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This invalidates the argument as much as people with Down Syndrome invalidate the statement "people have 42 chromosomes". Hermaphrodism is a genetic abnormalit

This invalidates the argument as much as people with Down Syndrome invalidate the statement "people have 42 chromosomes". Hermaphrodism is a genetic abnormality, not a normal state of being.

qtplatypus 6y ago
1.7% of the population are intersex. 2% of the population are blond. Are blonds genetic abnormalities? Can I say “No people have blonde hair” and dismiss all the blonds?
- ndosnfiwjaijx 6y ago
  In Northern Europe, blonde hair is very common.
  - qtplatypus 6y ago
    And in the Dominican Republic intersex people are common. It still misses the point though. You can’t dismiss people because they are a minority.
- jlawson 6y ago
  Prevalence of intersex conditions are nowhere near 1.7%. More like one in a thousand or one in ten thousand.
  - qtplatypus 6y ago
    I am going by Blackless‘s research. Even if that figure is wrong Klinefelter syndrome occurs at rate 1-2 per thousand which means that your estimate of one in ten thousand is way out.
  - DanBC 6y ago
    It's quite a complicated question to answer, and it depends how intersex is defined. https://isna.org/faq/frequency/ https://isna.org/faq/frequency/ > Total number of people whose bodies differ from standard male or female one in 100 births > Total number of people receiving surgery to “normalize” genital appearance one or two in 1,000 births
tchaffee 6y ago
You can thank genetic "abnormalities" in part for evolution. Many genetic variations, even those that cause disease, have been later found to give evolutionary advantages. Sickle cell comes to mind. There is no "normal state of being" and it's dehumanizing to talk that way about people who are simply different from you. Nature is bizarre if you open your eyes and humans as social animals spend a huge amount of effort to appear normal.
- jlawson 6y ago
  How many fingers do humans have? I guess you couldn't say, right? Your view makes it impossible to distinguish anything from anything else. It's just intellectually a dead end if you take it seriously with any consistency. Don't be so open minded your brain falls out.
  - tchaffee 6y ago
    > I guess you couldn't say, right? Of course I can say. Many people have five fingers and some have fewer and some have more. The second sentence of the Wikipedia article on fingers agrees with me. [1] What was so difficult about that that you thought it would be some kind of gotcha? > Your view makes it impossible to distinguish anything from anything else. It's just intellectually a dead end if you take it seriously with any consistency. I think I've already demonstrated that you're wrong, but feel free to provide concrete examples of where my view does what you claim. > Don't be so open minded your brain falls out. Please avoid this type of language. It's not welcome on HN. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger

This invalidates the argument as much as people with Down Syndrome invalidate the statement "people have 42 chromosomes". Hermaphrodism is a genetic abnormality, not a normal state of being.

qtplatypus 6y ago

1.7% of the population are intersex. 2% of the population are blond. Are blonds genetic abnormalities? Can I say “No people have blonde hair” and dismiss all the blonds?

ndosnfiwjaijx 6y ago
In Northern Europe, blonde hair is very common.
- qtplatypus 6y ago
  And in the Dominican Republic intersex people are common. It still misses the point though. You can’t dismiss people because they are a minority.
jlawson 6y ago
Prevalence of intersex conditions are nowhere near 1.7%. More like one in a thousand or one in ten thousand.
- qtplatypus 6y ago
  I am going by Blackless‘s research. Even if that figure is wrong Klinefelter syndrome occurs at rate 1-2 per thousand which means that your estimate of one in ten thousand is way out.
- DanBC 6y ago
  It's quite a complicated question to answer, and it depends how intersex is defined. https://isna.org/faq/frequency/ https://isna.org/faq/frequency/ > Total number of people whose bodies differ from standard male or female one in 100 births > Total number of people receiving surgery to “normalize” genital appearance one or two in 1,000 births

tchaffee 6y ago

You can thank genetic "abnormalities" in part for evolution. Many genetic variations, even those that cause disease, have been later found to give evolutionary advantages. Sickle cell comes to mind. There is no "normal state of being" and it's dehumanizing to talk that way about people who are simply different from you. Nature is bizarre if you open your eyes and humans as social animals spend a huge amount of effort to appear normal.

jlawson 6y ago
How many fingers do humans have? I guess you couldn't say, right? Your view makes it impossible to distinguish anything from anything else. It's just intellectually a dead end if you take it seriously with any consistency. Don't be so open minded your brain falls out.
- tchaffee 6y ago
  > I guess you couldn't say, right? Of course I can say. Many people have five fingers and some have fewer and some have more. The second sentence of the Wikipedia article on fingers agrees with me. [1] What was so difficult about that that you thought it would be some kind of gotcha? > Your view makes it impossible to distinguish anything from anything else. It's just intellectually a dead end if you take it seriously with any consistency. I think I've already demonstrated that you're wrong, but feel free to provide concrete examples of where my view does what you claim. > Don't be so open minded your brain falls out. Please avoid this type of language. It's not welcome on HN. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Finger