Originally Posted by kerry

Sat in on a colleagues lecture in Social Psychology on social conformity yesterday. It was quite interesting and spurred me to think. I'm of the opinion that having an instinct to social conformity is a huge survival advantage when our children are not born with the instincts necessary to survive in their environment and have to learn them from adults. If children have an instinct to conform, they will mimic adult behavior more quickly and gain the necessary skills for survival.
However, the same conformist instinct will count against the species when it faces circumstances in which adaptation to new environments needs to be accomplished. The species also needs to have a mechanism for non-conformity in order to adapt quickly to new circumstances.
So my speculation is that alternative sexualities serve this non-conformist function. Sexuality is such a core feature of our being, that non-heterosexuals are pushed towards non-conformity without choice, providing the species with an inbuilt advantage to a comparable primate species with no homosexuality.

If you look at places where heterosexuality is valued and homosexuality disparaged, they tend to be stable, relatively change-free traditional environments. (rural farming, tribal cultures etc). On the other hand, large cities with lots of innovation and change seem to be refuges for homosexuals where their non-conformity is relished.

Anyone read anything along these lines? In the extreme, the hypothesis might be tested by a comparison of rates of homosexuality in Homo Sapiens Sapiens versus Neanderthals given their relative success/failure.