Gay people, Xq28, evolution and ants
The annual Chicago gay parade took place yesterday, lots of wierdly and scantily dressed homosexuals expressing their pride on being gay. Well I have nothing against gay people, I mean other peoples sexual preferences are none of my business, screw a guy, girl, goat or an inflatable doll, its your preroragative, just dont F&$! with me. But I for one see no pride in dressing up as freaks to prove one is normal.
But lets ruminate this gay phenomenon, how did it come about? why? Some research points at the gene Xq28 from the mothers side, some say its the effect of circumstances of life and others say its just fashion. Anyway I look at it, homosexuality doesnt help in the evolution of the species, atleast not directly. No species would want to have gay members as they woudnt contribute to the furtherance of its gene pool, its almost like being sterile, no propogation, no contribution. So then why is something that is detrimental to the species allowed to go on? I am assuming here that the aim of any species is to propogate, increase its population, evolve into something better(not better, lets say different).
One explanation is that gay people are the genetic strains which have been marked for deletion, those are the people who have a genetic combination that is not beneficial to be carried on and hence should be stopped from reproducing. Something decided that this combination would be bad for the species and will need to be weeded out. Or maybe, just C + O2 is ok but C + O is poisonous (carbon diaoide and carbon monoxide) similarly some combination of genes has been deemed poisonous. so basically this hypothesis states that being gay equates to being the end of the line.
Lets analyze this hypothesis, we all know evolution doesnt think, basically it consists of two forces, one force trying to increase genetic diversity, and another trying to decrease it, evolution thus, is a constant battle, the result of which is the outcome of the war that is the species. There is no defined hypothesis such as this will be good for the species, here is a chartered path etc, its a random combinator working both ways. Does the Hypothesis fail then, kind of, because the hypothesis assumes that the gene is thinking and decides to end its line. But it could entirely possible that a certain strain has evolved to self destruct through the ages, i.e. some combination of x + y + z genes, automatically causes the total gene to self destruct. Now we might ask why make something gay, why not just make it sterile or dead, thats a more permanent fix, true, unless there is a reason for them to exist. Its almost as if there is some benefit from having them around, but no benefit from having them reproduce.
Homosexuals can now undergo artificial insemination etc and still have kids, thats a recent technological/medical innovation, evolution I think will adapt to that if it realizes that more and more of its doomed people are circumventing its fence and reproduced.
Another thing to consider is that even if in some bizzare way all the gays were removed from our species right now, the next generation would still produce some gay people, if we have a population of 100, there will be a certain number of transexuals, homosexuals, hetrosexuals, bisexuals etc. come what may. The interesting study would be to check if that number is increasing or decreasing through the ages and to check if it has any co-relation with anything else. That could point us to the future of out species.
Consider an ant or bee colony, only the queen bee or ant propogates through special drones, all the other worker ants and bees are sterile. Is that the apex of a species, when only a few reproduce while the rest are there just to help. The worker ants and bees fulfill a duty to the species, but they arent propogated, their lot is to support the species with their talents and work, but the actual propogation is performed by a select few, thats selective reproduction at its best. We humans might end up that way too, once we reach a higher level, when we control the environment so much that its just us, there are no forces decreasing genetic diversity then the species would have reached its apex and it would suffice if worker strains are developed to work the few strains which still have potential, allowed to reproduce. Another hypothesis is that gay people are a step in that direction, they are producers and consumers of an economy that supports the few to propogate and evolve. The human species definitely is headed in this direction.
I also have a pet theory that, maybe the ultimate aim of the species is to evolve into an unisex, everybody can mate with everybody else, ultimate diversity, a strong indication in this sense is the increasing gays transexuals etc which could be experiments by evolution to reach its final goal. A funny thought is, if you check out every science fiction renderation of advanced alien species, we never know how they mate, the all look asexual, live like a ant or bee colony, have absolutely no bio diversity (no other animals, plants), manufacture everything, use the sun for energy.... is our species unkowingly headed in that direction.
Well that aside, I think gays shoudnt go about parading to prove they are humans, it was sad not to see a single scientific research paper or idea being given out in yesterdays parade, it was jsut an excuse to frolic, get drunk and dirty the city. The anti gay protesters were their, and other than waving bibles at each other nobody talked any sense. I for one support more research into this gay phenomenon and its impact on out species.
But lets ruminate this gay phenomenon, how did it come about? why? Some research points at the gene Xq28 from the mothers side, some say its the effect of circumstances of life and others say its just fashion. Anyway I look at it, homosexuality doesnt help in the evolution of the species, atleast not directly. No species would want to have gay members as they woudnt contribute to the furtherance of its gene pool, its almost like being sterile, no propogation, no contribution. So then why is something that is detrimental to the species allowed to go on? I am assuming here that the aim of any species is to propogate, increase its population, evolve into something better(not better, lets say different).
One explanation is that gay people are the genetic strains which have been marked for deletion, those are the people who have a genetic combination that is not beneficial to be carried on and hence should be stopped from reproducing. Something decided that this combination would be bad for the species and will need to be weeded out. Or maybe, just C + O2 is ok but C + O is poisonous (carbon diaoide and carbon monoxide) similarly some combination of genes has been deemed poisonous. so basically this hypothesis states that being gay equates to being the end of the line.
Lets analyze this hypothesis, we all know evolution doesnt think, basically it consists of two forces, one force trying to increase genetic diversity, and another trying to decrease it, evolution thus, is a constant battle, the result of which is the outcome of the war that is the species. There is no defined hypothesis such as this will be good for the species, here is a chartered path etc, its a random combinator working both ways. Does the Hypothesis fail then, kind of, because the hypothesis assumes that the gene is thinking and decides to end its line. But it could entirely possible that a certain strain has evolved to self destruct through the ages, i.e. some combination of x + y + z genes, automatically causes the total gene to self destruct. Now we might ask why make something gay, why not just make it sterile or dead, thats a more permanent fix, true, unless there is a reason for them to exist. Its almost as if there is some benefit from having them around, but no benefit from having them reproduce.
Homosexuals can now undergo artificial insemination etc and still have kids, thats a recent technological/medical innovation, evolution I think will adapt to that if it realizes that more and more of its doomed people are circumventing its fence and reproduced.
Another thing to consider is that even if in some bizzare way all the gays were removed from our species right now, the next generation would still produce some gay people, if we have a population of 100, there will be a certain number of transexuals, homosexuals, hetrosexuals, bisexuals etc. come what may. The interesting study would be to check if that number is increasing or decreasing through the ages and to check if it has any co-relation with anything else. That could point us to the future of out species.
Consider an ant or bee colony, only the queen bee or ant propogates through special drones, all the other worker ants and bees are sterile. Is that the apex of a species, when only a few reproduce while the rest are there just to help. The worker ants and bees fulfill a duty to the species, but they arent propogated, their lot is to support the species with their talents and work, but the actual propogation is performed by a select few, thats selective reproduction at its best. We humans might end up that way too, once we reach a higher level, when we control the environment so much that its just us, there are no forces decreasing genetic diversity then the species would have reached its apex and it would suffice if worker strains are developed to work the few strains which still have potential, allowed to reproduce. Another hypothesis is that gay people are a step in that direction, they are producers and consumers of an economy that supports the few to propogate and evolve. The human species definitely is headed in this direction.
I also have a pet theory that, maybe the ultimate aim of the species is to evolve into an unisex, everybody can mate with everybody else, ultimate diversity, a strong indication in this sense is the increasing gays transexuals etc which could be experiments by evolution to reach its final goal. A funny thought is, if you check out every science fiction renderation of advanced alien species, we never know how they mate, the all look asexual, live like a ant or bee colony, have absolutely no bio diversity (no other animals, plants), manufacture everything, use the sun for energy.... is our species unkowingly headed in that direction.
Well that aside, I think gays shoudnt go about parading to prove they are humans, it was sad not to see a single scientific research paper or idea being given out in yesterdays parade, it was jsut an excuse to frolic, get drunk and dirty the city. The anti gay protesters were their, and other than waving bibles at each other nobody talked any sense. I for one support more research into this gay phenomenon and its impact on out species.
posted by adarsh adarsh at 12:19 AM
1 Comments:
I liked your 'bee' theory of evolution. And you do raise an interesting point on whether a certain combination of genes is actually programmed to inhibit reproduction.
Incidentally, while we're on the subject of genes, do read this book called Genome, which charts out the role of every one of the 23 human chromosomes adn their (so far understood) role in our systems. It's a little heavy at time, but overall very good reading for a layperson on the subject.
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