In the absence of a more complicated theory that makes sufficiently more precise predictions, simple theories are better than pretending not to have a theory. (In order to function in the world and get along with other humans, your brain is going to be constantly making predictions about human behavior in accordance with some implicit theory of human psychology, even if the part of you that talks doesn’t realize this.)
the broad range and variety of gender identities we see in the wild
I agree that we see a very broad range of self-reported gender identities in the wild! However, as an aspiring epistemic rationalist, I consider self-reports of gender identities to be merely a kind of behavior that needs to be explained; I don’t consider myself obligated to model other people the way they want me to model them. Psychology is about invalidating people’s identities.
True, but only if they accurately model the data. If the data don’t match with predictions made by the theory (hypothesis, actually), it’s not reality that’s flawed.
[not] obligated to model other people the way they want me to model them
In the absence of other evidence, you have no reason to do otherwise. You still have to match the data. Until you (or somebody else) find a way to get better data than self-reports, that’s what you’ve got to use. If your claim is only for two specific cases, it only applies to those cases. But it is wrong to assert that there are only two cases just because that’s all you understand.
In the absence of a more complicated theory that makes sufficiently more precise predictions, simple theories are better than pretending not to have a theory. (In order to function in the world and get along with other humans, your brain is going to be constantly making predictions about human behavior in accordance with some implicit theory of human psychology, even if the part of you that talks doesn’t realize this.)
I agree that we see a very broad range of self-reported gender identities in the wild! However, as an aspiring epistemic rationalist, I consider self-reports of gender identities to be merely a kind of behavior that needs to be explained; I don’t consider myself obligated to model other people the way they want me to model them. Psychology is about invalidating people’s identities.
True, but only if they accurately model the data. If the data don’t match with predictions made by the theory (hypothesis, actually), it’s not reality that’s flawed.
In the absence of other evidence, you have no reason to do otherwise. You still have to match the data. Until you (or somebody else) find a way to get better data than self-reports, that’s what you’ve got to use. If your claim is only for two specific cases, it only applies to those cases. But it is wrong to assert that there are only two cases just because that’s all you understand.