tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4262042392125845274.post4621070528051452097..comments2023-08-06T10:57:13.199+01:00Comments on the “because” charade: What is homosexuality good for?Daniel Harbourhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14652439526391537945noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4262042392125845274.post-51482001479142127802010-02-16T07:25:37.050+00:002010-02-16T07:25:37.050+00:00Hi Linnaea, thanks for the lit tips. I'll fol...Hi Linnaea, thanks for the lit tips. I'll follow up. It'd be great to see the ideas sketched above worked out properly: I see from the abstract that Roughgarden uses game-theoretic formalism, which is how this should be approached, I think.<br /><br />Re the other two points you raised:<br /><br />1. Yes, the scenario I was sketching could easily lead to gender disparities in homosexuality. The PNAS article (see blog) suggests that such disparities exist. If the quantitative data is sure enough, these disparities might present an interest test scenario for a formalised game-theoretic approach such as Roughgarden's.<br /><br />2. The sense in which I was thinking homophobia might be adaptive was not a biological evolutionary, but a cultural evolutionary one: given certain resource scenarios (as in a society with not immediately finite resources which is, in consequence, capable of rapid, sustained expansion), a homophobic group might come to dominate more resources than a non-homophobic one. If so, you'd be right that homophobia is neither biologically determined, nor heritable, and so eminently curable.Daniel Harbourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14652439526391537945noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4262042392125845274.post-53119383941330073562010-02-12T17:56:38.563+00:002010-02-12T17:56:38.563+00:00Roughgarden has advanced this argument about the a...Roughgarden has advanced this argument about the adaptiveness of sexual orientation and gender diversity in her 2005 <a href="http://bit.ly/an41Hd" rel="nofollow">book</a> and in a 2006 Science <a href="http://bit.ly/9QX9JB" rel="nofollow">paper</a>. Haven't read either, but I remember listening to a radio program about the book. I wonder whether the supportive gay uncle theory makes equal sense for lesbian aunts, however, given the asymmetries in number of potential offspring and in resource exploitation.<br /><br />Arguing that homophobia is also 'adaptive' in the relevant sense is an interesting possibility although I'm not convinced it's actually a biologically determined, inheritable trait. It's far too easy to 'cure'.linnaeahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08067994047762490844noreply@blogger.com