Poll of the Day > Does sexual orientation exist? And is the Kinsey scale part of it?

(+) Yeah! (+)

Somebody said that since scientist can't measure it with "objective, reproducible measurements", it doesn't exist or something... So, do you also agree? Or do you think it exist...

And they also don't believe the Kinsey Scale is part of it. But I thought the Kinsey scale was use to kind of give a more specific answer for someone's sexual orientation...

I think sexual orientation exist. And I believe the Kinsey scale is part of it. But what do you guys think?
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LinkPizza posted...

Somebody said that since scientist can't measure it with "objective, reproducible measurements", it doesn't exist or something... So, do you also agree? Or do you think it exist...

And they also don't believe the Kinsey Scale is part of it. But I thought the Kinsey scale was use to kind of give a more specific answer for someone's sexual orientation...

I think sexual orientation exist. And I believe the Kinsey scale is part of it. But what do you guys think?

Yes it exists, but like the scientists say it literally one exists as a series of brain electrical processes.

And yee, it's a spectrum and, y'know, I daresay it's even still too restrictive since it's limited to the bimodal model

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Yeah. I recenty (like after I made this topic) found an article that said, "The Kinsey Scale attempts to define a persons sexual and romantic orientation. While this scale may be useful to some people, it has limitations." And I agree that it's pretty limited. I think sexual orientation is more complex that a regular scale of numbers can show. And because everyone can be very different in what they like, the scale would have to be pretty complicated to show everything, I would think...
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I'm not entirely sure what you mean by sexual orientation but the Kinsey scale is an load of bullshit, you can't put sexuality on a number scale especially one as small as a single digit one., it's far too fluid and dynamic for that.

Cruddy_horse posted...

sexual orientation

By sexual orientation, I mean things like Straight, gay, bi, etc...

Cruddy_horse posted...

the Kinsey scale is an load of bullshit, you can't put sexuality on a number scale especially one as small as a single digit one

Thats what me and Lok mentioned earlier. Its very limited. I think its works, but needs to be better...
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LinkPizza posted...

Somebody

Come on, Link. You know that guy does nothing but pointlessly argue semantics. It has to gotten to a point even your patience has to wear out.

demonfang178 posted...

Come on, Link. You know that guy does nothing but pointlessly argue semantics. It has to gotten to a point even your patience has to wear out.

Technically, my patience for him wore out the first time I ever saw him post...
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Does anything exist

Today I was thinking about how cute I find Tim Henson. I think @Jen0125 may also like him, but probably hasnt heard of him.

LinkPizza posted...

Somebody said that since scientist can't measure it with "objective, reproducible measurements", it doesn't exist or something

All that means is the ability to measure it doesn't exist. We can observe something roughly conforming to sexual orientation and say that it exists. What we can't do is determine with any accuracy if Adam is gayer than Steve, or if Steve is really as gay as he says he is having self selected an increment on the Kinsey scale.

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LinkPizza posted...

Somebody said that since scientist can't measure it with "objective, reproducible measurements", it doesn't exist or something

There was a semi-famous psychologist who said this. Obviously, it's not a true statement, it's meant to be taken figuratively not literally.

Cruddy_horse posted...

you can't put sexuality on a number scale especially one as small as a single digit one., it's far too fluid and dynamic for that.

I fail to see why the number of digits matters. There's an infinite number of numbers between 0 and 6. All that's necessary is that sexual orientation be ordinal, which gay-bi-straight is.

Maybe you mean that it's too dynamic to be represented by a single dimension, which you could argue there are separate dimensions for sexual attraction, romantic attraction, and libido.

But the Kinsey scale is just a model and knocking it for being too simple is silly. Models are supposed to be more simple than the phenomenon they represent. As long as they can usefully represent something in a meaningful way, there's utility.

Kinsey recognized that the seven categories of the scale could not fully capture every individual's sexuality. He wrote that "it should be recognized that the reality includes individuals of every intermediate type, lying in a continuum between the two extremes and between each and every category on the scale."

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these things exist to simplify one's experience with their sexuality, for things like personal identity, seeking out potential partners, etc. these things are especially important for gay and bi folks, as many people assume someone is straight unless stated otherwise

i don't find the kinsey scale useful personally, my experience with being bisexual has always been that i fluctuate between leaning towards one gender or another

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Cool. Another poll showing 25% of people are crazy.

LinkPizza posted...

Somebody said that since scientist can't measure it with "objective, reproducible measurements", it doesn't exist or something... So, do you also agree? Or do you think it exist...

And they also don't believe the Kinsey Scale is part of it. But I thought the Kinsey scale was use to kind of give a more specific answer for someone's sexual orientation...

I think sexual orientation exist. And I believe the Kinsey scale is part of it. But what do you guys think?

I think it exists, but I don't think it can be measured or explained in a way that would make it absolute truth for everyone. I believe people want to explain everything too much,beyond their ability or perhaphs some things are different for individuals. Just because one person or group or half a planet says something doesn't mean it works like that in all cases. Not only that exceptions are natural,but person can never be sure if their understanding of something is correct or if their fully understood. I believe it's all about the most popular ideology that got accepted, not how things are.

When humans name something,they name it to help them recognize it and understand it and be able to communicate with others about it. Does it mean that it exists ? Well certainly in our minds. But that's all I am convinced about, and it's just my view on it, some people will agree,some won't , I think it's up to everyone alone if they accept it or not,but perhaphs regardless if yes or no,maybe nobody is wrong or nobody is correct.

It exists to the same degree as any other psychological phenomenon does. The Kinsey scale generally describes it reasonably well, though being as simplistic as it is means there's inevitably going to be a lot of nuance that it fails to capture.

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