Crossdressing a lifestyle choice or genetic?

[ElaineB]

They don't? Humanity has different basic brains? That would make them a different species if true.

Not at all. Variation within a species is perfectly normal, and humans are among the most varied of all animals. Why would we expect humans to have the same brain but different colored hair, eyes and skin?

When we cannot interbreed, then we cease to be one species. That might in fact already be true in a few limited cases, but is hardly relevant.

I presume you mean identical twins, yes genetic clones are likely than not to produce similar personalities but this is not always the case.

Yes, identical twins, sorry.

If two people with the same genes and unrelated nurturing consistently show common personality traits, that is practically conclusive proof that aspects of personality can be genetic. So why continue to debate it?

Any genetic variation that produces a profound disadvantage is not dispersed in the human gene pool because these people do not procreate due to natural selection pressures.

What is and is not an advantage can change greatly depending on the natural and social environment. You can change somebody from being strong and capable to weak and disadvantaged just by moving them away from their home. So this reasoning only holds up when discussing the grossest, most universal and debilitating disadvantages.

Natural selection is only one selection mechanism. Darwin himself believed sexual selection to be equally important ... which many people seem to forget nowadays. Evolutionary theory has progressed beyond simple mechanisms in any case.

The creation of the human mind is not progress?

No. It just seems like it to those of us who have them.

Whether we are better or worse than other animals depends on what yardsticks you use. It is a nice philosophical debate but rather beside the point.

We went down this path starting from the notion you expressed that things like autism and schizophrenia were abnormal (and by inference, irrelevant to discussions of personality and heredity). On the contrary. They and other such uncommon variations are ubiquitous. That this is true is very relevant; it is perhaps the strongest evidence of all that complex behaviors in general can be genetic. (Whether crossdressing is one such is quite another matter).

But if the gene exists it is there because it was in fact used during our evolutionary past and was at the very least not disadvantageous or it would have been routed out by natural selection.

No, you cannot say that either. Traits can be disadvantages in one way and advantages in a different way, and advantageous traits can be linked to disadvantageous ones. Whether something is an an advantage or a disadvantage is very relative and can change quickly.

The driving thrust of evolution is to produce more specialized animals, not ones that are simply better. Since humans are among the few animals that span a wide range of biomes, it should be quite easy to see how humanity as a whole can collect many variations.

Really, I thought all this was well-known and so debating it seems futile. I will stick to other points from now on.