Saturday 4 July 2015

The Luxury of Homosexuality

A wave of happiness swept through the world as people celebrated the decision of United States Court to legalize homosexual marriages. People were happy as this marks a significant step forward in the freedom in living their lives.

The biggest relief must be to the people who have always loved someone of the same gender, wanted to spend life with them, but the world (legal system) did not allow them to. They have had to hide their feelings, face awkward questions and situations. Those are the people who will be ecstatic, as if the doors of the cage are now open.

There has been a lot of debate since ages regarding homosexuality. Religions have called it a sin. Men and women have been punished to death for being homosexual. It is unnatural even today to major populations around the world. Why is that? I have tried to analyze it from a scientific perspective.

Earth formed approximately 4 billion year ago, and the first forms of life, appeared approximately 2-2.5 billion years ago. Life initially appeared as single celled organisms, and through a very long and complex evolution process has able to reach to the peak of their perfection - humans. It is fascinating story of what began as a single cell millions of years ago has evolved to a highly intelligent life and dominates the earth now.

As we think about how life originated, the one thing that comes to the mind is - reproduction - continuation of life. Life on our planet has always had a finality to it, organisms didn’t live forever and were bound by a lifespan. But every organism had a innate desire to live forever. But since it could not, nature allowed them to cheat, and pass on whatever they had to another life form before they could die. This cheating is known as reproduction.

As we think about it, reproduction, in the most trivial way, is a way to ensure survival of one’s knowledge/information with the passage of time. Reproduction throughout the ages has evolved from asexual reproduction (no partner required) to sexual reproduction - one that required male and female species to produce an offspring. But the underlying concept hasn’t changed. Reproduction is a method that ensures the survival of species and the information it accumulated with the passage of time.

Information does not mean Math or Science. In its truest forms, information is the cell structure, the DNA. When wolves produces an offspring, it ensures that however nature evolved them to being a wolf, that DNA, that cell structure, continues to produce another wolf. Reproduction allows an organism to replicate evolution. That is how life flourished. Even the flora has the same concept, the fruits that are produced bear the seeds of life. It is a beautiful thing if you think about it, reproduction is a short cut to produce something that took millions of years to evolve, and it is woven into the fabric of life here on Earth.

Now, let us jump back to homosexuality. What is the only thing a homosexual couple cannot do? Reproduce. Sure, they can live a life together, cook together, have sex, enjoy trips, grow old together. But biologically, they cannot reproduce. Do you see now, that is the violation of the principle of evolution right there. Sure, there is a slight amount of homosexuality observed in some species, but that does not mean they do not participate in the process of reproduction.

But we, as humans, are different from the other species on our planet. We are able to create complex thought patterns, emotions, which makes us truly special. In a very short span of time, humans emerged as the dominant species on earth. We were able to tame domestic animals, defend against and restrict wild animals, and were able to rule earth. We learnt, created new things, thought new things, and created the society we knew today. Today it is much more than - eat, sleep, reproduce. We have a complex way of living life woven around these basic parameters of life.

Earth’s population today is 7 billion, and it was always in millions since we have a history. Accounts of homosexuality have been found across the history, it is not a new phenomenon. We have the concept of emotions and freedom. When a man/woman wants to live with another man/woman, what is wrong in that? Sure, they cannot reproduce. But who needs that? “There are so many people in the world anyways.” That single statement, is why, homosexuality can be tolerated now.

There is so much population right now, humanity has surpassed the point of extinction. It is very hard to make humans extinct right now. So, once our basic needs to survival have been fulfilled, the mind can think in other directions. It does not need to constantly think about reproduction, as our priorities do not include the survival of our species.

So, in my view, homosexuality is a luxury that humans can afford. As we have surpassed our needs of evolution, we can afford a few emotional luxuries. It is the moral right of a man and woman in today’s world to live as they want to. That is the freedom, the luxury that humanity can afford right now. I think we have earned it as a right of evolution, by being very intelligent, by making sure that a handful of people who do not reproduce will not make any difference to the survival of humanity as a whole. From an emotional perspective, I feel that right to think and feel is the biggest right that humanity has gained. There is nothing wrong in two people who want to live together, no matter whatever be the gender.

So, rejoice people. Your cage is now open. But let me present you with a situation. Suppose, for some reason, there is a catastrophe on Earth. And all the humans couldn’t survive, expect for one gay male and one lesbian woman. Will they reproduce? I think the answer is yes, because at that time, they cannot afford to be homosexual.