Thanx mucho for the info. Information about Ms Rowlings (very) slowly filtered in but since it had been several decades since I enjoyed her books, I didn't pay too much attention. Now I find that it has been much ado about nuttin'. Well, perhaps it is nothing to me because I'm old. There have been a few times, recently, when a conversation mentions an individual that is subsequently referred to as 'they' or 'them' and I get confused and genuinely utter, "Wait a minute. There is more than one person involved?" And subsequently receive withering looks. I really don't think I care much about all the gender hullabaloo, but I do get bothered by the arbitrary changes made to language.
One of my favorite essays, actually a chapter in a book, is by E.O. Wilson in 'On Human Nature', on altruism. He thinks the biological tendency to gender dysphoria (not a word he used) stems from the need to have aunts and uncles for raising children, especially in our 200,000 + years of hunter-gatherer existence. LGBTQIA etc. might just be beneficial for social cohesion. Learning to get along without bashing each others positions on issues is also beneficial. Thanks for the piece on this topic. It is easy to push too far when the disagreement is really minor.
Dear Mr. Bates,
Thanx mucho for the info. Information about Ms Rowlings (very) slowly filtered in but since it had been several decades since I enjoyed her books, I didn't pay too much attention. Now I find that it has been much ado about nuttin'. Well, perhaps it is nothing to me because I'm old. There have been a few times, recently, when a conversation mentions an individual that is subsequently referred to as 'they' or 'them' and I get confused and genuinely utter, "Wait a minute. There is more than one person involved?" And subsequently receive withering looks. I really don't think I care much about all the gender hullabaloo, but I do get bothered by the arbitrary changes made to language.
dann-0
One of my favorite essays, actually a chapter in a book, is by E.O. Wilson in 'On Human Nature', on altruism. He thinks the biological tendency to gender dysphoria (not a word he used) stems from the need to have aunts and uncles for raising children, especially in our 200,000 + years of hunter-gatherer existence. LGBTQIA etc. might just be beneficial for social cohesion. Learning to get along without bashing each others positions on issues is also beneficial. Thanks for the piece on this topic. It is easy to push too far when the disagreement is really minor.