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Politics : Sharks in the Septic Tank
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To: Solon who wrote (74817)9/15/2003 12:22:18 PM
From: Neocon  Read Replies (1) of 82486
 
I have long ago (relative to this elongated discussion) regretted using the word "adaptive", since the thought experiment is not an argument about any actual evolutionary situation we have ever been in, and therefore has no bearing on the actual adaptiveness or not of homosexuality as a trait found among a small percentage of the population. I am merely taking exception to the confidence with which you assume adaptiveness, which does not logically follow the existence of a trait. As I said, if the trait is recessive, carriers could always be found to pass it on. So it is inconsequential for the main line of argument.

The "rule/exception" paradigm does not comment on the moral quality of the exception. It merely fixes the relation of two alternatives, if we were in a position to choose them. It does not even reflect reality, insofar as the numerical exception may be superior, and therefore more desirable as the rule. It is meant to clarify preference, insofar as it matters, and to focus us on the guidelines for making an exception.
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