Personality seems necessary as a baseline for humanity. Sex isn't.

But . . . let's say you could raise a sentient being without a personality for 13 years (what fun that would be) and then let them choose, like a kid at a candy store -- that could be a great sequel to the first novel i'm not writing.

where body mod is taken to outrageous levels. It releases some terrible inner tension. It's not for me to say you can't do it.

Respectfully, I find that to be a harmful, false compassion.

That kind of body modification doesn't truly release that terrible inner tension, it's only a harmful and self-destructive manifestation thereof. It might not be for you to say someone can't do it, but it's certainly incumbent on you to say they shouldn't do, or that you wish they wouldn't resort to harming themselves to deal with whatever psychological issues they're struggling with, and that they should find a more healthy way to address their problems.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Personality seems necessary as a baseline for humanity. Sex isn't.

Of course it is. You don't know any asexual human beings. There is a tiny number of hermaphrodites, which is a disorder- but even they aren't asexual. Moreover, it's inextricably linked to personality.


But . . . let's say you could raise a sentient being without a personality for 13 years (what fun that would be) and then let them choose, like a kid at a candy store -- that could be a great sequel to the first novel i'm not writing.

In theory, it's not all that much different from your original idea, except it has more benefits and fewer drawbacks.

Would parents have the right to do that to their kids if they were able?

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

If it's someone I know and have access to, I would intervene and suggest the healthier way.

Do you mean take a public stance against it, generally?

An adult has sovereignty over their own body -- I'm not going to preach about an issue that ultimately doesn't affect me.

If it's someone I know and have access to, I would intervene and suggest the healthier way.

Do you mean take a public stance against it, generally?

I don't insist you take a public stance against it. I just say that it isn't a healthy thing, and at the very least, should not be celebrated or twisted into some civil rights issue. Just as I don't insist that you campaign against a person's "right" to gouge their own eyes out, but would hope you wouldn't think doing so is a matter of empowerment.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Do you mean asexual as in unmale, or unfemale, or un-somewhere in between the two?

Yes. Is that not the premise of your unwritten novel?

I agree that there are people who are asexual in the sense that they aren't driven by interest in sexual relations. Just about every pre-pubescent kid, and some adults.

We have, I was pretty sure, been talking about biological sex- the state of being male or female. And my contention is that being male or female is a fundamental, baseline aspect of humanity, and not something that can simply be tacked on to a biologically asexual being at some point of its choosing, as if it was a matter of putting on a wig.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."

Dr. Strangelove disagrees with you.

By the way, I got to see some of the movie this past weekend.

alrighty. Apart from sex, are there any other fundamentals?

I'm sure there are- but none that people seem to think of as some kind of optional accessory. It's striking how confused we are about that when it comes to something as basic as one's biological sex.

One can imagine all sorts of dystopian scenarios in which various aspects that are crucial to being truly human are abused- and while they might be technically possible, and wouldn't wipe out one's actual humanity, they still amount to abuse.

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"People think it must be fun to be a super genius, but they don't realize how hard it is to put up with all the idiots in the world."