Poll: Is Sexual Orientation Nurture or Nature?

[McClaud]

If you choose to be gay, then you're an idiot seeking attention and are more than likely just bi or dumb.

Personal choice to act on harmless sexual urges is not dumb. Being overly flaming gay may be seeking attention, as you so pointed out. But there are a lot of people who are gay that aren't open about it, and therefore, are not seeking attention or idiots.

 

[sidhe3141]

I say that it's a combination of nature, nurture, and inherently unpredictable quantum effects, just like any other behavioral trait.

I had a longer post..But is disappeared.. sO here it is in a nutshell.

Your science fails.

Physical traits are inherited. Until scientists can blame your sexuality on a gene.. (Which I doubt at this point, seeing as all are mapped out)

That said, the only animals that you see whom have relationships with the same sex are primates and such.. Who have the capacity to think, to CHOOSE.

Umm... I seem to recall a picture of two male giraffes necking in my high school psych textbook... and a picture on Wikipedia of male penguins using a rock as a surrogate egg... and something about gay fireflies...

 

[pffh]

Alright you got me there. But if sexual orientation is by nature then it must be somehow related to our genes so my hypothesis number 2 is a mutation of some gene that controls it causes it. Now we just need to research and compare the genomes of a bunch of straights and gays and find it.

 

[Lukirre]

If it was nurture than all of society would more or less be completely heterosexual, considering it's taught to most children that men are destined to fall in love with women.

If people are to be homosexual than I think it has more to do with the chemical releases within one's brain. I added that it was a little bit of nurture because now that homosexuality is widely accepted (across Canada, atleast), more and more people are feeling more comfortable coming out and being openly homosexual.

 

[cleverlymadeup]

Homosexuality is a birth defect, pure and simple. Not saying that gay people are any less capable than normal straight people or bashing or anything like that, but studies show that gay men's brains react differently to male phermones than straight men's do. If you choose to be gay, then you're an idiot seeking attention and are more than likely just bi or dumb.

ummm you do realize that humans are not affected by pheromones right? yes we still have them, however they actually aren't used in sexual attraction anymore. we out grew them a long time ago

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

I've always thought it was by nature, as in a natural way to keep the population in check
to many humans => gays are born and they can't reproduce naturally => fewer humans.

Ahh, I support the nature side, but the problem here is that, as a species, our goal is to spread the population as far as possible. As my bio teacher put it, "the biology game".
Why would nature intentionally lose the game?

Well because if there are to many of us the whole game breaks down and we all lose, so a few are sacrificed (about 1/10 I think) for the good of the species.

We can see this, but nature doesn't use logic.

Nature in a way does.. But not at this point and time.. It does it when we are life threatened. We evolve.

 

[Bulletinmybrain]

Homosexuality is a birth defect, pure and simple. Not saying that gay people are any less capable than normal straight people or bashing or anything like that, but studies show that gay men's brains react differently to male phermones than straight men's do. If you choose to be gay, then you're an idiot seeking attention and are more than likely just bi or dumb.

ummm you do realize that humans are not affected by pheromones right? yes we still have them, however they actually aren't used in sexual attraction anymore. we out grew them a long time ago

Nature. Us. Evolving.

I say that it's a combination of nature, nurture, and inherently unpredictable quantum effects, just like any other behavioral trait.

I had a longer post..But is disappeared.. sO here it is in a nutshell.

Your science fails.

Physical traits are inherited. Until scientists can blame your sexuality on a gene.. (Which I doubt at this point, seeing as all are mapped out)

That said, the only animals that you see whom have relationships with the same sex are primates and such.. Who have the capacity to think, to CHOOSE.

Umm... I seem to recall a picture of two male giraffes necking in my high school psych textbook... and a picture on Wikipedia of male penguins using a rock as a surrogate egg... and something about gay fireflies...

Giraffes can think can they not? Penguins can think can choose? (Like to sit on a damn egg for a long time, while the wife goes and gets some walrus)

 

[sidhe3141]

I say that it's a combination of nature, nurture, and inherently unpredictable quantum effects, just like any other behavioral trait.

I had a longer post..But is disappeared.. sO here it is in a nutshell.

Your science fails.

Physical traits are inherited. Until scientists can blame your sexuality on a gene.. (Which I doubt at this point, seeing as all are mapped out)

That said, the only animals that you see whom have relationships with the same sex are primates and such.. Who have the capacity to think, to CHOOSE.

Umm... I seem to recall a picture of two male giraffes necking in my high school psych textbook... and a picture on Wikipedia of male penguins using a rock as a surrogate egg... and something about gay fireflies...

Giraffes can think can they not? Penguins can think can choose? (Like to sit on a damn egg for a long time, while the wife goes and gets some walrus)

...Maybe. The jury's still out on that one. I'd say that what's going on when a penguin sits on the egg is pure instinct.

 

[Ramthundar]

I think a point being missed here is not the acceptance of Homosexuality or whether you act gay, but what sex you prefer to mate with. You can live in a culture that oppresses or is open to same-sex marriage and couples, but it is ulitmately the person and his/her body that decides what it sexually activates to and wants to be with.
You can say all you want in what you prefer and get turned on by, but it's ultimately the buldge in your pants that shows what you prefer. (crude, I know, but it is on the point I'm trying to make)

 

[Aschenkatza]

Behaviorism is a part of your sexual preference, but so is biology. Let me say this right up front to avoid the one statement that pisses me off more than anything -

Homosexuality is not a "disease" or a "mental disorder." After nearly thirty years of researching the homosexual phenomenon - as some people call it - the APA, with a majority of worldly psychological research associations, has declared that homosexuality is neither caused by a foreign element, or a particular deviant behavior. It is not typically considered deviant behavior in the scientific community (although the religious community thinks otherwise), because in many cases, most gay people are not harming themselves or others physically or mentally. There is no solid proof that gay behavior is directly attributed to being exposed to gay behavior.

Now, having gotten that out of the way, we can confidently say that it's a case-by-case basis of how each individual copes with the biological and social urges present. It's a combination of those two factors, as well as personal preference, that drive homosexual tendencies in various persons, and the culture that they grow up in can either lead to unlocking or suppressing these tendencies. In the end, it is the level of acceptance that a person has with the truth about their emotions and physical desires that decides whether they choose to engage in the act of homosexuality with other people.

How's that? Did that put you to sleep?

Amen. I'd also like to point out that is was in 1973 that the APA[American Psychiatric Association] removed homosexuality from the DSM [Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders].

Then why weren't there any gay people 20 hundred years ago, when being with the same sex was unthinkable?

There was. There was homosexuality and bisexuality dating back to the Romans and probably even further back... My Favorite info on past homosexuality was the Spartans who it is said encouraged homosexual tendencies between warriors to make them fight harder to protect those they loved.

In my honest opinion, it's neither. Nature implies a genetic reasoning behind homosexuality. Until someone shows me physical proof that Homosexuality is genetic, I don't believe it.
I don't believe it's nurture either. That implies that someone was taught to be homosexual and no one has the right to try and teach someone to be a certain sexual orientation. Be it Homosexual, Heterosexual, Bisexual, or Asexual.

It is my bias that a person either wants to seek pleasure and fulfillment with a man or seek pleasure and fulfillment with a female. There is nothing to it, it's purely who they are comfortable with and who they get the most enjoyment being with. Putting sex into words is always so tricky and annoying.

 

[Duh]

well, i think nature has alot more than nurture to do with the gay business but i guess everyone would agree that a little bit of childhood trauma wouldnt hurt

 

[Aschenkatza]

I had a longer post..But is disappeared.. sO here it is in a nutshell.

Your science fails.

Physical traits are inherited. Until scientists can blame your sexuality on a gene.. (Which I doubt at this point, seeing as all are mapped out)

That said, the only animals that you see whom have relationships with the same sex are primates and such.. Who have the capacity to think, to CHOOSE.

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=20718
1500 animals species practice homosexuality. Read it and be amazed.
My Psych book has a picture of two male wales going at it. I'm sure I can find the picture on the internet if you really want to see better proof.

 

[TwistedEllipses]

Homosexuality is based on nature. Whether individuals are homosexual or not is usually based more on circumstance than nature. I don't mean to be confusing. I would rule out it being genetic and place it as behavioural, hence why animals also are known to be homosexual (not always consistently).


I believe it is not something rigid like race and can be influenced by events in childhood and later life. For instance a traumatic experience with one of the sexes can change someone's sexual orientation. I know some psycho-analysts have put forward the idea that in some cases it is a form of narcissism...that seems a bit extreme though...

 

[okwhat]

People are born gay or straight, but it's the nurture they grow up with that allows or disallows them to accept themselves for who they are.

 

[bad rider]

Some feel naturally inclined one way, others are more influenced by society.

 

[McClaud]

People are born gay or straight, but it's the nurture they grow up with that allows or disallows them to accept themselves for who they are.

QFT

You've said what I said in a more simplistic way, and maybe that should resonate better with people who seem to be ignoring facts.

Honestly, I believe that BulletintheBrain is merely arguing to argue, not seriously refuting scientific evidence. Since he largely ignored my post that had more facts in it.

 

[elemenetal150]

I think that it is mostly nurture. I mean if a homosexuality gene exists, how did it survive and get passed on through all of human history? Also, I read that failure to resolve the Oedipal Complex can cause homosexuality and that's a psychological issue not necessarily a genetic issue. I read that Soy can make men gay because it is full of estrogen. The Oedipal Complex theory was from Wikipedia and the soy theory was from a pamphlet about alternative medicine, so my sources are dubious.

yeah oedipal complex is Sigmund Freud who is largely disregarded in modern day psychology although he is the father of modern day psychology his theories are extremely anti-gay and demeaning to women. Newer and more updated theories usually disagree with this statement, even neo-Freudians disagree with this aspect of Freud's theory

 

[elemenetal150]

I had a longer post..But is disappeared.. sO here it is in a nutshell.

Your science fails.

Physical traits are inherited. Until scientists can blame your sexuality on a gene.. (Which I doubt at this point, seeing as all are mapped out)

That said, the only animals that you see whom have relationships with the same sex are primates and such.. Who have the capacity to think, to CHOOSE.

even though the human genome is mapped out most of the genes seem to have no know purpose. They are still trying to figure out what many of these genes do

and there is a zoo full of homosexual animals and the vast majority of them are not primates.......also assuming that monkeys have the ability to reason because they are intelligent is flawed

 

[TwistedEllipses]

I'm puzzled by those who think it's genetic. It may have a biological cause, but why settle on genetics? By definition such a gene couldn't exist, because it wouldn't be passed on!