Why would one false belief be different from another? Your comparing me to another poster does not address the point, but rather deflects. If you have respect for me, please explain the difference between two false beliefs about oneself.
Okay, fair enough, I apologize. And I'll substantiate.
Insanity; Here is a general textbook definition:
A generally non-medical term referring to mental illnesses which are so severe and debilitating that they prevent a person from functioning in a lawful, socially acceptable manner. The term is more common in the field of law.
A person who believes he is a horse, and acts like a horse, would likely be categorized as insane because it would be critically debilitating in all societies.
A transsexual would not be considered insane because they do not exhibit debilitating behavior. This may depend on society, but for our purposes, in the US their disorder isn't really socially unacceptable, at least not to the point of debilitating.
THAT is the difference. THAT is why the comparison is inappropriate. When you make this comparison you are saying that the transsexual is insane, or equating to it. While they do have a disorder, they are not insane, and this needs to be understood.
That's a different issue. That issue would be determining whether the benefit outweighs the cost. In some cases, feeding a delusion might be the best course to effect the most possible outcome. HOWEVER, to say it is the correct course of action--to say that it is "corrective" or "sex reassignment"--to claim that it is "fixing" or "curing" or "making right" that which "should" be some other way, is simply wrong. It is an attempt to somehow normalize a mental disorder to something it is not--and it is an attempt to elevate a surgical procedure on healthy tissue that is essentially mutilation of properly functioning organs to a necessary and appropriate treatment. It is not.
I don't understand then...Why are you making such a big fuss about it? Going through the trouble of saying that SRT doesn't address the problem?
The goal is to help, which it clearly does. It may not make a woman a man, but the quality of life is improved. Was that not what the transsexual and psychologist set out to achieve?
And please, stop saying that it feeds into the delusion, because it isn't a delusion. No one can decide your identity. Only the individual can do that. Regardless of what your DNA says.
I don't understand your analogy.
I was trying to illustrate a scenario where the psychologist doesn't take the clients word. If they don't, they may as well make up stuff as they go along. My point being that you cannot tell the transsexual that he is a man even though he thinks he's a woman. A psychologist should take his word for it, and to confirm it a list of diagnostic tests can find the consistency of his beliefs.
I'm not arguing whether or not they can do it--or that they shouldn't be allowed to modify their bodies as such. My point is that it is feeding a delusion and it should be recognized as such. If they still want to choose to do it....that's a different debate concerning medical ethics.
That is only because you keep rejecting their chosen identity. It's not up to you to decide what anybody's identity is. DNA doesn't decide it either. It may decide what sex you will be, whether you'll have one gonad or both, but not your identity.
...:doh people who have an identifiable birth defect where they are a female genetically, but sprout a penis. It's a genetic defect.
The point being that gender identity can be chosen. Thus it isn't decided by DNA.
There are things we learn because of anomalies. Like Phineas Gage. We found out critical information about the brain, specifically the frontal lobe and what it does for human behavior. We are able to compare these anomalies with the norm and draw up conclusions. From the XX male anomalies, we can conclude that gender identity can be chosen. Meaning that it is possible for transsexuals to choose their identity also. Do you understand what I'm getting at?
Yes--delusions are by definition persistent.
At that point it is a full blown delusion.
Again, this is only because you repeatedly reject their chosen identity.
If a person has a genetic defect that affects the expression of the characteristics of gender to some neutral male/female hybrid, then by all means reconstruction is called for on the affected organs.
An individual's desire is different from an individual's genetic malformation.
Yes, they are different things. But that doesn't mean we cannot draw conclusions from what we find. Again, we find critical information about how the brain works, about human behavior, by looking at anomalies. Just because they are different things, doesn't mean that it may not help the other.
Going back to Phantom Limb. Another anomaly. Again it is useful in helping us to explain, analyze, and interpret other disorders such as Transsexualism.
