Homosexuality is a choice

Why ? What will that prove ? Why that specific number ?

You said none, then someone showed one, now you want 3 million. Then you'll move the goalposts again, I suppose, so why bother ?

Next we will be including all existent exobiology throughout the universe in time and space into the discussion so that we have a universal goal to achieve. It may require, oh, the entire lifetime of the universe to find the answer but, hey, it might begin to satisfy SnakeTongue... or not...
 
Ignoring the fact that mating IS sex, the fact, using your own "evidence" that a homosexual act will affect what male mates with a female - therefore affects the evolution of the species, which is called "NATURAL selection".

"Survival of the fittest"

From an evolutionary perspective, the fittest individuals are simply the ones who have the combination of traits that allow them to survive and produce more offspring. In fact, they may be relatively weak, small, and not particularly intelligent. What makes an individual fit all depends on the environment at the time and the combination of traits that are most suited to flourishing in it. In the case of Darwin's finches, specialized beaks provided the advantage. However, in a changing environment, it is often the versatile generalist who has the greatest success.

http://anthro.palomar.edu/evolve/evolve_2.htm

Would you explain how homosexual behaviour in any specie contributes to the "survival of the fittest"?

Note: by homosexual I mean only male-male/female-female sexual intercourse or sexual interaction.
 
If infanticide behaviour is present IN ANY WAY in nature, then it is, by definition, natural.

Well yes, yes it does, so it's natural.

http://www.bio.davidson.edu/people/vecase/Behavior/Spring2004/shelburne/infanticide.html

http://www.ratbehavior.org/infanticide.htm

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...sg=AFQjCNFg-bvuIh4LlFHkhKIlxHhV9cjzTw&cad=rja

So I think by those criteria, we prove that homosexuality is indeed, natural. Hooray!

BTW, we have some excellent natural history (no pun intended) programmes on the BBC and currently showing on BBC2 weekday evenings is Autumnwatch:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/uk/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00v9rv2

They don't hold back when it comes to showing eagles eating their chicks, seals killing their young, etc. You may need a proxy to view if you're not in the UK, though.
 
Next we will be including all existent exobiology throughout the universe in time and space into the discussion so that we have a universal goal to achieve. It may require, oh, the entire lifetime of the universe to find the answer but, hey, it might begin to satisfy SnakeTongue... or not...

:big:

That was funny.
 
Many user in this thread are confused about what I am arguing.

I will put in short sentences:

- Homosexuality is not a genetic in-born inheritable trait.

- Homosexual behavior is not natural and is not part of any ordinary mechanism defined by theory of evolution.

- The concept of homosexuality in human behavior is completely different from the concept of homosexuality observed in animal behavior.

As far as I can tell, nothing is 'unnatural' in the literal sense. Anything that exists, happens in this universe that we observe, document, measure is 'natural' by its very 'nature'.

We can make value judgments about whether or not something is immoral - but that isn't science (admit it or take your ball home!).

- Homosexuality may actually have genetic markers (but there is not yet clear information on that). It definitely has physiological markers and there are other biological 'symptoms' (as it were) such as in-utero hormonal differences. Just because it isn't GENETIC doesn't mean that it is a choice (get it yet?).

- See second paragraph. Murder is natural. Torturing someone endlessly until they die a slow painful death is natural. Similarly, reading your responses is natural. These are immoral things but they are still natural. What else is 'unnatural' in your book, eh? Morality is not science. You can make a judgment about what you think homosexuality is morally but that doesn't make it a choice.

- Really? The concept of social structure in homo sapiens sapiens is completely different from the concept in every other species. Does that make it UNNATURAL (oh my). Not at all. Our social structure is directly descended from our early primate ancestors. But it is definitely not the same small-scale social structure they employed or is employed by our nearest biological relatives. It is an extension. Can we allow extensions such as sentience, tool-making, formal language as natural in human beings? Our sexual orientation is an extension.

I give up...
 
Well yes, yes it does, so it's natural.

So I think by those criteria, we prove that homosexuality is indeed, natural. Hooray!

BTW, we have some excellent natural history (no pun intended) programmes on the BBC and currently showing on BBC2 weekday evenings is Autumnwatch:

They don't hold back when it comes to showing eagles eating their chicks, seals killing their young, etc. You may need a proxy to view if you're not in the UK, though.

I am glad that you also agree with:

If paedophile behaviour is present IN ANY WAY in nature, then it is, by definition, natural.

Thank you by the interesting links.

Let's free the animals from the zoo:

It can be helpful to consider homosexuality as a model to help understand the spectrum of child sexual attraction and activity. We all know about straight-forward homosexuals who are only sexually interested in members of their own sex and who follow these urges through into behaviour. We also know about men who can live perfectly normal lives who indulge in a bit of sex with men on the side, some of these men do not identify themselves as gay, they are just men who have sex with men. In addition we know of people who are sexually attracted exclusively to members of their own sex but who remain voluntarily celibate. There are even men who are not in the slightest bit homosexual by inclination who will use sexual violence against men as a power trip. All of those patterns can be mirrored with regard to sexual activity and attraction toward children.

http://www.mwillett.org/mind/paedophilia.htm
 
It would be easy to make the mistake, though, based on a few of the posts being very unclear about that.

Of course, the five or six where I explained that I was making the exact opposite point I was accused of making...
 
What do you mean by unnatural?

It is not natural.

Oh boy...

As I said before, even one example of dude on dude animal action makes the notion of homosexuality natural, unless you can explain how those animals are behaving "unnaturally." Monkey original sin.

His view is so confused I can't sort it out.

First, I don't think he has a clear conception of how to distinguish "natural" from "unnatural." THat's why I tried to get him to explain this via the Christian myth of original sin. "Unnatural" acts are acts preformed by man, using free will, contrary to God's commandments. Natural, then, is acting in accordance with God's will. Unnatural is acting in sin.

That's how I've heard Christians explain it. Snake Tongue lacks even that level of perspicacity.

Second, Snake Tongue seems to have confused "natural" with "good." This would make some sense under the traditional Christian understanding of sin, but again, Snake Tongue doesn't seem to be arguing that (to the extent I can even interpret his rambling screeds).

But, of course, there's no connection between "nature" and "morality" for most of the posters here. As was said earlier, murder, theft, rape, are all rampant in the natural world. Just because a grizzly bear will murder a cub to eliminate competition, that doesn't mean human actions are bound by that evolutionary cruelty.

And then, above all of this, is the simple fact of "who give a ******" Whether natural or unnantural, genetic or tought, happy or sad, humans get to touch the genitals of any other human willing and capable of giving consent. It's a moot argument and should only hold interest in so far as it contributes to knowledge of genetics in general.
 
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His view is so confused I can't sort it out.

And then, above all of this, is the simple fact of "who give a ******" Whether natural or unnantural, genetic or tought, happy or sad, humans get to touch the genitals of any other human willing and capable of giving consent. It's a moot argument and should only hold interest in so far as it contributes to knowledge of genetics in general.

I could not have said it better. :cool:
 
SnakeTongue, why don't we simplify matters a bit?

You have said repeatedly that homosexuality is not natural. Before we go any further, please provide a definition of natural. I should remind you that the word has 31 definitions for the adjective form.

Go ahead and pick one, and then we can continue.
 
As far as I can tell, nothing is 'unnatural' in the literal sense. Anything that exists, happens in this universe that we observe, document, measure is 'natural' by its very 'nature'.

Interesting philosophy...

What do not exist or do not happens is "unnatural".

If something cannot exist, how you you know that particular thing exist to call it "unnatural"?

If natural is everything which happens, how do you perceive what do not happens to call it "unnatural"?

Have you examples of what is "unnatural"?

We can make value judgments about whether or not something is immoral - but that isn't science (admit it or take your ball home!).

Science is not in the opposite pole of morality.

- Homosexuality may actually have genetic markers (but there is not yet clear information on that). It definitely has physiological markers and there are other biological 'symptoms' (as it were) such as in-utero hormonal differences. Just because it isn't GENETIC doesn't mean that it is a choice (get it yet?).

I am coming to a conclusion that homosexuality cannot be changed with a single choice, but few choices of a particular individual can result in homosexuality.

- See second paragraph. Murder is natural. Torturing someone endlessly until they die a slow painful death is natural. Similarly, reading your responses is natural. These are immoral things but they are still natural. What else is 'unnatural' in your book, eh? Morality is not science. You can make a judgment about what you think homosexuality is morally but that doesn't make it a choice.

I whole disagree. Such examples do not follow a norm in the human behaviour.

It is not the kind of thing that everyone made at least once in life.

- Really? The concept of social structure in homo sapiens sapiens is completely different from the concept in every other species. Does that make it UNNATURAL (oh my). Not at all. Our social structure is directly descended from our early primate ancestors. But it is definitely not the same small-scale social structure they employed or is employed by our nearest biological relatives. It is an extension. Can we allow extensions such as sentience, tool-making, formal language as natural in human beings? Our sexual orientation is an extension.

So everything we do is an "extension" of our ancestors?

Insightful, indeed.

The evolution of morality

So to answer the question why we are moral, it is because our ancestors, who were apes and shared the common ape heritage of being social animals of a certain kind, were rule followers, and had to cooperate to survive and gain mating opportunities. And then we evolved language.

http://scienceblogs.com/evolvingthoughts/2008/06/the_evolution_of_morality.php

-

I give up...

No, come back here. Let's practice our "ancestor extension".
 
It is not natural.

Then pray tell, how do you define "natural" if not "found in nature" ?

Design is relevant to use.

No. I can use a chair as a lever, for all you care. Design has an INTENDED purpose, but you can use the damn thing any number of ways.

Who relates that as a norm, relate that as a natural.

I repeat: NO ONE is saying it's a norm in nature.

How do you not know?

Evasion. Answer the question.

Read the whole thread and I guarantee you will find good insights to answer your questions.

I'd rather hear it directly from you. Is heterosexuality a choice ? Is it not a behaviour, like homosexuality ?

Do you agree with the following sentences?

If paedophile behaviour is present IN ANY WAY in nature, then it is, by definition, natural.

If cannibalism behaviour is present IN ANY WAY in nature, then it is, by definition, natural.

If infanticide behaviour is present IN ANY WAY in nature, then it is, by definition, natural.

Yes. Next set of dumb questions.
 
Oh boy...

As I said before, even one example of dude on dude animal action makes the notion of homosexuality natural, unless you can explain how those animals are behaving "unnaturally." Monkey original sin.

His view is so confused I can't sort it out.

I already explained in the post #530
 
I already explained in the post #530

Holy balls.

The homosexual behaviour is defined as "unnatural" because do not represent the ordinary course of the biological nature and is not part of the main core of the anthropological human evolution.

This betrays an astonishing ignorance about evolution.

But now I'm curious, if homosexuality is not a result of evolution, from whence did it come?

Seems to me the human brain evolved naturally, thus, anything done by the human brain is the result of a natural process. Where did the "unnatural" part enter the equation.

It is "natural" from the point of view of the chimp. But note that the chimp is not living under "natural" conditions. That means, to say that is natural, would be necessary observe this behaviour (during a great length of time) in a environment without the "artificial" interference of the human presence.

You are honestly arguing that the chimp only raped the frog because it was in a zoo? Do you think Chimps don't have access to frogs in the wild? What about the zoo turned the chimp into a frog rapist? The food?

Poor Chimp, turned to a life of cross-special humping because of a plexi-glass window.

Does this even make sense in your own head?
 
Then pray tell, how do you define "natural" if not "found in nature" ?

Supernatural?

No. I can use a chair as a lever, for all you care. Design has an INTENDED purpose, but you can use the damn thing any number of ways.

You can also use your penis as a lever, but you cannot fit it inside a ear, for all you care...

I repeat: NO ONE is saying it's a norm in nature.

Perhaps I was confused...

Evasion. Answer the question.

I already answered with a highlighted reference.

I'd rather hear it directly from you. Is heterosexuality a choice ? Is it not a behaviour, like homosexuality ?

I will address such questions later.

Yes. Next set of dumb questions.

I had no more questions.
 
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Holy balls.

This betrays an astonishing ignorance about evolution.

But now I'm curious, if homosexuality is not a result of evolution, from whence did it come?

Seems to me the human brain evolved naturally, thus, anything done by the human brain is the result of a natural process. Where did the "unnatural" part enter the equation.

Fabry disease?
galactosaemia?
glutaric acidaemia type I?
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome?
maple syrup urine disease?
Menkes syndrome?
prion disease?

All did by our brains.

Evolution?

Natural or unnatural?

How much such genetic disorders are part of the "survival of the fittest"?

You are honestly arguing that the chimp only raped the frog because it was in a zoo? Do you think Chimps don't have access to frogs in the wild? What about the zoo turned the chimp into a frog rapist? The food?

Poor Chimp, turned to a life of cross-special humping because of a plexi-glass window.

Does this even make sense in your own head?

No, not at all.
 
Fabry disease?
galactosaemia?
glutaric acidaemia type I?
Lesch-Nyhan syndrome?
maple syrup urine disease?
Menkes syndrome?
prion disease?

All did by our brains.

Evolution?

Natural or unnatural?

How much such genetic disorders are part of the "survival of the fittest"?

All of them. But this was good, because now we're able to distill the source of your problems: you have no idea what evolutionary theory is.

But I would still like an answer, if those diseases are not natural, what are they? Where did they come from?

No, not at all.

This also explains a lot.
 
SnakeTongue said:
If paedophile behaviour is present IN ANY WAY in nature, then it is, by definition, natural.

Once again: I put it to you:

If you state that heterosexual sex is the only "natural" sex because it is the only way evolution can work, then I say again: You are saying that paedophile behaviour is natural so long as it's heterosexual paedophile behaviour. An older man can impregnate a girl as young as 12.
 
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A link to a commercially biased web page full of advertisements published in 1988?

That is not scientific material. That is sophism at all.

Where is a reference to the research made to anyone verify the methodology and the results?
This entry on Wikipedia tells you where to look.

Bruce Bagemihl is a Canadian biologist, linguist, and author of the book Biological Exuberance: Animal Homosexuality and Natural Diversity.[1][2]

Biological Exuberance cites numerous studies on some 300 species (see List of animals displaying homosexual behavior) showing that homosexual and bisexual behaviors are common among animals and proposes a theory of sexual behavior in which reproduction is only one of its principal biological functions.[3]
<snip>
Biological Exuberance was cited in the U.S. Supreme Court case Lawrence v. Texas as evidence that homosexual behavior is natural.[5]


An additional source, not related to the animals in my previous post, is this from Endocrinology, doi:10.1210/en.2003-1098:

Endocrinology Vol. 145 said:
The Volume of a Sexually Dimorphic Nucleus in the Ovine Medial Preoptic Area/Anterior Hypothalamus Varies with Sexual Partner Preference Charles E. Roselli, Kay Larkin, John A. Resko, John N. Stellflug and Fred Stormshak
<snip>
Sheep are one of the few animal models in which natural variations in male sexual preferences have been studied experimentally. Approximately 8% of rams exhibit sexual preferences for male partners (male-oriented rams) in contrast to most rams, which prefer female partners (female-oriented rams). We identified a cell group within the medial preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus of age-matched adult sheep that was significantly larger in adult rams than in ewes. This cell group was labeled the ovine sexually dimorphic nucleus (oSDN). In addition to a sex difference, we found that the volume of the oSDN was two times greater in female-oriented rams than in male-oriented rams. The dense cluster of neurons that comprise the oSDN express cytochrome P450 aromatase. Aromatase mRNA levels in the oSDN were significantly greater in female-oriented rams than in ewes, whereas male-oriented rams exhibited intermediate levels of expression. Because the medial preoptic area/anterior hypothalamus is known to control the expression of male sexual behaviors, these results suggest that naturally occurring variations in sexual partner preferences may be related to differences in brain anatomy and capacity for estrogen synthesis.
 
All of them. But this was good, because now we're able to distill the source of your problems: you have no idea what evolutionary theory is.

But I would still like an answer, if those diseases are not natural, what are they? Where did they come from?

This also explains a lot.

Excellent point.

This diseases come from a defective genetic disorder. It is not a natural occurrence, but still come to exist. Until here is not any morality implied. Unnatural do not means immoral. Unnatural means a deviance from the ordinary course of nature. Nature gave us brains, we use it a lot, but sometimes its can become defective. Note that is not always that nature is the cause of a defect. The human being can cause the defect, rendering the event artificial. Even in such event the consequences would be an unnatural brain.

Perhaps you would argue that human itself is also part of nature, and even if interfering in the event, it would made the cause natural, resulting in a natural brain. The problem with that premise is that natural is "not made or caused by humankind". Natural is something "in accordance with the nature".

When a event "derived from nature" happens, it is observed and compared with the "circumstances surrounding" it. In this comparison, the observer compares what is "in accordance with the nature" with the event.

This is crucial to give the appropriate response to such event.

Therefore, when a defective brain is assisted, is the unnatural state of the brain which lead to be assisted. If was natural, would be not need to be assisted. It would be left at will and wild.

Recalling, I would say that nature gave us male/female to be attracted to the opposite gender, we use it a lot, but sometimes it can or it is oriented to the same gender. Note that is not always that nature is the cause of a sexual orientation. The human being can cause the orientation, rendering the event artificial. Even in such event the consequences would be an unnatural male/female sexual attraction.

Perhaps you would argue that human itself is also part of nature, and even if interfering in the event, it would made the cause natural, resulting in a natural sexual behaviour. The problem with that premise is that natural is "not made or caused by humankind". Natural is something "in accordance with the nature".


In nature itself, the concept of homosexual and heterosexual sexual behaviour do not exist. It are not made by nature. It is made by humans. In the last millions of years the sexual life of the species was drive essentially by male-female opposite interaction. This is the main core of nature and cannot be changed.

If all humans come to disappear from the planet, life would keep evolving with the same dual-gender mechanism until the sun explode.

This is the ordinary and divine course of nature.

natural
adjective
1 existing in or derived from nature; not made or caused by humankind:
2 in accordance with the nature of, or circumstances surrounding, someone or something

unnatural
adjective
1 contrary to the ordinary course of nature; abnormal:
2 not existing in nature; artificial:

http://oxforddictionaries.com/
 

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