Neuroscience Prof Removed from APA Discussion for Saying There Are Two Genders | Hacker News Reader

Neuroscience Prof Removed from APA Discussion for Saying There Are Two Genders

newsweek.com

10 pointsgeorgecmu16 comments

> "I do not want to get into the particulars of the range of complaints over the years, but I will note that a number of members of the executive committee and others have voiced concerns publicly on the listserv in an attempt to make you aware of how readers of the list might view some of the posts,"

Vague accusations are so much easier to make and defend than specific ones.

Why does the article accuse him of claims about “gender” while the quotes from him are all about “sex”?

Does the author of the article conflate the two?

Too funny, actually there is a Z chromosome used in sex determination (W & Z are counterparts to X & Y in birds). Also, sex is not determined strictly by genes it's determined by gamete size. And yes there are two sexes and gender is not binary, but it is by bimodal with significant overlap.

https://open.lib.umn.edu/evolutionbiology/chapter/7-4-sex-it...

> and gender is not binary, but it is by bimodal with significant overlap.

What's your definition of gender?

It's what we might otherwise call sex roles:

https://advances.sciencemag.org/content/2/2/e1500983

If you insist that there are only three phases of matter you can expect to get kicked off a physics listserv, too.

Looking over the publications of the professor in question, his career has been spent measuring and modeling operant conditioning to stimulus-response tasks. I would not expect him to have any particular knowledge of physiology, genetics, developmental biology, or psychology.

Psychology is his field so I would say he does have expertise in that area. Do the others in the group have expertise in genetics and developmental biology? It exactly because they don't that they kicked him off. They could not argue with his correct assertion so they banned him.

> Psychology is his field so I would say he does have expertise in that area.

That's what I'm saying: look at his publications and research history. There is no reason to think he knows anything about the topic.

> Do the others in the group have expertise in genetics and developmental biology? It exactly because they don't that they kicked him off. They could not argue with his correct assertion so they banned him.

Yes, they probably do, or at least have the minimal knowledge that the path from DNA to organism is not deterministic.

His assertion was also wrong. It's not like every cell is male or female. Biology doesn't work in absolutes like that. What we refer to as male or female is a whole collection of traits and interactions among traits. Empirically, we have people with gonads of both sexes. We have people who have hormonal systems with mismatched pieces. And then we get into the huge question of cultural expression of gender.

You're arguing the same "there's only three states of matter."

In biology male and female is determined by gamete size. Yes, there are very rare instances of hermaphrodites or intersex, but those are the exceptions that prove the rule. Also, the path from DNA to organism is deterministic. My children aren't frogs.

> but those are the exceptions that prove the rule.

You don't get to throw out the outliers just because they don't fit into your categorization scheme. Nor am I only referring to that. The majority of the interlock of systems in our body is chemical, not mechanical, and that's where the real complexity is and where the issues arise.

> Also, the path from DNA to organism is deterministic. My children aren't frogs.

You are either not arguing in good faith or you do not understand what deterministic means. Or your understanding of biology is sufficiently shallow that you don't understand what I'm talking about.

> In biology male and female is determined by gamete size.

No, its not. X vs Y for chromosome 23 is approximately true (but still very much oversimplified), but X-bearing and Y-bearing spermatazoa are morphologically similar, so gamete size is not, even approximately, the issue.

> those are the exceptions that prove the rule.

That phrase uses an outdated sense of “prove” (which means more what “test”, “challenge”, or even “disprove” means in general modern usage.) So you are precisely correct, in the opposite sense of what you intend.

I was sympathetic to the idea that binary sexes don't necessitate binary roles for respective individuals. The dogmatism against yin and yang regarding to how people view themselves and others.

That sympathy has completely waned by bad science and this is part of it.

> Psychology

has a replication crisis and those in power probably aren't the best. Anyone that knows how competitive science is, especially in soft sciences can attest to that. Is that scientifically proven? No.

I disagree that there are only 2 genders if it describes cultural roles. But banning him only underlines the fragility of psychology as a field.

This isn't psychology. This is physiology. Nor is the existence of gender dysphoria at all a controversial question.

I don't think that its existence was disputed. But banning people for their views doesn't convince me of there being no controversy. I think this is typical behavior if someone challenges dogmata.

Rejected from APA ? Need to check what APA is - American Psychological Association's LOL. You know psychology is barely science becose they keep ignoring some sources. And American PA is well known to be political organization - whatever president you guys have there that pseudo-science PA acts accordingly. Example ? Obama and gender, Biden and same... Guys you seriously have problems with science there !

And I'm afraid yours so precious "national security" is secondary to money making too...

How you like opinions that wants to help you ?

such unimportant things.

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