If it were 1972, I would not argue that the extant scientific literature indicated homosexuality was not a mental disorder. Would you?
If it were 1472, I would not argue that the sun was the center of the solar system. Would you?
If it were 372 BCE, I would not argue that the earth was round. Would you?
In each case, my inclination would be to go with the best ‘scientific’ knowledge available at the time. (Recognizing of course that at least one of those dates is pre-scientific.) In each case, time would have proven me wrong.
Statistics support that heterosexual men pose the greatest threat to others. And yet I am able to treat them with respect and the assumption that they are good people unless they behave in a manner that makes me reconsider that assumption. Until there are red flags - indicators of aggression or willingness to cross lines - I don’t worry. I have taught the children in my charge (and there are many) to treat others with respect, learn to speak a very clear “no,” and scream loudly and fight if need be (fight only if safe to do so).
That’s the best I can do as a watchdog. OH, and I use stuff learned here (PUA-type stuff) to help girls understand boys’ behavior. I cock-block for a living.
I am stating that, like most people, I lack the intellect and vision to see beyond that which is considered undisputed fact. I’m a smart guy, but I’m not a visionary.
On the other hand, are you suggesting you are one of those extraordinarily special and rare individuals–think Galileo, Newton and Copernicus–who is able to see beyond the truth of their times? Is that who you think you are?
Me, along with the American Psychiatric Association–professional behavioral scientists and clinicians who have studies these issues their entire lives. And I have yet to mention the American Psychological Association, another guild of behavioral scientists (specifically, psychologists) who have reached largely the same conclusions as the psychiatrists. Apparently, all of us–me, along with these tens of thousands of behavioral scientists–are gibbering idiots unable to distinguish between legitimate clinical science and political correctness. It is a case of self-delusion on an almost incomprehensible scale.
On the other side, we have individuals like Push. These individuals, armed with nothing more compelling than their gut feelings, have reached a different conclusion. Despite the fact that they have zero scientific evidence to buttress this conclusion, they are convinced beyond reasoning that theirs is the correct opinion.
So in short, we are to believe that Push and his gut feeling are a more valid and reliable indicator of truth than is the consensus opinion of tens of thousands of highly-educated and experienced professionals who have spent a lifetime studying these issues. There is no chance that it is Push whose opinion is clouded by emotion and/or pre-conceived notions concerning cultural norms; all of that is occurring solely among the tens of thousands of professional behavioral scientists.
Oh please. How many Nazis knew that murdering Jewish infants was wrong? All of them. Some people just had more guts and less denial. How many people in the mid 1800s knew slavery was wrong? Basically everyone, some were just better at rationalizing their sins.
My view is common sense. You are the one claiming the deity and genius of the DSM. The claim to higher knowledge is yours.
Making a call about whether or not it’s delusional to believe something about yourself that’s obviously and veritably false doesn’t take a genius. But hey, you’re right, thank goodness for those guys that ignored the idiocy of the consensus.
“I lack the intellect and vision to see beyond that which is considered undisputed fact” at least we can agree on this. Good thing you weren’t born at any other time in the history of the human race, cause then you’d have been an ignorant bigot. Thank heavens you were born now at the one time in the past 25,000 years that the consensus finally got it all just right. Whew, what a relief it must be to live at the exact point in time where it all worked out and we can look down on all the ignorance of the past.
