Political Crossfire Forums

F'losrix

Let me start with the disclaimer that this is all very much still in the realm of theory, not established fact.

Background: Prosopagnosia, or 'face blindness', is a condition believed to exist in 2% of the population, who are unable to distinguish between faces. There's apparently a specific part of the brain that handles this task. Prosopagnosics don't seem to have a problem distinguishing between other objects.

The article from which I gleaned the tidbits below was fascinating. Apparently these people can't even recognize their own faces, nor those of close relatives. Everyone looks more or less the same to them, so they rely on various other cues to identify people.

As the research has developed, they've developed a theory that "...one part of the face-processing system might be designed specifically for processing gender, another for skin attributes, and a third for reading emotional expression. "

Then, there was this:

"Duchaine's questions touch on some fundamental social and cultural issues. For instance, what would it mean if there were a particular part of the brain devoted to recognizing gender? Bill Choisser reports that he has more trouble perceiving women's faces, and that could be one of the reasons he's gay. Another prosopagnosic says that his inability to distinguish between men and women explains his bisexuality. Is it possible that our sexuality is influenced by the wiring in the face-processing system?"

I personally don't have a problem distinguishing between different women, and I doubt it's a problem for most other gay men, either. On the other hand, the article does relate cases of some prosopagnosics suddenly recognizing a face for the first time. It's intriguing to wonder if perhaps gay men start off in life with some form of prosopagnosia that makes them unable to distinguish female faces, only to to recover from the deficit after it has affected the development of their orientation in infancy or early childhood.

Like I said at the beginning, it's still all very much in the realm of theory. I merely present it here as 'food for thought', and to illustrate how much we yet have to learn about possible connections between homosexuality and things like neuroscience.

The full article is here: http://wired.com/wired/archive/14.11/blind.html

(edited to correct spelling)

LostSoul3412 · Joined: 11 Feb 2005 Posts: 7657

I don't buy it.

I'm sure this happens, but I don't think it has any connection to homosexuality.

John Galt · Joined: 04 May 2004 Posts: 20600 Location: Minnesota

Gay men also get cancer, it does not mean that their homosexuality is related to it.

That condition, however, would be strange. Quite strange. I'm picturing Pink Floyd's The Wall (movie) strange:

F'losrix · Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 11:40 am Post subject:

John Galt wrote: Gay men also get cancer, it does not mean that their homosexuality is related to it.
As if cancer has anything to do with the ability/disability to recognize gender.

I think the article and the possibilities it suggests deserve more than this kind of flippant, knee-jerk, uncerebral response.

ToonArmyIsComing · Joined: 15 Feb 2005 Posts: 5888 Location: Ontario

I don't know to be honest because I don't recall ever having any problem recognizing other people. Now if you ask me to describe someone thoroughly, I would have difficulty in describing their features as I am not good in describing anything [not even objects] for whatever reason.

John Galt · Joined: 04 May 2004 Posts: 20600 Location: Minnesota

F'losrix wrote: John Galt wrote: Gay men also get cancer, it does not mean that their homosexuality is related to it.
As if cancer has anything to do with the ability/disability to recognize gender.

I think the article and the possibilities it suggests deserve more than this kind of flippant, knee-jerk, uncerebral response.

There is more to recognition of a person's sex than just their face Flosorix. Blind people can't recognize faces either Flossorix.

F'losrix · Posted: Thu Oct 26, 2006 5:54 pm Post subject:

John Galt wrote: F'losrix wrote: John Galt wrote: Gay men also get cancer, it does not mean that their homosexuality is related to it.
As if cancer has anything to do with the ability/disability to recognize gender.

I think the article and the possibilities it suggests deserve more than this kind of flippant, knee-jerk, uncerebral response.

There is more to recognition of a person's sex than just their face Flosorix. Blind people can't recognize faces either Flossorix.
I haven't said otherwise.

For the record: I'm quite skeptical about this potential connection myself. But not so skeptical as to say that there's no reason to pursue research in order to prove, disprove or clarify what the connection may actually be or not be. It appears they have a lot of development to do on the base theories before they get into researching a connection to homosexuality anyway. Still, I found it intriguing.

Babylon_Horuv · Joined: 15 Jun 2006 Posts: 2008

I doubt it. I imagine most gay children are quite capable of recognizing gender and differentiating faces. I doubt that the causes for homosexuality lay in the vision centers, I would think something closer to the areas that govern the urge to procreate. I know it is more than sex, but, as in heterosexuals, much of the higher levels of commitment spring, ultimately, from the sexual urge.