this post was submitted on 31 Dec 2024
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[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 32 points 1 week ago (4 children)

“Why should sex be changeable while other physical traits cannot? Feelings don’t create reality,” he wrote. “Instead, in biology ‘sex’ is traditionally defined by the size and mobility of reproductive cells. “It is not ‘transphobic’ to accept the biological reality of binary sex and to reject concepts based on ideology. One should never have to choose between scientific reality and trans rights.”

As a fellow psychologist, I must regretfully state that this is the stupidest thing ever written by a psychologist. Our entire science is built upon the notion that feelings indeed create and modify (social) reality*. Sex is not gender, and he fumbled the most basic differentiation of concepts.

Heteronormative gender roles, on the other hand, are categorically a form of ideology and to defend them in place of basic human decency is a disgrace, good riddance to both asshats, I say. Specially with such a tenous biological argument that any good biologist can tell you is patently false. Gametes are not binary, there are hundred of thousands of intersex individuals for which this narrow definition doesn't apply.

Grant is absolutely right, but I don't expect the mentally weak asshole who invented the word "meme" to ever understand social sciences. His book is a pathetic pseudo scientific intrusion in a field he doesn't understand in the slightest.

*: some philosophers would even argue that there's no reality but social reality and both are one and the same.

[–] solrize@lemmy.world 12 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Dawkins isn't a psychologist afaict. I had to check.

[–] dustyData@lemmy.world 6 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

He isn't which is why I called him intrusist there at the end for writing a book about psychology and neurology which he doesn't understand. But the quote is from Coyne, another biologist who wrote the reply and was supported by Pinker, who is a psychologist and should've known better. None of these people know what they're talking about and are acting in this whole thing from passion instead of reason and evidence. Which is ironic, I believe.

[–] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 week ago (1 children)

mentally weak asshole who invented the word “meme”

He coined the word to mean a thought or idea that spreads through a population. Internet memes are completely unrelated to his usage. It's not like he created the first insanity wolf meme or something.

[–] feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

This conflates material reality and ideology, though. Not to say a cultural or social reality isn't real in its own way, just that it is preceded by objective, material reality. I think the arguments tend to boil down to people prioritising one or the other and then refusing to budge.

I'm pretty laid back about it but draw the line at people attempting to assert there is no such thing as material conditions. I'm not explicitly "Marxist" but definitely Marxian in the sense that I think all theories need to be anchored in material reality in the first instance. So gender categories exist, but are part of the superstructure.

[–] flying_sheep@lemmy.ml 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

The moment humans had enough brain power to form and ideologies, they stated influencing material reality. Ideology as a concept therefore also precedes part of material reality.

In other words: The idea of gender expression has influenced human selection, therefore it's part of our current gene pool, just like sexuality. (Because gender is what sexual attraction can have preference for, not karyotype)

[–] feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago

That's why we say the base precedes the superstructure "in the first instance".

[–] thax@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

This is where I'm at. Got banned over on r/atheism for presenting a similar sentiment.

[–] GrammarPolice@lemmy.world 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Fuck r/atheism. It's a cesspool of circlejerkers not ready to engage with crtitical thinking.

[–] thax@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 1 week ago

Eternal September is a bitch.

[–] Grail@aussie.zone 1 points 1 week ago

some philosophers would even argue that there's no reality but social reality and both are one and the same.

Some politicians would argue that social reality is oppressive and must be replaced with social unreality - http://soulism.net/