Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Widespread sex differences in gene expression in the human brain (2013)

nature.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

51–60 of 212 posts

Re: Widespread sex differences in gene expression in the human brain (2013)

#51

Post by phaer »

s_baby wrote: post #44
phaer wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Speak for yourself. I personally know a lesbian couple that forces their boy to wear dresses, play with dolls, and talk down anything traditionally "male". I am sorry, I don't see how that would be the same as "denying any difference between men and women". Do you really think, or even have proof which shows, that playing with dolls or wearing dresses is biologically, not socially, "male"? A lot of clothing convent…

If it's wrong to force traditional roles/identities onto those with a "queer" predisposition then the opposite is also true.

That's true, I'd oppose it if they really force the boy against his wishes to wear dresses, etc. But that's not clear from what I read because it's often described as 'forcing' when parents buy non-traditional toys and cloths for their children. So I'd need more context to say something about the described case.

Personally I am not really sure if there even is something like a predisposition for sexual preference. Does someone have recommended readying about that?

Re: Widespread sex differences in gene expression in the human brain (2013)

#54

Post by yaddayadda »

stcredzero wrote: post #11
s_baby wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Speak for yourself. I personally know a lesbian couple that forces their boy to wear dresses, play with dolls, and talk down anything traditionally "male". I completely agree with your original post but it's hard to deny there's a turd in the feminist kool-aid bowl and no one is willing to pull it out.

I wouldn't say no one, but it's also true that the Men's Rights movement has a steep uphill PR struggle ahead of them. In part because of active attacks from parts of the feminist movement, and in part because they actively feed into the conflict. Also, it's a fact of life that men who lose their temper in any he-said-she-said conflict often receive a knee-jerk judgement from those around them, which makes it difficu…

I'm disappointed that there's a "Men's Rights" movement. My mother raised me as a "feminist" and part of being a "feminist" was not discriminating against anyone because of their gender. For example, feminists support a boy who wants to play with dolls or a father wants to be a stay-at-home parent. I hate that the label itself is gendered and I wish it would be changed, but the principles of "feminism" include "Men's Rights". Breaking "Men's Rights" out as a separate topic only muddies the waters, dilutes the efforts for the same goals, and introduces a divide that shouldn't be there in the first place!

Re: Widespread sex differences in gene expression in the human brain (2013)

#55

Post by sjtrny »

Beliavsky wrote: post #32
mudil wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These things are completely different. Races are not different species. All people are the same: race does not matter. Sexual roles (the evolution of sexuality) is a completely different game. Ever thought why peacock has a tail but not peahen?

"All people are the same: race does not matter." In the U.S. whites score about one standard deviation above blacks on IQ tests such as WISC and Stanford-Binet, and in adoption studies that try to control for environment, this difference does not go away. Race is more than skin deep.

Citation needed

Re: Widespread sex differences in gene expression in the human brain (2013)

#56

Post by vikiomega9 »

powertower wrote: post #36
api wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Kudos sir or ma'am. The same argument can be levied at racism. If you go back to the year 1000AD, it's obvious that Europeans are of vastly inferior stock. The Chinese and the Arabs were doing optics and stuff while the Europeans were basically playing in the dirt.

What are you talking about? By the year 1000 AD the Europeans had already built the most grandiose of structures that rival today’s standards, had the most extensive networks and cities, filled entire libraries with books on all manners of philosophy and science, explored all corners of the world, and so on and on. And it wasn't until about the 1900s (about 1920-1960), when the Western World (that primarily consisted…

My understanding was that it was only during the Renaissance period and after that the Europeans had names attached to things. (I'd appreciate Book/source suggestions for my reading?)

Re: Widespread sex differences in gene expression in the human brain (2013)

#57

Post by kyberias »

agentultra wrote: post #40
discostrings wrote: post #34

It's disappointing to see so many people here read the title of the article and immediately start the see,-social-differences-are-the-result-of-vast-differences-between-the-binary-sexes wheel rolling again. It's nowhere near a valid conclusion from the article's content. There are racial differences in gene expression (though much smaller), too, but I doubt anyone would upvote it or start a similar conversation about…

I expected it but am no less disappointed. Anyone with an extreme emotional investment in the "gender respresentation" issue isn't even going to read the article before proselytizing HN with their beliefs. This is an article about gene expressions and their correlation to the development of various neurological disorders. However it mentions differences between males and females... so it's going to trigger a complete…

It mentions? Mentions? Come on now. It's stated in the beginning of the title of the article, and right in the beginning of the abstract, for crying out loud. "Widespread sex differences"

Re: Widespread sex differences in gene expression in the human brain (2013)

#58

Post by adamnemecek »

sjtrny wrote: post #53
adamnemecek wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"... couple that forces their boy to ..." Is that sufficient?

"...eat their vegetables" is that abuse?

Do you really want me to explain to you why those are different scenarios? Would you think that it's child abuse if the parents made their kid wear a gimp suit with a gag ball? Also would you think it was abuse if they made the kid undergo some hormone therapy?

Re: Widespread sex differences in gene expression in the human brain (2013)

#59

Post by im3w1l »

demallien wrote: post #21
PhasmaFelis wrote: post #3

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The truth lies somewhere in the middle, as it often does. It's fallacious to assume that there are no inborn differences between men and women. It's equally fallacious to insist (as many do and will, probably citing this study) that there are vast and uncrossable gulfs between men and women, and that anyone who crosses those gulfs anyway must be some sort of deviant. Humans are complex, the product of both nature and…

Yes. I didn't read the whole paper, just the abstract, but I would not be surprised to learn (based on previous studies) that the difference between men and women is smaller than the variance amongst men, or the variance amongst women, which is the case for nearly all non-primary sexual differences between men and women.

I (maybe mis)interpret your comment as saying that such a difference would be negligible. I disagree with that.

Re: Widespread sex differences in gene expression in the human brain (2013)

#60

Post by ll123 »

api wrote: post #31
sp332 wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But you haven't even tried to make a connection between the physical differences and the social differences. You just assume that all social differences are explained biologically.

By default conservatives tend to assume that social differences are explained biologically while liberals assume they're explained culturally. Both are extreme and likely very wrong positions.

As far as gendered behavior goes, I've never seen anyone say it's strictly biologically determined with no influence at all from culture. However many people do claim the opposite (100% socially constructed with no influence at all from biology).
Post reply on HN