To the extent that there are systematic neurological differences that account for transsexuality, there are physically plausible means whereby a more male brain could develop in a female body and vice versa (the fact that both sexes produce both estrogen and testosterone to varying degrees, and it may happen (I propose no specific mechanism) that someone’s brain might develop with more influence from the one that doesn’t match the one that’s controlling the development of their physical sex characteristics, etc.). But there’s no plausible way that a human brain, in its early stages of development, could end up entangled with the information necessary to make it somehow inherently (say) a pony mind, let alone a unicorn mind. Most of the people who claim otherwise seem to argue that point based on spiritual nonsense and not much else.
Though honestly, it’s not like I’d have any problem with it if we had the technology to turn a human body into a unicorn body and some people chose to make use of that. I certainly couldn’t agree that there’s any meaningful sense in which a person’s true neurological self could actually be inherently unicorn rather than human, but I don’t really consider that a necessary justification for allowing someone to live in the body they’re most comfortable with.
To the extent that there are systematic neurological differences that account for transsexuality, there are physically plausible means whereby a more male brain could develop in a female body and vice versa (the fact that both sexes produce both estrogen and testosterone to varying degrees, and it may happen (I propose no specific mechanism) that someone’s brain might develop with more influence from the one that doesn’t match the one that’s controlling the development of their physical sex characteristics, etc.). But there’s no plausible way that a human brain, in its early stages of development, could end up entangled with the information necessary to make it somehow inherently (say) a pony mind, let alone a unicorn mind. Most of the people who claim otherwise seem to argue that point based on spiritual nonsense and not much else.
Though honestly, it’s not like I’d have any problem with it if we had the technology to turn a human body into a unicorn body and some people chose to make use of that. I certainly couldn’t agree that there’s any meaningful sense in which a person’s true neurological self could actually be inherently unicorn rather than human, but I don’t really consider that a necessary justification for allowing someone to live in the body they’re most comfortable with.