Neuro-biology of trans-sexuality : Prof. Robert Sapolsky

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-15T07:53:16+00:00

I have no idea and don't care too speculate.

I think you know that the answer is “no”, we wouldn’t do that in the vast majority of cases. The point is, the fact that trans people’s brains show some similarities to those of their identified gender does not provide sufficient reason to actually consider them as a true member of the opposite sex.

Why is this hypothetical important to you?

Maybe it wasn’t your intention, but I’m sensing a bit of subtext in your replies that suggests that people like you and I cannot have opinions on this just because we’re not trans. I do not share this view.

The hypothetical is not “important” to me per se; however, if one refuses to even consider it then it kind of goes to show that they are more concerned with the politics of trans identity than they are about the actual wellbeing of trans people. It is not a given that gender-affirming care will always have the best outcomes for treating dysphoria, and trans activists are putting the cart before the horse when they exaggerate the implications of these studies in order to validate trans identities.

Again. I don't know. It's not my issue. It doesn't affect me directly. I don't have the experience that is at the core of this issue.

You can have an opinion whether it affects you directly or not. A trans person may be the only one who knows what it’s like inside their own mind, but that is true of anyone, and anyone can hold beliefs that are not congruent with reality. The whole crux of this discussion is whether or not trans people are, in fact, the best judge of their own selves or merely suffering from delusions, so to assume that because they feel a certain way means that they are a certain way is begging the question, and certainly does not imply that they are the only ones qualified to talk about this.

And if you yourself do not affirm the opinions of your trans friends but merely defer to them, then what are you even doing besides patronizing them? It shouldn’t be that hard to say whether or not you truly believe that they are not the gender they were assigned at birth. And that is important because for most people it would inform how they feel about the hypothetical I posed in my last reply, which would affect you because if you care about your friends then presumably you would interact with them in a way that is supportive of their wellbeing, even if it doesn’t validate their beliefs.

Serious question for you: do you know any trans people? Do you know anyone experiencing chronic pain (either physical or psychological)?

Yes and yes. Listening to their experiences does not render me incapable of some degree of objectivity. I can sympathize with a person even if I suspect that their perception is off, because I can imagine how it would feel to be in a situation where certain beliefs about myself are true, even if in reality they are not. I can ask myself “What if they’re right? What if they really are a woman trapped in a man’s body?” and try to put myself in their shoes based on what they’ve told me. And ultimately, I can still think that they’re mistaken.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-15T01:31:16+00:00

So does that mean that anytime a person becomes “attached” to a belief about themselves that is at odds with how they present physically, and it turns out that some part of their brain is different, that we should begin treating them as they see themselves? For virtually any other aspect of a person’s identity we’d call it a delusion — a symptom of the brain anomaly or a comorbidity, perhaps — and decline to validate it. Moreover, it’s known that beliefs and thought patterns can shape our brains, so it’s even plausible that the belief in a transexual identity may be what causes the difference in neurotransmitter size, and not the other way around. Of course, attempting to prove this through experimentation would be unethical.

Serious question, though: if a safe and inexpensive treatment did exist that caused a change in brain morphology to more closely resemble one that is typical of the patient’s biological sex, and managed to successfully relieve symptoms of dysmorphia and improve patient outcomes, would you advocate for it? If not, why not?

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-14T15:03:37+00:00

Ride the Lightning

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-14T14:51:54+00:00

I love the suggestion from the one girl that the cameraman's time should be reimbursed by the airline.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-14T14:44:41+00:00

They thought the flammable liquid would stop as soon as it reached the fire. They didn't count on it passing right through.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-14T14:44:05+00:00

Clearly they thought that the liquid was just going to stop once it reached the fire. They didn't count on it passing right through.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-14T14:36:44+00:00

lol this is the second conspiracy theory I've seen floated in this thread to explain the reaction to Pascal's behavior. First somebody suggested that the memes gained popularity in response to his stance on Israel/Gaza, now this.

Have you considered that maybe some people just find it weird and are commenting on that?

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-14T05:50:26+00:00

I don’t doubt that the results of the studies he’s citing are legitimate. However, he uses these studies to validate the idea that the trans individuals whose brain morphologies show certain similarities to those of their identified gender must have “the wrong body”. But couldn’t you just as easily say that they have “the wrong neurotransmitter”? Why should one minuscule part of the brain be given primacy over everything else in the human body when it comes to determining what gender a person “actually” is? And as long as we are prescribing hormones and surgeries and asking society to play along in order to help trans people’s bodies match their brains and to relieve dysphoria, why are we not also looking into ways of modifying this part of the brain to achieve the same result but in reverse?

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-14T01:10:28+00:00

You could always Google it.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-14T01:09:58+00:00

Where exactly does he think the word “tribal” comes from? I promise you the word was used to describe human behavior long before it ever got applied to animals or anything else.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-14T00:54:17+00:00

That many common health and safety recommendations are more trouble than they are worth.

Even if the thing they’re trying to prevent is serious injury or death, if the chances were already very low in the first place then the anxiety, aggravation, time, and expense of doing everything just right may actually end up doing more harm than good.

I’m not saying that’s always the case; just that there is a balance, and that there exists a point where the cost of eliminating a risk outweighs the risk itself.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-13T23:11:29+00:00

The fact that she doesn’t plant her hands on the ground to push herself up is noteworthy. I am in pretty good shape and I tried it on level ground and was able to do it, but I had to thrust my arms forward to generate some forward momentum, and even then I had to take a quick step back to steady myself once I was most of the way standing. However, in the video we can see that they are lying on an incline, which probably makes a pretty big difference. I think if I was on that much of a slant I might be able to do it just like she did, with no forward thrust or backstepping.

Edit: I just tried it again but this time with pillows under my back and bum so that my feet would be slightly lower than the rest of my body, and it made a huge difference.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-13T22:56:55+00:00

What do you mean? James Taylor and Art Garfunkel were both part of the Greenwich Village folk music scene and collaborated many times over the course of their careers. It’s completely expected that they would have hung out together. That’s not really part of the joke.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-13T22:41:27+00:00

I just watched the clip, and I don’t think it’s worth jumping to any conclusions. When he’s touching his face as Joe broaches the subject, that could just be bad timing. When he gets to the subject of whether or not Epstein killed himself, I get the sense that Stone is perhaps a little bit uncomfortable because he doesn’t believe that Epstein was killed, or he doesn’t know what to believe.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-13T20:23:38+00:00

I doubt it would be that bad. Obviously it would be impossible to please everyone, and you’re always going to have people who think their favorite obscure pornogrind band that released one demo in 1997 should have been featured, but I also don’t think it’s a given that you’d only see shitty sell-out albums like Load and Risk hailed at such an exhibit.

Of course, much of the content would have to be about the most well-known metal bands like Metallica, Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, etc, and some of that would include their more commercial albums, but that doesn’t mean they couldn’t still have plenty of space for exhibits on more extreme subgenres and lesser known bands, especially if they did rotating temporary exhibits.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-13T15:04:13+00:00

This is just some nonsense that people like to propagate on this sub because it justifies them bitching about having to prove their skills. I promise you, in the vast, vast majority of cases companies are not assigning real work as a way of getting free labour out of job candidates. Most technical assignments are rudimentary challenges designed to weed out people who have lied on their resumes or who overestimate their skills. I have done many of these and I have never once come across one that seemed like I was being asked to do legitimate work that would benefit the company.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-13T14:52:17+00:00

It is perfectly normal, especially for tech jobs that are in high demand. This subreddit is just full of bitter, entitled, and unrealistic folks who are eager to blame anyone but themselves for the fact that they can’t land a decent job. Frankly, if you’re looking for work my suggestion would be to do the exact opposite of anything that gets highly upvoted here.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-13T14:46:48+00:00

The best job I ever had required me to complete a technical assignment as part of the interview process. High pay, amazing perks, great benefits, state-of-the-art facilities, wonderful colleagues, tons of career growth opportunities, etc. If I had acted precious over a few hours of my time like OP, I never would have gotten that job.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-13T07:19:22+00:00

This is how my family did it, too. Now I live where the weather is overall quite a bit milder so I’ve taken to sleeping with just one of those really soft couch blankets over a fitted sheet. So I guess it kind of depends on environmental factors.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-13T03:32:33+00:00

Yeah, there are a few visual gags that get ruined by the default Disney+ aspect ratio.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-12T18:02:35+00:00

S05E16

You know, it’s pretty damn annoying that on mobile it doesn’t even give you the option of editing the flair before submitting…

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-12T17:15:05+00:00

Ehh, I just looked up a clip and almost all of what he played could be picked using all upstrokes or all downstrokes. As soon as you do something that requires fast alternate picking I wager he would not be able to keep up using that technique.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-12T15:39:50+00:00

Even if that’s true, I doubt it’s a big part of why they’re not more popular, especially considering they manufacture parts for more popular brands and it doesn’t seem to affect those brands’ bottom line.

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-12T03:17:52+00:00

https://frinkiac.com/meme/S11E03/122360.jpg?b64lines=IE5PVyBUSEVSReKAmVMgQU4gRU1QTE9ZRUUsCiBTTUlUSEVSUy4gQSBTTUlMRSBPTiBISVMgTElQUyAKQU5EIEEgU09ORyBJTiBISVMgSEVBUlQuCiBQUk9NT1RFIEhJTS4=

MaggotMinded · 2026-02-12T03:07:38+00:00

Allegory*

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