Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight
In scientific terms, alcoholism, depression, homosexuality, my distaste for tomatoes, high intelligence, etc., etc. are all equal. "Disease" is a subjective term with no scientific basis for distinguishing what is and isn't a disease. The only distinction is a sense of what is "beneficial" and what is "harmful"
|
Not so sure about that. Alcoholism has been classified as a disease while distaste for tomatoes has not been classified as one. In my own terms, alcoholism is something that happens as a result of a change in the body's ability to deal with a substance. You aren't necessarily born an alcoholic, but become one as your body ceases to be able to deal with the substance. It may be genetic predisposition or it may be more like cancer (which can also have a genetic pre-disposition). Is being gay a genetic predisposition? I'm not sure that question has been answered.
To me, they are very different things. You don'e become gay over time like you do with alcoholism.