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It has nothing to do with differentiating reality from fantasy. It has to do with whether a given pleasure association is strengthened or weakened. Pedophiles s

It has nothing to do with differentiating reality from fantasy. It has to do with whether a given pleasure association is strengthened or weakened. Pedophiles seek out these stimuli because of a pre-existing attraction toward children in the real world.

roenxi 5y ago
It is simpler than you think. If you're at a screen full of text and get a dose of dopamine or whatever, you're simply going to spend more time staring at screens of text. If your theory was true, we'd have seen historically massive upticks in violence from videogames. It is yet to materialise. This is an era of unusual peace.
- ahelwer 5y ago
  Real-world violence is so far removed from its video game counterpart that there is no real comparison, as anyone who has been in any sort of fight understands. In contrast, pornography (visual or textual) is quite similar to its real-world counterpart.
  - Thiez 5y ago
    It is though? I'm thinking you and your partner(s) must either be very athletic, or you're watching some pretty tame porn.
  - deleted 5y ago
    [deleted]
  - claudiawerner 5y ago
    >In contrast, pornography (visual or textual) is quite similar to its real-world counterpart. A cursory look around online erotic roleplayers, online stories, the manga/doujinshi sold in huge numbers every year in Japan at Comiket, or even the plots of mainstream porn will quickly disabuse you of this notion. I'm also not convinced on the 'no real comparison' for video games. I'm reminded of the fact that the US Army recruits first-person shooter players, and that video games can show a rise in aggression in lab settings, similar to real sports do. Even if they were all that different, you'd still have to specify in which specific ways, and the extent of those ways, the difference between the two entertainments is relevant to your argument.
- versteegen 5y ago
  Please, let's not get distracted by videogame violence. We have seen historically massive upticks in child abuse material [1], caused by two inventions: the internet and smartphones with cameras, and there's a strong case made that it reflects an actual, large, increase in child sexual abuse. I don't have a specific article to link to, but Gabriel Dance discusses in a podcast [2] how many paedophiles are gradually indoctrinated by communities; they are made, not born. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/28/us/child-sex-abuse.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/28/us/child-sex-... Warning: extremely distressing descriptions. [2] https://samharris.org/podcasts/213-worst-epidemic/ https://samharris.org/podcasts/213-worst-epidemic/ Warning: ditto, though not as bad.
  - CuriouslyC 5y ago
    I don't doubt online pedophile communities support pedophiles, but I don't think they create them. Also, just because we're documenting it now doesn't mean it didn't happen before - sexual abuse of young girls has been endemic since forever, and people go through all sorts of contortions not to acknowledge it.
    - versteegen 5y ago
      Gabriel Dance makes the argument much better than I could; I won't attempt it. He spent years investigating, actually doing things such as interviewing paedophiles, asking them 'why'. I don't have reason to doubt his conclusions. But what is clearly new is that now people are encouraged to abuse children because they can take a video, share it, sell it, gloat about it, trade it to get access to more material. Additionally, sharing imagery of abuse further harms the victims. For example, in that podcast it was mentioned that some victims receive a notification every time images of their abuse come up in a court case!
      - CuriouslyC 5y ago
        Blocking child abuse literature and fake child porn isn't going to stop predators from doing the stuff you mention though. That stuff is still going to be teased on social media and shared on the darkweb.

roenxi 5y ago

It is simpler than you think. If you're at a screen full of text and get a dose of dopamine or whatever, you're simply going to spend more time staring at screens of text. If your theory was true, we'd have seen historically massive upticks in violence from videogames. It is yet to materialise. This is an era of unusual peace.

ahelwer 5y ago
Real-world violence is so far removed from its video game counterpart that there is no real comparison, as anyone who has been in any sort of fight understands. In contrast, pornography (visual or textual) is quite similar to its real-world counterpart.
- Thiez 5y ago
  It is though? I'm thinking you and your partner(s) must either be very athletic, or you're watching some pretty tame porn.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- claudiawerner 5y ago
  >In contrast, pornography (visual or textual) is quite similar to its real-world counterpart. A cursory look around online erotic roleplayers, online stories, the manga/doujinshi sold in huge numbers every year in Japan at Comiket, or even the plots of mainstream porn will quickly disabuse you of this notion. I'm also not convinced on the 'no real comparison' for video games. I'm reminded of the fact that the US Army recruits first-person shooter players, and that video games can show a rise in aggression in lab settings, similar to real sports do. Even if they were all that different, you'd still have to specify in which specific ways, and the extent of those ways, the difference between the two entertainments is relevant to your argument.
versteegen 5y ago
Please, let's not get distracted by videogame violence. We have seen historically massive upticks in child abuse material [1], caused by two inventions: the internet and smartphones with cameras, and there's a strong case made that it reflects an actual, large, increase in child sexual abuse. I don't have a specific article to link to, but Gabriel Dance discusses in a podcast [2] how many paedophiles are gradually indoctrinated by communities; they are made, not born. [1] https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/28/us/child-sex-abuse.html https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/09/28/us/child-sex-... Warning: extremely distressing descriptions. [2] https://samharris.org/podcasts/213-worst-epidemic/ https://samharris.org/podcasts/213-worst-epidemic/ Warning: ditto, though not as bad.
- CuriouslyC 5y ago
  I don't doubt online pedophile communities support pedophiles, but I don't think they create them. Also, just because we're documenting it now doesn't mean it didn't happen before - sexual abuse of young girls has been endemic since forever, and people go through all sorts of contortions not to acknowledge it.
  - versteegen 5y ago
    Gabriel Dance makes the argument much better than I could; I won't attempt it. He spent years investigating, actually doing things such as interviewing paedophiles, asking them 'why'. I don't have reason to doubt his conclusions. But what is clearly new is that now people are encouraged to abuse children because they can take a video, share it, sell it, gloat about it, trade it to get access to more material. Additionally, sharing imagery of abuse further harms the victims. For example, in that podcast it was mentioned that some victims receive a notification every time images of their abuse come up in a court case!
    - CuriouslyC 5y ago
      Blocking child abuse literature and fake child porn isn't going to stop predators from doing the stuff you mention though. That stuff is still going to be teased on social media and shared on the darkweb.