turns out to be.
"Science is the belief in the ignorance of experts"
Richard Feynman
Richard Feynman