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Small-Scale Question Sunday for May 7, 2023

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I'm doing a deep dive on puberty blockers, and I'm getting to the stage where I want to move on from criticizing the mainstream message on them, to finding the best arguments available. I went back to an old hang-out of mine from the ancient times, a blog called Science-Based Medicine, because I remember them going strongly pro-trans a few years ago. I want to avoid using strong words, so as not to color the conversation (any more than I already have), but let's just say I'm not impressed by the quality of their arguments. Does anyone know anything better than the article I linked?

I don’t have a good answer to your question. I just want to say that I appreciate what you’re doing, and I look forward to reading the results.

I think the Wikipedia page for them has some decent arguments

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puberty_blocker

Thanks. I did read that wiki page a while back, though I could dig through the references a bit more, so it might be worth another look.

However, I'd like something better, that would address some of the counter arguments. For all my issues with SBM l, they do do that, and they do it pretty exhaustively, so I'd actually rate them higher than wiki. Would you say the wiki page is better than the article I linked?

I didn't read the article you linked and honestly I don't really care enough about the topic to.

Weird suggestion, but Jesse Singal? He is highly skeptical of youth transition but he's also a stickler for nuance. If he identified an argument worth looking into that might be a good indication of its quality.

Thanks. I admit I follow him a bit less than other trans-skeptics so I might have missed something, but the issue is that even if I disagree with him on something related to this topic, I'm pretty sure I'd be happy to split the difference. I need someone who's going to argue The Science.