The illusion (and meme) that sex biology is ‘simple’ (aka “binary”) has its roots in our ancient ancestors asking the basic questions:
When our distant ancestors were sitting around a fire, gazing up at the points of light in the sky (they didn’t know they were “stars”), and looking at each other’s bodies, the first (and for a very long time) only tool they had for answering those questions was through speculation and observational learning, also known as “social learning”. Primary gateways to social learning include:
The capacity for human self-awareness (aka “consciousness”) came during the Paleolithic Age with the evolutionary enlargement of the parietal lobe in the brain. After this development, humans likely began looking for answers to things they could not readily explain. Later, with the development of language, members of human groups most likely shared their speculations about things they didn’t understand with others, and this (possibly) began the process of social learning through oral history. It is likely these speculating individuals rose to positions of leadership and authority as members of their group (and other groups):
“Religion exists because it addresses fundamental human needs, uncertainties,
and social dynamics that have persisted across cultures and history.”
Grok (developed by xAI), and majority owned by Elon Musk (denier of transgender identities,
including that of his daughter, Vivian) continues its response using 439 more words
without once declaring “Religion exists because there is a God”.
In short, religion isn’t an accident or delusion—it’s a multifaceted adaptation to human cognition, emotions, and society.
It persists because it works for these purposes, though secular alternatives (philosophy, science, humanism)
increasingly fill similar roles in modern contexts.
Memetic (“Meme”) theory (Dawkins, 1976) defines a meme as an element of culture that gets passed on by non-genetic means.
“Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body via sperm or eggs, so memes propagate themselves in the meme pool by leaping from brain to brain via a process which, in the broad sense, can be called imitation.”
“Intersex individuals—those for whom sexual development follows an atypical trajectory—are characterized by a diverse range of conditions, such as 5-alpha reductase deficiency (highlighted in graphic to the right). A small cross section of these conditions and the pathways they follow is shown here…The more we learn about sex and gender, the more these attributes appear to exist on a spectrum.”
-Amanda Montañez
Don’t allow this complex graphic representation of sex biology complexity intimidate you.
You don’t have to understand it (unless you want to!), in order to acknowledge that:
