Differences Between The Brains of Homosexuals and Heterosexuals

reply to post by Goatface


Basically, I’m taking this study as showing that homosexuals are cerebral hermaphrodites. That is, they are not hermaphroditic in outward physical appearance but in internal construction. It’s much more tricky but is still not normal nor should it be considered so.

I’d be interested in hearing your interpretation of the data presented though. What do you think it shows?

reply to post by crmanager


Homosexuals have always been with us, and probably always will. A very small percentage of the human population is gay, probably a much smaller percentage even than people who can't have children without some form of in vitro assistance. Should we deny rights to couples who can't have children without medical assistance? Maybe forbid them from adopting, because it was God's/nature's will that they be childless?

[edit on 13-4-2010 by Torgo]

Originally posted by Torgo
reply to post by crmanager

 

Homosexuals have always been with us, and probably always will. A very small percentage of the human population is gay, probably a much smaller percentage even than people who can't have children without some form of in vitro assistance. Should we deny rights to couples who can't have children without medical assistance? Maybe forbid them from adopting, because it was God's/nature's will that they be childless?

[edit on 13-4-2010 by Torgo]

Who said that? I didn't.

I said YOU ARE NOT NATURAL. I am saying that you will cease to exist like the dinosaurs.

reply to post by crmanager


90 people should be enough in a study like this. I'd say it would have at least 80% power meaning that every time they ran the same study the results would be the same 80% of the time. Scientists don't just pick the number of people they test at random, there are set equations to determine how many you need based on the type of analysis you will need to do.

reply to post by crmanager


I'm not gay, and homosexuals aren't unnatural. They're not a separate species from us either. You don't need to have gay parents in order to be born gay. Gay people pretending to be straight by starting families and having kids isn't how homosexuality is propagated. Homosexuality has existed before mankind came about, and it will continue to exist in nature even after we're gone. If homosexuality were something that could be bred out of a population, then it would have been bred out looooong ago.

reply to post by Torgo

Explanation: PTSD proves that YES people can change the structures in their brain..and quite radically!

en.wikipedia.org...

en.wikipedia.org...

psychology.wikia.com...

articles.sfgate.com...

www.brainexplorer.org...

www.users.uswest.net...

Personal Disclosure: Its a choice! Nature may predispose one to something but that does not mean that Nurture [or the lack there of] can't override that! For example Mankind is not genetically disposed to naturally just go into space on a whim..BUT by Nurturing the idea that it could be done has led directly to having this ability!

reply to post by crmanager


If it is causing distinct changes in the brain that cannot occur later in life then it is certainly natural. Something like this would occur at the fetal stage while the brain is initially being developed. If it was the connections to the amygdala then it could be something that occurred after birth, but since the difference is seen in the amygdala itself it would have to be a genetic occurrence.

reply to post by OmegaLogos


From what I read the structure that is changing in PTSD is the hippocampus, which is the only structure in the brain that continues to produce cells, so it is possible for it to shrink. In the case of PTSD, the amygdala is becoming more excited due to new synapses being formed.

reply to post by OmegaLogos


PTSD is something that only comes about when a person experiences some sort of traumatic event. Those that suffer from it didn't willfully change the biochemical make up of their brains, that change occurred because of the effects prolonged stress has on the brain.

[edit on 13-4-2010 by Torgo]

Originally posted by muzzleflash

Originally posted by OnceReturned
S&F, anything to discourage those poor "sexuality is undoubtedly a choice because god said gays are sinners" fools is valuable in my book. But, I suppose those are the people who don't care much for science anyway, so this information is likely to be lost on them.

That is very ignorant.

Just because I am firmly convinced it is a choice does not mean I am religious. That makes you as ignorant as those you condemn, because your umbrella hate accusation does not fit every person.

You've decided to read what I said as something very different than what is actually there. You're attacking me for something that I never said. Look closely now, I didn't say anything to the effect of, "if you believe homosexuality is a choice, then you are religious." My "umbrella" is not about hate, it's about foolishness, and it wasn't meant to fit every person, just the ones that I actually talked about in my post. No one has ever said that if you believe homosexuality is a choice then you are religious. That doesn't make sense and is stupid, and you made it up and then called me out for it.

Regardless of any of that, you're of course wrong in your belief that it is a choice. But, I suppose that if you decide it's a choice then you can blame peope for it, which is really the only reason to accept the "choice" theory. There's not a shread of evidence for it, so you decide to believe it because it works for you. If it's not about being able to blame people for their "choice," and it's not about religion, then what, I wonder, could possibly be your reason for believing what you do?

The way I look at it is - we are ALL mutations of the original mating pair (when/what/who ever that was).

We are ALL a mixed soup. A little extra spice here - a bit more salt there - a dash of Cayenne or not. Cook til done.

Normal - Ah Yes - What Is Normal? In my opinion Normal is being able to intelligently function independently. There are a lot of gays who function with intelligent independence.

Now - I understand there could be physical abnormalities - - but I still consider a person who functions with intelligent independence to be normal. (and NO I do not consider gay to be a physical abnormality).

Originally posted by OzWeatherman

Originally posted by crmanager
Who said that? I didn't.

I said YOU ARE NOT NATURAL. I am saying that you will cease to exist like the dinosaurs.

And unlike the pea sized brains of dinosaurs....

Your pea size brain continues to exist

Classy...

But the difference is I will procreate and gays CAN'T. So they will be bred out.

Originally posted by crmanager
But the difference is I will procreate and gays CAN'T. So they will be bred out.

Ha. When? Homosexuality is present across widely divergent evolutionary lines, from humans to fruit flies. There may be underlying genetic influences, but not of the sort that will be "bred out." If that was going to happen, it would have happened a very long time ago.

Homosexuality is not by any means a new phenomenon, in my opinion it is very natural; I would even consider it normal. There is nothing wrong with gay people. We see here that homosexual men and women do not suffer from a mental handicap of any sort. They only resemble the opposite sex more so than their own, which would actually be a completely logical assumption regardless of the science involved.

Gay people have to put up with a lot of # that most "normal" people don't have to. My best friend somewhat recently came out to me and, although at first I was a little shackin, I fully accept him. He is a very intelligent person and we can carry conversations that I can't carry with most people. I love him as a friend and I understand the alienation he is going through and has been put through by just being who he is.

Gay people have just as much to offer the world as you or I, but they are doubted and belittled. But for what reasons? What reason do you have to condemn a gay man or women as unequal?

We are all human here, no one is more human than anybody else.

Originally posted by crmanager

Originally posted by OzWeatherman

Originally posted by crmanager
Who said that? I didn't.

I said YOU ARE NOT NATURAL. I am saying that you will cease to exist like the dinosaurs.

And unlike the pea sized brains of dinosaurs....

Your pea size brain continues to exist

Classy...

But the difference is I will procreate and gays CAN'T. So they will be bred out.

Originally posted by godless
Given the undeniable fact that overpopulation is destroying the planet, I should think that any and all measures to encourage homosexuality as a lifestyle in men and women would be a very prudent reaction.

Except homosexual animals (including people) have always had children, currently have children and will always have children.

And I can't believe the ignorance of people who can't comprehend that a homosexual parent who has children via heterosexual intercourse does not automatically or typically produce a homosexual child.

The vast majority of homosexual children have heterosexual parents! Duh-dum!!!

If you want to rid the world of the scourge of homosexuals: #1) reject you god because it creates the vast world of homosexuality #2) get rid of all the straight people.

[edit on 4/13/2010 by Hadrian]

reply to post by Hullabaloo


Could not have said it better myself. I might be biased being gay and what not, but it really comes down to the fact that we are people, just like you and you and you and you and even you over there.

Whatever belief system you associate yourself with, I can guarantee you that they all preach to love one another, and leave the judging for the main character of the book you read.

~Keeper

The cast majority of homosexual children have heterosexual parents! Duh-dum!!!

Yes, that is very true.

If the study included at lease 1000 patients, I would consider reading it.
But 45 patients...
That's laughable.
It's not even good cocktail talk.

reply to post by Violater1


As I've stated previously, scientists don't randomly the number of participants they use. There are equations designed to figure out how many people you need based on the type of analysis you run, so that if you run the same experiment 100 times, at least 80 of those times would produce the same results.