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Sad to hear that a country is anti-science. As Richard Dawkins recently clarified, "As a biologist, there are 2 sexes. And that's all there is to it." It's bin

Sad to hear that a country is anti-science. As Richard Dawkins recently clarified, "As a biologist, there are 2 sexes. And that's all there is to it." It's binary and there is no exception. People that claim otherwise are confused.

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
I believe there are cases of people being born with a set of sex chromosomes that are different from XY and XX. This is what your parent commenter is referring to and I fail to see how it's a valid point ("anti-science"), on the particular topic of determining biological sex in people. If one wants to make a simple statement that encompasses the largest group of people they might say, "There are 2 sexes." If they want to make a more complex statement that encompasses all humans they might add a qualifier such that they instead say, "There are 2 typical sexes." That "typical" adds a whole lot of complexity in order to generalize the statement.
- illiopq 3y ago
  [flagged]
  - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
    > These aren't additional sexes. This is an opinion. Clearly there are at least some in Australia who have the opinion that they are indeed additional sexes or their passports wouldn't have more than 2 options. That's not "anti-science"; it is an opinionated interpretation of science. Certainly the statement, "There are 2 sexes," simplifies the biological understanding we have of sex. To then add, "And that's all there is to it," makes the statement plainly wrong.
    - illiopq 3y ago
      [flagged]
      - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
        > The biological understanding of sex, as Dawkins points out, is that it is a binary of female and male. It's taken as binary because the biological difference doesn't result in a meaningful physiological difference. That doesn't mean it's "anti-science" to have an alternative take. Consider that "The biological understanding of sex" as used in your comment should logically be understood as "A common interpretation of the biological understanding of sex". It might suddenly become clear that "it is a binary of male and female" as used in your comment is actually an opinion. Anyway, I'm not deluding myself that this particular legal definition in Australia was not made in response to recent gender politics. It's more likely there for trans people than for a person who is biologically XXY and physiologically male. However, to say that it's "anti-science" to claim there are more than 2 sexes is mistaken. It is, as I said, an opinionated interpretation of a certain understanding of biology. You disagree with this opinion and you are mistaken when you say it is factually incorrect.
        illiopq 3y ago
        [flagged]

lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago

I believe there are cases of people being born with a set of sex chromosomes that are different from XY and XX. This is what your parent commenter is referring to and I fail to see how it's a valid point ("anti-science"), on the particular topic of determining biological sex in people. If one wants to make a simple statement that encompasses the largest group of people they might say, "There are 2 sexes." If they want to make a more complex statement that encompasses all humans they might add a qualifier such that they instead say, "There are 2 typical sexes." That "typical" adds a whole lot of complexity in order to generalize the statement.

illiopq 3y ago
[flagged]
- lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
  > These aren't additional sexes. This is an opinion. Clearly there are at least some in Australia who have the opinion that they are indeed additional sexes or their passports wouldn't have more than 2 options. That's not "anti-science"; it is an opinionated interpretation of science. Certainly the statement, "There are 2 sexes," simplifies the biological understanding we have of sex. To then add, "And that's all there is to it," makes the statement plainly wrong.
  - illiopq 3y ago
    [flagged]
    - lcnPylGDnU4H9OF 3y ago
      > The biological understanding of sex, as Dawkins points out, is that it is a binary of female and male. It's taken as binary because the biological difference doesn't result in a meaningful physiological difference. That doesn't mean it's "anti-science" to have an alternative take. Consider that "The biological understanding of sex" as used in your comment should logically be understood as "A common interpretation of the biological understanding of sex". It might suddenly become clear that "it is a binary of male and female" as used in your comment is actually an opinion. Anyway, I'm not deluding myself that this particular legal definition in Australia was not made in response to recent gender politics. It's more likely there for trans people than for a person who is biologically XXY and physiologically male. However, to say that it's "anti-science" to claim there are more than 2 sexes is mistaken. It is, as I said, an opinionated interpretation of a certain understanding of biology. You disagree with this opinion and you are mistaken when you say it is factually incorrect.
      - illiopq 3y ago
        [flagged]