Cross-wiring theory

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MAPs only: Are your sexual instincts triggered instead of the nurture instincts?

Yes
0
No votes
No
2
50%
Unsure
2
50%
 
Total votes: 4

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Learning to undeny
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Cross-wiring theory

Post by Learning to undeny »

How do you feel about the following theory by James Cantor?
https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-34858350 wrote: Cantor found that the brains of the paedophiles he studied were wired differently to non-paedophiles - something he describes as effectively a "cross-wiring" of the brain. "It's as if, in these people, when they perceive a child, it's triggering the sexual instincts instead of triggering the nurturing instincts," he says.
Personally, this is not how I feel about my MAPness. Maybe I don't have as strong nurturing instincts as others, but they are not replaced by sexual instincts. In the case of younger (3+) children, I feel an aesthetic attraction (magnet), for pre-teen boys it can become a romantic attraction (grey-sexual), and for teens it is more sexual. Especially the romantic attraction is to features —like a kind of boldness, gestures...— that are not correlated with nurturing, but rather with independency. I know some MAPs have strong nurturing tendencies.

I am not absolutely certain about this because I don't know how to take care of children, even when I'm not attracted to them, and I still have some kind of intrusive thoughts. Watching them from a distance, without getting to know them, I think it has this effect on me where I worry too much about what I really feel towards them.

However, the most interesting point in his research is that he found a correlation between pedophilia and white matter, height and handedness, which are associated with early development (before birth). This gives some credibility to his hypothesis, even if the sample consisted of offenders. So I wonder, do you feel this is a correct interpretation of your MAPness?
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Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. — Epicurus
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FairBlueLove
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Re: Cross-wiring theory

Post by FairBlueLove »

it's triggering the sexual instincts instead of triggering the nurturing instincts
Using the word "instead" seems too drastic. I could buy the idea that there is a cross-wiring to some extent, but I feel a lot of nurturing feelings as well. Actually, sometimes the sexual attraction feels like just the icing on the top.
handedness
Interesting... Shall we do a poll on this?
When society judges without understanding, it silences hearts that yearn for connection.
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Learning to undeny
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Re: Cross-wiring theory

Post by Learning to undeny »

Related.
FairBlueLove wrote: Sat Dec 13, 2025 10:01 pm
it's triggering the sexual instincts instead of triggering the nurturing instincts
Using the word "instead" seems too drastic. I could buy the idea that there is a cross-wiring to some extent, but I feel a lot of nurturing feelings as well. Actually, sometimes the sexual attraction feels like just the icing on the top.
Yes, and perhaps it was just a dumbed down explanation for the general public. I've seen a few compassionate antis taking this quote very literally. And apparently Cantor believed that this applied to hebephiles who are not pedophiles, which sounds nonsensical to me. But I wonder if certain MAPs feel like this.
handedness
Interesting... Shall we do a poll on this?
Feel free if you want.
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Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. — Epicurus
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Brain O'Conner
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Re: Cross-wiring theory

Post by Brain O'Conner »

To be completely honest with you, this wiring that he mentions is a bit vague, but from what I can tell you from my studies on neuroscience, when experts refer to wiring of the brain, they are really talking about synaptic pruning and connections being refined via myelination of neurons. Because of the nature of these kinds of development, everyone's brain is wired differently on an individual scale. From what I can tell you about Cantor's conclusion on MAPs being wired differently and thus not having the nurturing response and just the sexual response is complete bullshit. It's so much bullshit that it doesn't make sense once you think about for just a second that a lot of MAPs have nurturing and caring feelings for kids as well. While there may be showings of different wiring in the people that he has studied, those were offenders that had no regard for the kid's feelings. In other words, they were assaulters and I have no doubt they have similar wiring for rapist if we are going by the same metric Cantor is using. Cantor is saying this dumb shit to reinforce the status quo. The man is honestly a dishonest piece of shit in my opinion and anyone studying him could realize that.
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Brain O'Conner
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Re: Cross-wiring theory

Post by Brain O'Conner »

Again, after just reading the article, there are major red flags and one of them is the correlations he made. Honestly, I don't even know why you take this man seriously. I don't know man, sounds kind of off. I just can't describe the feeling. Also, I try not to use articles to cite my sources and instead read the original study. Can you find the original study? You know what? Forget it. I don't care about the original study if there was one. Just from reading that article alone, it speaks dumb shit. This reminds of the whole brain development thing which I made an article about just in case you haven't read it: https://forum.map-union.org/viewtopic.php?t=3271. Give a comment on the post to let me know what your thoughts are on it. I think it may be a very interesting read for you.
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Learning to undeny
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Re: Cross-wiring theory

Post by Learning to undeny »

I think this is one of the relevant studies.
Brain O'Conner wrote: Sun Dec 14, 2025 2:23 am Again, after just reading the article, there are major red flags and one of them is the correlations he made. Honestly, I don't even know why you take this man seriously. I don't know man, sounds kind of off.
I have the same kind of feeling towards this quote, but this is one of the people who promoted the idea that minor-attraction is a sexual orientation, disputing the vampire hypothesis. Take into account that research at that point had to appear non-supportive of MAPs, or it would not be taken seriously. It doesn't mean that he wanted to reinforce the status cuo.

And yet, though he came close, I think he considers it a "mistake" in brain development. In my particluar case, I feel closer at Rind's description of it as an evolutionary adaptation that is no longer useful. I just wonder how the rest of you feel about it.

Also, the study (I was referring to another study) compares pedophilic offenders to non-pedophilic offenders, so even with the sample bias it's worth exploring. The findings (about handedness at least) are disputed, and I don't know how to judge this.
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Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. — Epicurus
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Learning to undeny
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A related experience

Post by Learning to undeny »

I don't know how common this is, but I have at times gotten physically aroused, in an uncomfortable way, when an emotionally sensitive topic arose with other (adult) person. In this moment of emotional intimacy, a caring response would have been more appropriate than a sexual response, but that's what my body did. I don't know if it happens to telios, too.
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Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for. — Epicurus
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RoosterDance
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Re: A related experience

Post by RoosterDance »

Learning to undeny wrote: Sun Dec 14, 2025 5:16 pm I don't know how common this is, but I have at times gotten physically aroused, in an uncomfortable way, when an emotionally sensitive topic arose with other (adult) person. In this moment of emotional intimacy, a caring response would have been more appropriate than a sexual response, but that's what my body did. I don't know if it happens to telios, too.
That can happen to anybody. You can't control what arouses you, nor what doesn't. It's a natural instinct, and nature does not care what you believe is "appropriate."
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