4 ms·
While endocrine disruption or inhibitors are very likely a factor to blame, I think we also have cultural and socioeconomic factors compounding the problem. The
by Frost1x 6y ago
While endocrine disruption or inhibitors are very likely a factor to blame, I think we also have cultural and socioeconomic factors compounding the problem. There are so many who just don't want to deal with the current dating and casual sex culture. The rewards for time investment and effort just aren't that high compared to alternatives available to many, compounded by other factors of daily life competing for that time.
In heterosexual groups, it's challenging for many men (from my experience) who are interested in casual sex but the effort is simply too high for them to pursue so they largely just check-out (I know quite a few heterosexual males who just feel like it isn't worth their time anymore). In other groups like the LGBTQ+ arena, specifically gay men, it's not nearly as difficult to find the sexual reward many seek and as a result, you'll find casual sex seems quite high. I have quite a few friends here as well and they continue to seek and find causal sexual encounters, dates, etc. or at least they say.
I'd be very interested to see if any empirical data exists that shows casual sex rates over time, normalized, and broken into heterosexual and non-heterosexual groups. If there's a similar decline in both groups then I suspect endocrine disruption may be the real problem. If there's less correlation, I'd tend to think much is culturally driven.
- captainredbeard 6y ago> who are interested in casual sex but the effort is simply too high for them to pursue They are outcompeted due to a lack of initiative and willpower; that's evolution doing its job.
- MichaelDickens 6y agoEvolution is not prescriptive. Just because a certain outcome is favored by evolution doesn't mean that outcome is good.
- xeromal 6y agoI don't think the poster said it was good, just that it was working as expected. The people with less willpower get filtered out
- mdorazio 6y agoThis comment is needlessly flippant. The move to online dating (and social media profiles in general) has radically shifted how dating works. A quick look at any research from OK Cupid or others who investigate perceptions, ratings, etc. very clearly shows that it’s become a meat market where a small number of men get a disproportionate amount of the available dates. Before online dating, expectations were generally more in line with reality and dating was far less of a chore.
- captainredbeard 6y agoHit a nerve I guess
- com2kid 6y agoOur entire society has been flooded with low effort high (short term) reward entertainment activities. Psychology has been weaponized to optimize addictive behavior loops. Instead of going outside and talking to people being the norm, now people have to make a concerted effort to pull themselves away from their psychologically addictive pocket sized happy fun device, convince others to do the same, and then arrange a time to go out. Socializing is messy, painful, and difficult. But for the majority of human civilization, there weren't very many alternatives for entertainment!