Comments on: Bit of a Dilemma for Hardcore Catholics, No?

By: Steve Sailer

Steve Sailer — Thu, 23 Nov 2006 04:04:54 +0000

But is there any evidence that gay uncles contribute much more than straight uncles to the reproductive success of their nephews and nieces, enough to make up the huge Darwinian fitness loss of having fewer children themselves? When I hear this, I always picture Racquel Welch’s gay uncle in “One Million B.C.” designing her fur microdress for her, but I’m not sure how much that would help.

By: joe o'malley

joe o'malley — Tue, 21 Nov 2006 19:55:22 +0000

This could be true but it is real unlikely. Gay men have about 0.2 kids on average. This is a real big kid deficit to make up by helping your cousins. There is also no historical or archaeological evidence for anything like this. Here is a discussion of a somewhat unsettling theory that also fits with the science news article.

By: The Gay Species

The Gay Species — Sat, 18 Nov 2006 19:12:28 +0000

Matt Ridley for one. Several books on sociobiology, for others. But this is a “correlation,” not a “causation.” Important distinction!

A consensus over maternal hormonal bathing of the embryo during ontogeny has a more probable causal basis (numerous sources, including Ridley, Scientific American, etc.). Maternal exogenous stress is also throught to be a factor of this hormonal embryonic effect. Especially at the embryo’s transition from undifferentiated female to differentiated female/male, depending on the appropriate chromosome. Stress is thought to increase the presence of certain hormones, especially estrogen, not only in the woman’s body but in her womb as well, bathing the embryo in feminine hormones regardless of the chromosomal factor. (See, Ridley, “Genome” and “Agile Gene” for particulars.)