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发帖数: 19713 | 1 A Northern California author says he's discovered the missing link that
explains the biological source of sexual orientation. While doing research
for his recent book, The Whole-Brain Path to Peace, James Olson stumbled
upon what he says is the direct correlation between hemispheric dominance in
the brain and whether a person is gay or straight.
Olson’s theory portends that both heterosexual men and lesbians are
generally dominated by the left hemisphere of the brain, which is committed
to sequential, thought-oriented processes. And heterosexual women and gay
men are much more likely to be dominated by the right hemisphere of the
brain, which regulates feeling and cultural awareness.
Olson believes that current research looking for a “gay gene” is searching
in the wrong place. Rather, Olson contends, sexual orientation is
determined by brain hemisphere dominance. Most men are left-brain dominant,
whereas most women are right-brain dominant. Seizing on the implication that
“most” necessarily excludes some people, Olson wondered what happened
when brain dominance was reversed from the standard.
After reviewing a large collection of scientific literature, Olson
hypothesized that when a man is right-brain dominant or a woman is left-
brain dominant, that person will be gay or lesbian.
“I think that probably a hormone or a gene is responsible for the brain-
dominance [pattern],” said Olson in an exclusive interview with The
Advocate. “That [reversed brain dominance] is what causes homosexuality.”
If sexual orientation is determined by brain dominance as Olson contends, it
’s important to note that the pathways connecting the two hemispheres of
the brain and determining which side is dominant are mostly finalized before
birth. As such, Olson reiterates conventional scientific wisdom that sexual
orientation is predetermined and unchangeable. The author, a straight,
single man originally from Oklahoma, also believes that his observation
could help demystify the source of sexual orientation and thereby foster
peace and understanding.
“We fear what we don’t understand,” said Olson, who holds a business
degree from the University of Oklahoma. “I’m looking for peace and an end
to this war against gay people. The answer is education — if people
understand what’s going on, then the fear disappears.”
Olson says he culled numerous peer-reviewed articles about the hemispheric
preference — and corresponding behavior — of straight, gay, and bisexual
men and women. One important study Olson cites comes from the Karolinska
Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, which found that scans of gay people’s
brains most closely resembled — in structure and composition — those of
heterosexual people of the opposite sex. Essentially, the 2008 study posited
that a lesbian’s brain closely mirrored the structure of a straight man’s
brain, while a gay man’s brain was most similar in structure to a straight
woman’s.
Ultimately, Olson may have found the scientific explanation to what many
consider to be common colloquial knowledge about traditional gender roles
and queer sexuality. Olson’s theory provides a physiological basis for the
idea that men are more aggressive and logical, whereas women are more
compassionate and emotional.
Brain dominance, Olson contends, regulates more than just sexuality — it
also controls perception of the world, which heavily influences perspective.
Olson explained that right and left-brain processes and functions are
nearly identical in all brains, regardless of race, gender, or sexual
orientation. Given that, he said, one could understand how a male perceiving
the world through a right-brain dominant lens — like the one used by most
heterosexual women — would share a similar perspective with that straight
woman. This is the case with gay men and lesbians, he said, whose brains
closely resemble the brains of straight people of the opposite sex.
The author, who considers himself an integral philosopher, says his theory
can predict the sexual orientation of a person according to his or her
hemispheric brain dominance with a 95% accuracy rate. Tests to discover one
’s own hemispherical dominance are available online, and free to the public
on Olson’s website.
Olson is quick to highlight the great amount of diversity among humans and
readily admits that his theory is not proscriptive for the entire spectrum
of human sexuality. He hypothesizes that people whose desires don’t fit
into a binary model, such as bisexual, pansexual, and genderqueer folks, may
engage both hemispheres of their brains on a more regular basis, though he
currently lacks supporting research. Less research exists on transgender
identities, bisexuality, and other non-binary sexual attraction, so Olson
says his conclusions aren’t expected to extend to every segment of the LGBT
spectrum.
Nevertheless, Olson’s supporters say his common-sense conclusions may be
our next best hope at understanding the origins of sexual orientation and
proving that LGBT people are not mentally ill, making a lifestyle choice, or
in need of a cure.
Olson’s book, The Whole-Brain Path to Peace, has received four national
book awards and required a broad range of research to complete. This brain-
dominance theory, and the paper which presents it, is his first effort to
synthesize scientific information, and Olson believes it is the first to
discover the connection between brain hemisphere dominance and sexual
orientation. | g********d
发帖数: 4174 | | D**S
发帖数: 24887 | 3 I do not quite buy it.
"Theory" like this can be easily mis-used for various sorts of bad things. |
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