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There is a large amount of anecdotal evidence that pornography has been at least a contributing factor in ruining relationships. Moreover, arguments can be made

There is a large amount of anecdotal evidence that pornography has been at least a contributing factor in ruining relationships. Moreover, arguments can be made that even at the individual level, viewing of pornography is (1)habit-forming, (2)distort one's views/expectations of sex & intimacy. I think censorship of any form is very stupid. This one included. However the notion that porn can sometimes be bad is not unfounded. Even vanilla porn, let's leave the sick/twisted stuff aside. Excepting illegal things like child porn & bestiality I doubt any consensus can be reached as to what is considered distasteful.

scotty79 10y ago
> is (1)habit-forming, Tee drinking, coffee drinking, news watching too. > (2)distort one's views/expectations of sex & intimacy. You'd need to define what views/expectation of sex and intimacy are undistorted.
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tps5 10y ago
I agree. You could make the argument that pornography damages people's lives. Of course that doesn't mean the state has the right to censor it. By the same token, I wonder if an argument could be made that the availability of free internet pornography has led to a decrease in sexual assaults/violence/rape. I know of no research into this, but it's not a totally implausible argument on the face of it.
- rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
  You are correct. The linked source claims that sexual assault rates have halved since the early 90s. Of course, correlation != causation, but 50% is a huge amount and it overlaps quite neatly with the growth of the internet. https://www.rainn.org/statistics/scope-problem https://www.rainn.org/statistics/scope-problem
antihero 10y ago
In counter to your anecdotal evidence, I have personal and anecdotal evidence that it can also make relationships way better.
JanneVee 10y ago
The danger of discussing the issue from anecdotal evidence is that we don't know if cause and effect are reversed. There might be a huge group of porn consumers that aren't habitual consumers and don't have distorted views of sex & intimacy. It is only the ones that are stuck in habit and/or have the distorted views that make up the anecdotes. There might be other factors at play for people that fall into destructive consumption of porn.
fullshark 10y ago
I agree with you but there are a lot of things that people consume too much of to deleterious effect. Video games, sugars, alcohol, religion,etc.

scotty79 10y ago

> is (1)habit-forming, Tee drinking, coffee drinking, news watching too. > (2)distort one's views/expectations of sex & intimacy. You'd need to define what views/expectation of sex and intimacy are undistorted.

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tps5 10y ago

I agree. You could make the argument that pornography damages people's lives. Of course that doesn't mean the state has the right to censor it. By the same token, I wonder if an argument could be made that the availability of free internet pornography has led to a decrease in sexual assaults/violence/rape. I know of no research into this, but it's not a totally implausible argument on the face of it.

rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
You are correct. The linked source claims that sexual assault rates have halved since the early 90s. Of course, correlation != causation, but 50% is a huge amount and it overlaps quite neatly with the growth of the internet. https://www.rainn.org/statistics/scope-problem https://www.rainn.org/statistics/scope-problem

antihero 10y ago

In counter to your anecdotal evidence, I have personal and anecdotal evidence that it can also make relationships way better.

JanneVee 10y ago

The danger of discussing the issue from anecdotal evidence is that we don't know if cause and effect are reversed. There might be a huge group of porn consumers that aren't habitual consumers and don't have distorted views of sex & intimacy. It is only the ones that are stuck in habit and/or have the distorted views that make up the anecdotes. There might be other factors at play for people that fall into destructive consumption of porn.

fullshark 10y ago

I agree with you but there are a lot of things that people consume too much of to deleterious effect. Video games, sugars, alcohol, religion,etc.