From: "John T. Duryea" <jtduryea-AT-dmv.com>
Subject: Re: Nietzsche on Mill and Darwin
Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 20:10:21 -0600




>Nathan P. Gilmour wrote:
>
>>[...]Your argument
>>seems to imply that lesbians constitute a "species" by themselves.  On the
>>contrary, they seem to display all signs of being part of the human
species.
>>This particular trait in an individual has no bearing on the continuation
of
>>the human species.  It very well might be (if one does believe that
species
>>have self-regulating populations) that lesbianism is simply one of many
>>population control devices.
>
>Indeed, lesbianism would only pose a threat to the species if all women
were
>in danger of becoming lesbians. Or if all should simultaneously refuse to
>put out, maybe to bring a halt to war (sound familiar?). A typical male
>anxiety, a species of castration anxiety, in other words.
>
>There was a study I read about in the paper that found that pregnant women
>who were subjected to bombing in Germany during World War II had a higher
>percentage of homosexual sons, I believe, than did women who were not
>subjected to bombing. That might point to stress during pregnancy, or at a
>particular stage of pregnancy, as being a factor in causing homosexuality.
>That such an outcome might actually serve a positive function, not a
>negative one, only illustrates the real logic behind evolutionary theory:
1)
>stress during a time of crisis causes a higher incidence of homosexuality
>among genetically susceptible women; 2) population reduction (homosexuals
>are much less likely to have children) serves the group in being able to
>survive a period of reduced resources (drought, reduction in animal herds,
>etc.); 3) groups including women carrying this susceptibility are actually
>at an evolutionary advantage over groups that don't include such women, in
>that they have an inborn population-control mechanism that can respond to
>times of crisis (groups lacking this trait may be more prone to
catastrophic
>population collapses in times of crisis, in other words).
>
>Best,
>
>Steve
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>¦ Steven E. Callihan            ¦        "The more mistrust,         ¦
>¦                               ¦        the more philosophy."       ¦
>¦ URL: http://www.callihan.com/ ¦                                    ¦
>¦ E-Mail: callihan-AT-callihan.com ¦-F. Nietzsche, The Gay Science, 346.¦
>----------------------------------------------------------------------


Hello, this is ground control. Please return back to planet
earth you two. Let's repeat the Darwinist proposition
again, lesbianism is genetic suicide. That is, lesbians do
not get pregnant and do not pass on their genes. This is
the counter arguement to an idea expressed by Nathan
that lesbianism might be genetic. Now, let's hear a rational
pro and con. Let's leave out hyperbole about homophobia,
lesbians being a separate species and WWII bombing
causing Lamarkian transformations in the womb.

By the way, having a Darwinist, talk about evolution
without resorting to Lamarkism is like an Italian
trying to talk with his hands tied, and just about as much
fun to watch (same as a Marxist trying to argue without
appealing to Darwinism).

John T. Duryea



	--- from list nietzsche-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---