Is Sexual Orientation A Choice?

[Klaus]

We have free will about the things we do, but not about the things we want. The question doesn't make sense.

That said, what we want is a function of many variables, and genes are just one of them. I'd say it's a choice or not in about the same way we can choose to like sushi, or Mozart.

[Jolly]

Take a child young enough, teach and coerce him enough, and you could make him sexually desire chickens.

[jon-nyc]

I would imagine that’s not incompatible with what Klaus is saying given my own guess about his understanding of free will.

[Klaus]

@Jolly said in Is Sexual Orientation A Choice?:

Take a child young enough, teach and coerce him enough, and you could make him sexually desire chickens.

I doubt that. Some things are hard-wired. Look at all the things animals do by instinct even though nobody taught them anything.

[Horace]

I have no doubt that there is a genetic component to sexual preference, but I also agree that you could teach humans to sexually desire anything. We are the blankest slate, in the words of Ivermectin enthusiast and biologist Bret Weinstein. He and his wife wrote a book about it. A comparison to other animals is apt, as they are way more functional by instinct than humans are. And that’s a feature, not a bug. If you happen to know anybody who seems to think culture is important, way more important than most people realize, then that person is probably an insightful genius, and also probably very physically attractive.

[bachophile]

@Jolly

[LuFins Dad]

@Klaus said in Is Sexual Orientation A Choice?:

@Jolly said in Is Sexual Orientation A Choice?:

Take a child young enough, teach and coerce him enough, and you could make him sexually desire chickens.

I doubt that. Some things are hard-wired. Look at all the things animals do by instinct even though nobody taught them anything.

I’ve had dogs that would have humped a chicken.

[89th]

@bachophile Nice breasts!

[Horace]

@LuFins-Dad said in Is Sexual Orientation A Choice?:

@Klaus said in Is Sexual Orientation A Choice?:

@Jolly said in Is Sexual Orientation A Choice?:

Take a child young enough, teach and coerce him enough, and you could make him sexually desire chickens.

I doubt that. Some things are hard-wired. Look at all the things animals do by instinct even though nobody taught them anything.

I’ve had dogs that would have humped a chicken.

My dog humps formless geometric shapes, like couch pillows.

[89th]

Of the people who gay/lesbian, I think there's a percentage of them that have a legit sexual disorder (I know, a shocking term) by being attracted to the same sex. I would say it's a disability, similar to those who are born with hearing or seeing issues, but in this case the hardware still works fine so it seems the attraction to the opposite sex (plug, meet outlet) that seems to be in disorder. Anyway... for the other percentage, I'd imagine the "why" answer runs the spectrum from being a conscious self-defining choice to being an unconscious one based on life experiences, culture, trauma, media, whatever.

[Jolly]

@bachophile said in Is Sexual Orientation A Choice?:

@Jolly

Dude, that's a duck.

Bigger hole.

[bachophile]

@Jolly she identifies as a chicken.

[bachophile]

Hi my name is CNN+. My pronouns are was/were.

[Jolly]

And then the murders started...

[taiwan_girl]

@jon-nyc said in Is Sexual Orientation A Choice?:

Kenny used to say gays are born and lesbians are made.

What ever happened to Kenny?

[jon-nyc]

He became a piano tech and stopped posting because he thought expressing controversial views was not good for business.

Last I heard, anyway.