From: Anders Sandberg (asa@nada.kth.se)
Date: Wed Jun 23 1999 - 03:10:36 MDT
"Technotranscendence" <neptune@mars.superlink.net> writes:
> On the issue of homosexuality, should a person's orientation matter that
> much? I imagine that being in a minority -- even a sexual one -- does make
> for one to become more independent minded. (Has anyone actually done a
> study of this?)
I wonder if this is true. Many minorities are the exact opposite. If a
minority is a social group and can insulate itself from society, then
it seems to tend towards clannishness. In the past this was not
possible for homosexuals, which might explain the independence
mindedness (which I by the way remain doubtful of, I would like to see
some statistics here :-).
> However, my own perceptions of the non-heterosexual community has led me to
> believe that the impulse to belong has led more to collectivism and
> conformity. For instance, there is a great deal of political correctness --
> at least, in the US -- among gays. Naturally, there are instances which go
> against this, but I'm talking about overall tendencies.
If my above idea is true, then we should see a historical decrease in
independent thinking among gays as the gay community emerged, and a
difference between gays in the closet or not. Maybe there are some
studies of this, but I havn't heard about any.
> I'd be curious to hear from others on this AND also to see what people have
> to say about sexaulity's impact on thinking. (My first impulse above was to
> say it shouldn't matter, but since sexuality has such a huge effect on life,
> I wonder if my gut feeling is wrong.)
Sex is sublimated mathematics urges. (overheard on sci.math)
I would be surprised if sex didn't influence thinking, but in my view
it is mainly a distractor. But then again, I'm a bore. :-)
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Anders Sandberg Towards Ascension!
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