If biologists so often forget the most universal of all biologic principles [variation], it is not surprising that men and women in general expect their fellows to think and behave according to the pattern that may fit the law-maker, or the imaginary ideals for which the legislation was fashioned, but which are ill-shaped for all real individuals who try to live under them.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the importance of recognizing individual differences in behavior and thought, as laws and norms often fail to account for human variation.
Alfred Kinsey's quote reflects on the tendency of people, including lawmakers, to impose rigid standards that are not suitable for the diverse nature of individuals. It suggests that while biologists acknowledge variation in species, this principle is often overlooked in societal norms and legislation, which assume a uniformity that disregards the complexities of human behavior and identity. As a result, individuals may feel constrained by expectations that do not accommodate their unique characteristics and experiences.
In practice
This quote could be used in a lecture about the importance of inclusivity in legislation.
The very general occurrence of the homosexual in ancient Greece, and its wide occurrence today in some cultures in which such activity is not taboo suggests that the capacity of an individual to respond erotically to any sort of stimulus, whether it is provided by another person of the same or opposite sex, is basic in the species.
The range of variation in the female far exceeds the range of variation in the male.
The only unnatural sex act is that which you cannot perform.
Few males achieve any real freedom in their sexual relations even with their wives. Few males realise how badly inhibited they are on these matters.
The heterosexuality or homosexuality of many individuals is not an all-or-none proposition.
If all persons with any trace of homosexual history, or those who were predominantly homosexual, were eliminated from the population today, there is no reason for believing that the incidence of the homosexual in the next generation would be materially reduced. The homosexual has been a significant part of human sexual activity since the dawn of history, primarily because it is an expression of capacities that are basic in the human animal.
These young people naturally grow up with ideas different from ours, for they are born for times when we shall no longer be here
Attention, if sudden and close, graduates into surprise; and this into astonishment; and this into stupefied amazement.
Guns go home with the soldiers, but landmines are designed to kill - mindlessly, out of control, for years.
I don't much care whether rural Anatolians or Istanbul secularists take power. I'm not close to any of them. What I care about is respect for the individual.
True virtue is life under the direction of reason.
Those instrumental goods which should serve to maintain the life and health of all human beings should be produced by the least possible labour of all.
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