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Note that the author doesn't claim that humans are the only species who masturbates, but rather that humans masturbate the most often. The author goes on to spe

by adbge 16y ago

Note that the author doesn't claim that humans are the only species who masturbates, but rather that humans masturbate the most often. The author goes on to speculate that this is because humans have the ability to fantasize, though I think the claims that humans masturbate more than any other animal and that chimps are unable to fantasize dubious. If you found this article interesting (or amusing, as it very well may be), you may want to check out the Wikipedia page on the Bonobo ape, one of the few species that have been observed to participate in oral sex. Primatologist Frans de Waal described the Bonobo as "the erotic champions of the world."[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonobo] Another fun fact: homosexual behavior has been well documented in both the Bonobo and koalas, an interesting counterpoint to fundamentalists claims that homosexuality isn't natural. :) [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/strewth-australia-rocked-by-lesbian-koala-revelation-437806.html http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australasia/strewth-...] Further reading: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_sexual_behaviour http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Animal_sexual_behaviour] And a graphic video of a monkey masturbating with a frog (because, after all, this is the internet): [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwegzhXAqaQ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwegzhXAqaQ]

roc 16y ago
> "I think the claims that humans masturbate more than any other animal and that chimps are unable to fantasize dubious" In addition to skepticism due other masturbating animals, there's the question of human child masturbation. Anyone who's had children can vouch that they're rubbing the parts that feel good well before they're expressing complex ideas, let alone thinking sexually. And, FWIW, I believe homosexuality has been well documented in every sexual species that's been well documented.
username3 16y ago
> Another fun fact: homosexual behavior has been well documented in both the Bonobo and koalas, an interesting counterpoint to fundamentalists claims that homosexuality isn't natural. :) You didn't mention some things from your link like, The furry, eucalyptus-eating creatures appear to develop this tendency for same-sex liaisons when they are in captivity. In the wild, they remain heterosexual. What's natural about captivity?
- sliverstorm 16y ago
  Perhaps it's not wildly unnatural factors but rather plain old boredom?
- philwelch 16y ago
  I hasten to point out that humans, in captivity, tend to engage in more homosexual behavior as well.
btilly 16y ago
That isn't actually what the author claims. Lots of other animals masturbate, and the author admits that monkeys are certainly prone to it. What he claims makes humans unusual is the we masturbate to orgasm. Incidentally you chose fairly poor examples for animal homosexuality. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_behavior_in_animals http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_behavior_in_animals for a list of other examples you could use. For instance I prefer to cite giraffes (9 out of 10 sexual encounters are homosexual) and black swans (1/4 preferentially homosexual).
- kragen 16y ago
  I wonder what fraction of human sexual encounters are homosexual? There's the old studies the fundamentalist Christians like to trot out where 28% of the gay interviewees reported more than a thousand lifetime sexual partners, while I suspect the median number of lifetime sexual partners across the adult US population is somewhere around 10. So it wouldn't be terribly surprising if the majority of human sexual encounters were between members of the same (male) sex.
  - bkrausz 16y ago
    In the modern West, major studies indicate a prevalence of homosexuality of 2% to 13% of the population[1]. On any given day 4% of the population has sex[2]. That means that in order for same-gender sex to outnumber straight sex, every day between a third and all of the homosexual population would need to have sex[3]. Somehow I doubt this is the case. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality [2] http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/geographyofsex.htm http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/geographyo... [3] I know I'm completely ignoring people who aren't reportedly homosexual having same-gender sex, but I assume the studies Wikipedia cites account for people who are in-between to some extent, and that the one-off same-gender experiences are negligible compared to the overall population. It's not perfect math!
    - kragen 16y ago
      The thing is, these distributions are very skewed. A non-gender-or-orientation-specific given person can go for two weeks without having sex and then have sex ten or twenty times in a weekend-long speed-fueled orgy (or so the stories go), and that still averages out to 0.7 to 1.4 times a day. So it's kind of a sticky subject. It can be really hard to get your arms around all the issues. What's the relative frequency of Viagra and amphetamine usage among gay and straight people? Of group sex? How about among the most sexually active 20% of each group? Nobody has a fucking clue. However, I have a strong suspicion that getting laid a couple of times a day isn't that hard if you're a gay man in a major world city, especially in the age if Grindr and iTrick.
MartinCron 16y ago
In the video, that's an ape with a frog. Not a monkey. Show some respect :)
Groxx 16y ago
one of the few species that have been observed to participate in oral sex. There's also the notorious example of bats.
drlisp 16y ago
My hypothesis: humans who visit Hacker News masturbate even more often.

by adbge 16y ago

roc 16y ago

> "I think the claims that humans masturbate more than any other animal and that chimps are unable to fantasize dubious" In addition to skepticism due other masturbating animals, there's the question of human child masturbation. Anyone who's had children can vouch that they're rubbing the parts that feel good well before they're expressing complex ideas, let alone thinking sexually. And, FWIW, I believe homosexuality has been well documented in every sexual species that's been well documented.

username3 16y ago

> Another fun fact: homosexual behavior has been well documented in both the Bonobo and koalas, an interesting counterpoint to fundamentalists claims that homosexuality isn't natural. :) You didn't mention some things from your link like, The furry, eucalyptus-eating creatures appear to develop this tendency for same-sex liaisons when they are in captivity. In the wild, they remain heterosexual. What's natural about captivity?

sliverstorm 16y ago
Perhaps it's not wildly unnatural factors but rather plain old boredom?
philwelch 16y ago
I hasten to point out that humans, in captivity, tend to engage in more homosexual behavior as well.

btilly 16y ago

That isn't actually what the author claims. Lots of other animals masturbate, and the author admits that monkeys are certainly prone to it. What he claims makes humans unusual is the we masturbate to orgasm. Incidentally you chose fairly poor examples for animal homosexuality. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_behavior_in_animals http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexual_behavior_in_animals for a list of other examples you could use. For instance I prefer to cite giraffes (9 out of 10 sexual encounters are homosexual) and black swans (1/4 preferentially homosexual).

kragen 16y ago
I wonder what fraction of human sexual encounters are homosexual? There's the old studies the fundamentalist Christians like to trot out where 28% of the gay interviewees reported more than a thousand lifetime sexual partners, while I suspect the median number of lifetime sexual partners across the adult US population is somewhere around 10. So it wouldn't be terribly surprising if the majority of human sexual encounters were between members of the same (male) sex.
- bkrausz 16y ago
  In the modern West, major studies indicate a prevalence of homosexuality of 2% to 13% of the population[1]. On any given day 4% of the population has sex[2]. That means that in order for same-gender sex to outnumber straight sex, every day between a third and all of the homosexual population would need to have sex[3]. Somehow I doubt this is the case. [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homosexuality [2] http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/geographyofsex.htm http://geography.about.com/od/culturalgeography/a/geographyo... [3] I know I'm completely ignoring people who aren't reportedly homosexual having same-gender sex, but I assume the studies Wikipedia cites account for people who are in-between to some extent, and that the one-off same-gender experiences are negligible compared to the overall population. It's not perfect math!
  - kragen 16y ago
    The thing is, these distributions are very skewed. A non-gender-or-orientation-specific given person can go for two weeks without having sex and then have sex ten or twenty times in a weekend-long speed-fueled orgy (or so the stories go), and that still averages out to 0.7 to 1.4 times a day. So it's kind of a sticky subject. It can be really hard to get your arms around all the issues. What's the relative frequency of Viagra and amphetamine usage among gay and straight people? Of group sex? How about among the most sexually active 20% of each group? Nobody has a fucking clue. However, I have a strong suspicion that getting laid a couple of times a day isn't that hard if you're a gay man in a major world city, especially in the age if Grindr and iTrick.

MartinCron 16y ago

In the video, that's an ape with a frog. Not a monkey. Show some respect :)

Groxx 16y ago

one of the few species that have been observed to participate in oral sex. There's also the notorious example of bats.

drlisp 16y ago

My hypothesis: humans who visit Hacker News masturbate even more often.