Homosexuality: Choice or Chance? - Page 5

Aliantha · 10-08-2006, 06:28 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrnoodle

The biological imperative is to reproduce. Orgasm is part of the mechanism. The means of orgasm is conscious decision.

So how do you explain wet dreams then?

Aliantha · 10-08-2006, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrnoodle

cuz your dick doesn't have a brain, and it thinks it just made babies

Doesn't have a brain but it thinks? That's got to be an oxymoron right?

Aliantha · 10-08-2006, 06:34 PM

Sorry noodle, I wasn't picking on you. Just those couple of points made me giggle.

footfootfoot · 10-08-2006, 06:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Aliantha

So how do you explain wet dreams then?

Leaky roof? Not masturbating enough? Cate Blanchett? The list goes on and on.

9th Engineer · 10-08-2006, 06:38 PM

Most likely has something to do with moving out last year's model for the new one's, don't want to get backed up down in those pipes during a dry spell

Aliantha · 10-08-2006, 06:47 PM

foot...I don't think there's a conscious decision in any of those choices is there? Well...except the not masturbating enough, but even then, the wet dream is the result of prior action not being taken rather than a conscious decision.

9th Engineer · 10-08-2006, 10:41 PM

Now we're getting into physiological processes here. It's like asking whether or not sweating is a concious decision because you choose to put yourself in a warm environment...

footfootfoot · 10-09-2006, 07:42 AM

See? that's why he's an engineer and I'm not.

He thinks of these things

Aliantha · 10-09-2006, 11:11 PM

Well if you put it that way, of course you can avoid putting yourself in situations where you might sweat if you want to. I guess if that's true, then in order to avoid wet dreams, one only has to masturbate more. I'm pretty sure that was the original suggestion in my statement though.

I don't think sweating or masturbating has much to do with whether one is gay or not though.

morethanpretty · 10-09-2006, 11:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wolf

I believe that it is a matter of choice. Very few elements of human behavior are truly hardwired. It's not like animal behavior, such as a cat grooming itself with it's tongue, or chasing mice. Cats do these things even if they haven't had significant contact with other cats throughout their lives.

The way a person's brain is developed or "hardwired" often effects their behavior, some people tend to be more artistic, and then some are more mathamatical. Some enviromental factors play into this and some genetics, but if you are inclined to be a certain way then you have no choice...if you want to be different then you can choose to try and act otherwise. But this can lead to serious self esteem issues and depression.

morethanpretty · 10-09-2006, 11:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Brett's Honey

The fact that a lot of young - junior and high school age - kids, girls mostly, it seems - "experiment" with same-sex relationships for a while, and then go on to have heterosexual relationships suggest to me that it is probably a choice.

They experiment because there is curiosity and most likely an attraction to other girls, after the experimenting they might discover that they aren't really that interested, or they might discover that they are. I've known many women who were with men before they discovered or aknowledged that they were gay. I think that some people do choose to be exclusively with one sex or the other when they are truley bi, I am bi but I choose to be with a man, only, I want a nuked family.
And then there are others who are only attracted to the same or opposite sex. You can't choose to be gay, you can choose whether or not you are going to act gay.

piercehawkeye45 · 10-10-2006, 12:06 AM

Lets go back to the times where gays were punished with well.....death. Who in there right mind would choose to be gay and live the rest of their lives as an exile.

I am also confident in a decade or so it will be proven that homoesexuality is genetic. I am sure some people do choose to be gay but the majority are decided through their genes.

BigV · 10-10-2006, 10:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by morethanpretty

--snip--You can't choose to be gay, you can choose whether or not you are going to act gay.

Well put.

9th Engineer · 10-10-2006, 10:22 AM

I don't think we're going to have any great revelations past where we are now, only it will become public fact instead of accepted scientific theory. Predispositions are genetic, triggers are environmental, the combination of these two determines our desires and personality. We have control over how we express these in public and to a large degree how much they impact how we live our lives. Past that I don't think there's a hell of a lot more to add.

What we are likely to see emerge in the next decade or two is an more exact understanding of where these triggers exist and how they work. This can then spin into any number of possible senarios. Traditionalists will attend lectures on how to avoid having their children exposed to environmental triggers. Progressives will protest that controlling these experiences is unethical. I don't think the core debate will change much through all this however. The most extreme outcome I can see is the possibility of a pharmaceudical product that would act on a persons phermone receptors at puberty and give a very strong push in either direction desired. Since all this is really determined by environmental and internal chemical signals I can see this as completely within the realm of possibility, but I'm withholding all comments about the implications...

Sundae · 10-10-2006, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 9th Engineer

The most extreme outcome I can see is the possibility of a pharmaceudical product that would act on a persons phermone receptors at puberty and give a very strong push in either direction desired. Since all this is really determined by environmental and internal chemical signals I can see this as completely within the realm of possibility, but I'm withholding all comments about the implications...

Countries with issues of overcrowding and poor interior design will add said drug to their water supply...?

10-08-2006, 06:34 PM	#63
Aliantha trying hard to be a better person Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 16,493	Sorry noodle, I wasn't picking on you. Just those couple of points made me giggle. __________________ Kind words are the music of the world. F. W. Faber

10-08-2006, 06:38 PM	#65
9th Engineer Bioengineer and aspiring lawer Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 872	Most likely has something to do with moving out last year's model for the new one's, don't want to get backed up down in those pipes during a dry spell __________________ The most valuable renewable resource is stupidity.

10-08-2006, 06:47 PM	#66
Aliantha trying hard to be a better person Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 16,493	foot...I don't think there's a conscious decision in any of those choices is there? Well...except the not masturbating enough, but even then, the wet dream is the result of prior action not being taken rather than a conscious decision. __________________ Kind words are the music of the world. F. W. Faber

10-08-2006, 10:41 PM	#67
9th Engineer Bioengineer and aspiring lawer Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 872	Now we're getting into physiological processes here. It's like asking whether or not sweating is a concious decision because you choose to put yourself in a warm environment... __________________ The most valuable renewable resource is stupidity.

10-09-2006, 07:42 AM	#68
footfootfoot To shreds, you say? Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: in the house and on the street-how many, many feet we meet! Posts: 18,449	See? that's why he's an engineer and I'm not. He thinks of these things __________________ The internet is a hateful stew of vomit you can never take completely seriously. - Her Fobs

10-09-2006, 11:11 PM	#69
Aliantha trying hard to be a better person Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Brisbane, Australia Posts: 16,493	Well if you put it that way, of course you can avoid putting yourself in situations where you might sweat if you want to. I guess if that's true, then in order to avoid wet dreams, one only has to masturbate more. I'm pretty sure that was the original suggestion in my statement though. I don't think sweating or masturbating has much to do with whether one is gay or not though. __________________ Kind words are the music of the world. F. W. Faber

10-10-2006, 12:06 AM	#72
piercehawkeye45 Franklin Pierce Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Minnesota Posts: 3,695	Lets go back to the times where gays were punished with well.....death. Who in there right mind would choose to be gay and live the rest of their lives as an exile. I am also confident in a decade or so it will be proven that homoesexuality is genetic. I am sure some people do choose to be gay but the majority are decided through their genes.

10-10-2006, 10:22 AM	#74
9th Engineer Bioengineer and aspiring lawer Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Pittsburgh Posts: 872	I don't think we're going to have any great revelations past where we are now, only it will become public fact instead of accepted scientific theory. Predispositions are genetic, triggers are environmental, the combination of these two determines our desires and personality. We have control over how we express these in public and to a large degree how much they impact how we live our lives. Past that I don't think there's a hell of a lot more to add. What we are likely to see emerge in the next decade or two is an more exact understanding of where these triggers exist and how they work. This can then spin into any number of possible senarios. Traditionalists will attend lectures on how to avoid having their children exposed to environmental triggers. Progressives will protest that controlling these experiences is unethical. I don't think the core debate will change much through all this however. The most extreme outcome I can see is the possibility of a pharmaceudical product that would act on a persons phermone receptors at puberty and give a very strong push in either direction desired. Since all this is really determined by environmental and internal chemical signals I can see this as completely within the realm of possibility, but I'm withholding all comments about the implications... __________________ The most valuable renewable resource is stupidity.

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