Evolutionary advantage of homosexuality: Super Uncles

[Queequeg]

I dunno, man. I wouldn't go rushing to teh gay uncle theory, but it seems to play a role in a sufficiently large number of mammalian and primate species that I wouldn't be surprised if it had some role.

Homosexual behavior is seen in more tetrapod species than not.  There is no way in all cases it is just some kind of aberration.  That is literally impossible.

[Queequeg]

Like when we had two male dogs: they were always busy biting holes into our fence to get to the neighboring females for some good old time. Then one of them became so old and was small to begin with, that he could not score anymore, so at one time I saw him trying to climb on the other  male. Funniest part was that I (seemed to) saw the utter shock on this other dog's eye.

Bullshit anecdote.  Some male dogs just like other male dogs, while some female dogs just like other female dogs.  There is a lot of study on sexual orientation in ungulates, I actually know a Michigan pre-med student who works on creating bulldyke sheep through hormonal treatments. 
For Example.
This is a good video on it, actually.

[Razgovory]

I dunno, man. I wouldn't go rushing to teh gay uncle theory, but it seems to play a role in a sufficiently large number of mammalian and primate species that I wouldn't be surprised if it had some role.

Homosexual behavior is seen in more tetrapod species than not.  There is no way in all cases it is just some kind of aberration.  That is literally impossible.

Why?  You see all sorts of disorders that span numerous species.

[Eddie Teach]

What I mean is that a lot of genetic deficiencies that wold have prevented people from reproducing back in the day are not life threatening anymore, so individuals with them can still live up to reproductive age and breed. Mankind is, in some aspects, special regarding evolution, as it has been able to bypass natural selection in many ways.

They managed to survive thousands of years before modern medicine though.

[Queequeg]

Why?  You see all sorts of disorders that span numerous species.

Not something as frequent or as seemingly important as homosexuality, though. 

The idea that it is a disorder is really kind of nuts though.  The DSM IV kicked it out, and I don't think it is possible that something as big as being attracted to another gender is not somehow positive for the gene-pool; it is so drastic a change that there must be some reason for it.   

[Razgovory]

Why?  You see all sorts of disorders that span numerous species.

Not something as frequent or as seemingly important as homosexuality, though. 

The idea that it is a disorder is really kind of nuts though.  The DSM IV kicked it out, and I don't think it is possible that something as big as being attracted to another gender is not somehow positive for the gene-pool; it is so drastic a change that there must be some reason for it.   

DSM IV kicked it out for political reasons not for medical.  Other paraphilic disorders are still there.

[The Larch]

What I mean is that a lot of genetic deficiencies that wold have prevented people from reproducing back in the day are not life threatening anymore, so individuals with them can still live up to reproductive age and breed. Mankind is, in some aspects, special regarding evolution, as it has been able to bypass natural selection in many ways.

They managed to survive thousands of years before modern medicine though.

What do you mean?

[The Brain]

What I mean is that a lot of genetic deficiencies that wold have prevented people from reproducing back in the day are not life threatening anymore, so individuals with them can still live up to reproductive age and breed. Mankind is, in some aspects, special regarding evolution, as it has been able to bypass natural selection in many ways.

They managed to survive thousands of years before modern medicine though.

What do you mean?

*popcorn*

[Eddie Teach]

What do you mean?

Genetic disorders have been around longer than history has, so you can't attribute their survival to modern medicine. I think Zanza is right; survival of a particular trait doesn't necessarily mean it offers an evolutionary advantage.

As to the subject at hand, I don't know if it does offer such an advantage or not. I just don't agree with Martinus' a priori assumption that it must.

[dps]

I don't think it's a bit surprising that gay men would in general be more attentive and supportive of their nieces and nepthews than straight men--after all, they usually don't have children of their own to take care of.  But I suspect that the same would hold true for others who don't have children of their own.  Heck, look my wife and me--we don't have kids of our own yet, and we spend a lot of time helping out with her sister's kids, but I'm sure we won't as much once we have our own.

[The Brain]

Doesn't this entire idea hinge on gay men not being allowed to adopt back in the stone age? I'd like to see some evidence for that.

[Razgovory]

Why is there an assumption that it's a genetic condition?  There's not a great deal of evidence for this.

[DontSayBanana]

DSM IV kicked it out for political reasons not for medical.  Other paraphilic disorders are still there.

Psychological, not medical.  Really, sexual assault is sexual assault no matter how you slice it; for it to remain classified a paraphilic disorder, it needs to interfere with an individual's ability to normally function in society.  Once society's adapted to largely tolerate a given behavior, that behavior's ceased to be a disorder within the mores of that society.

[alfred russel]

Homosexual behavior is seen in more tetrapod species than not.  There is no way in all cases it is just some kind of aberration.  That is literally impossible.

Bisexual maybe, I don't know about homosexual.

[Queequeg]

DSM IV kicked it out for political reasons not for medical.  Other paraphilic disorders are still there.

I really don't think it makes sense.  Homosexual encounters account for a staggeringly high percentage of all sex in some species, even ones with far greater gender sexual dimorphism.  Giraffes have way more gay sex than straight sex.  You really think that is all just some sort of accident?