23 ms·

Midwest US, mid 30's. This sort of view is strongly held by the intellectual and political circles I support and follow. I think it is a very insidious and corr

by PKop 5y ago

Midwest US, mid 30's. This sort of view is strongly held by the intellectual and political circles I support and follow. I think it is a very insidious and corrupting addiction, and the modern incarnation of it is orders of magnitude more stimulating than in prior eras. Infinite access to a stimulus that simulates in male brains "mating" with ever varied women, which is hijacking a strong biological imperative. As another comment mentioned a similar problem with "advertising" in general, I think sexualization and over stimulus of the population weakens people, and not to say there is some conspiracy purposefully pushing this (it may just emergent from technology and human instinct) I do think the corrupting influence weakens a population and makes them more easily dominated by strong forces... media, business, government, etc. All to say that, in terms of "what is best to cultivate a strong society and people" porn is extremely antithetical to this. A stronger society is one that would be avoiding, however necessary, consumption and production of pornography. This presentation [0] on the physiological effects of porn consumption is very informative. Observations mirror what strong opiates do to the brain A good overview of the public health problem of porn[1] The psychologically destabilizing and weakening effects of porn, and how they breakdown willpower to oppose stronger forces are illustrated by the time when the Israeli military broadcast pornography onto the televisions of Palestinian residents of the besieged West Bank town of Ramallah [2]. Why would they do this if porn was good for you? [0] "The great porn experiment | Gary Wilson | TEDxGlasgow" https://youtu.be/wSF82AwSDiU https://youtu.be/wSF82AwSDiU [1] https://eppc.org/publication/a-science-based-case-for-ending-the-porn-epidemic/ https://eppc.org/publication/a-science-based-case-for-ending... [2] https://reason.com/2002/04/03/porn-and-politics-in-palestine/ https://reason.com/2002/04/03/porn-and-politics-in-palestine...

ipaddr 5y ago
Do you remember porn mags in the corner store growing up?
- PKop 5y ago
  Yes, they weren't a good thing but even those were taboo and fairly inaccessible to the average kid and came with a stigma for the adults buying them in public. Do you not see how the infinite novelty of endless porn videos accessible in the palm of your hand is different than the (crude and still objectionable) magazines sold in corner stores?
  - ipaddr 5y ago
    I would suggest the photocopy of a crunched up semi-nude Madonna photo from the 80s caused our imagination to soak much more than what is available online. At the time many lighters and cards had nude images. It was much more common and celebrated. There are endless videos on any topic.
sdoering 5y ago
Oh wow. I am blown away. You just threw me back some 30 years. Let me explain. About three decades ago I was (gladly not to strongly) part of a Christian youth group. Led by honorable members of the parish. They condemned porn, Sex, condemned schools doing sex ed. The condemned viciously youth magazines doing sex ed as well (German Bravo magazine). Kids naturally discovered their budding sexuality. Looked at porn or nudism magazines. Tried maturation (oh what a sin in the eyes of the elders). As said everything sexusl, everything bodily was tabu. Kids, especially in the inner part of these groups with parents active in the parish were fearful. Full of shame because they felt their bodies betraying them and their faith. Felt the touch of Satan. Felt dirty and without being worthy. You (or at least others) might get the drift. And - more importantly - these kids (boys and girls alike) were vulnerable. And believe me - easy prey. And prey they were. The most respected members of the flock, leaders of youth groups and excursions who prayed with us and always told us that we could always come to them with any question about our faith and life in general. These were the wolves. Males as well as females. They longed for the confessions. Let the kids show what they had done. Wanted to see in detail. Some even went further. Did not constraint themselves to confessions and private shows of underage maturation. So yeah I learned early that porn is to blame for a rotten society. Porn is the culprit. Not people. Sorry, but what you wrote is nearly verbatim the arguments that were hammered into us. I don't buy them. Not anymore.
- PKop 5y ago
  Porn is not sexual, it is anti-sexual. Young adults are having less sex than prior generations. The birth rate is collapsing. To equate compulsive consumption of a synthetic substitute for real sex and the natural reason for its existence is ridiculous. Like equating criticizing unhealthy eating of candy and junk food to an opposition to "food" would be similar.
  - D-Coder 5y ago
    > Young adults are having less sex than prior generations. The birth rate is collapsing. You say that like those are bad things.
  - denton-scratch 5y ago
heavenlyblue 5y ago
The parent is quoting a short article about porn in Israel from a questionable source with a questionable amount of facts in it. And they have been quoting it in a few threads in this conversations.
octopoc 5y ago
Thank you for this! This is something that is really really important to me and my wife. We have seen some horrible consequences in our parents' generation from porn addictions. I also had an addiction to it, but thankfully I am free now. My biggest desire as a father is that my children would grow up addiction free. Boys are exposed to porn when they are simply unable to understand what it is, what sex is, and what the price of the short-term pleasure is. I know I was. I hate what happened to me, I hate what I did, but I felt like I had to do it.

by PKop 5y ago

ipaddr 5y ago

Do you remember porn mags in the corner store growing up?

PKop 5y ago
Yes, they weren't a good thing but even those were taboo and fairly inaccessible to the average kid and came with a stigma for the adults buying them in public. Do you not see how the infinite novelty of endless porn videos accessible in the palm of your hand is different than the (crude and still objectionable) magazines sold in corner stores?
- ipaddr 5y ago
  I would suggest the photocopy of a crunched up semi-nude Madonna photo from the 80s caused our imagination to soak much more than what is available online. At the time many lighters and cards had nude images. It was much more common and celebrated. There are endless videos on any topic.

sdoering 5y ago

Oh wow. I am blown away. You just threw me back some 30 years. Let me explain. About three decades ago I was (gladly not to strongly) part of a Christian youth group. Led by honorable members of the parish. They condemned porn, Sex, condemned schools doing sex ed. The condemned viciously youth magazines doing sex ed as well (German Bravo magazine). Kids naturally discovered their budding sexuality. Looked at porn or nudism magazines. Tried maturation (oh what a sin in the eyes of the elders). As said everything sexusl, everything bodily was tabu. Kids, especially in the inner part of these groups with parents active in the parish were fearful. Full of shame because they felt their bodies betraying them and their faith. Felt the touch of Satan. Felt dirty and without being worthy. You (or at least others) might get the drift. And - more importantly - these kids (boys and girls alike) were vulnerable. And believe me - easy prey. And prey they were. The most respected members of the flock, leaders of youth groups and excursions who prayed with us and always told us that we could always come to them with any question about our faith and life in general. These were the wolves. Males as well as females. They longed for the confessions. Let the kids show what they had done. Wanted to see in detail. Some even went further. Did not constraint themselves to confessions and private shows of underage maturation. So yeah I learned early that porn is to blame for a rotten society. Porn is the culprit. Not people. Sorry, but what you wrote is nearly verbatim the arguments that were hammered into us. I don't buy them. Not anymore.

PKop 5y ago
Porn is not sexual, it is anti-sexual. Young adults are having less sex than prior generations. The birth rate is collapsing. To equate compulsive consumption of a synthetic substitute for real sex and the natural reason for its existence is ridiculous. Like equating criticizing unhealthy eating of candy and junk food to an opposition to "food" would be similar.
- D-Coder 5y ago
  > Young adults are having less sex than prior generations. The birth rate is collapsing. You say that like those are bad things.
- denton-scratch 5y ago

heavenlyblue 5y ago

The parent is quoting a short article about porn in Israel from a questionable source with a questionable amount of facts in it. And they have been quoting it in a few threads in this conversations.

octopoc 5y ago

Thank you for this! This is something that is really really important to me and my wife. We have seen some horrible consequences in our parents' generation from porn addictions. I also had an addiction to it, but thankfully I am free now. My biggest desire as a father is that my children would grow up addiction free. Boys are exposed to porn when they are simply unable to understand what it is, what sex is, and what the price of the short-term pleasure is. I know I was. I hate what happened to me, I hate what I did, but I felt like I had to do it.