5 ms·

Porn is not dangerous, it is just parents that don't want to talk about sex with their kids. What is dangerous is social media, which should be banned < 21.

AlecSchueler 4y ago
Pornography is dangerous. It's extremely addictive and users become increasingly tolerant to what their viewing, often leading to the development of distressing fetishes or real life intimacy issues. I'm sex positive and I believe in being open with children about the realities of life but the dangers of pornography are real.
- juve1996 4y ago
  > It's extremely addictive and users become increasingly tolerant to what their viewing, often leading to the development of distressing fetishes or real life intimacy issues. This is a strong claim - please provide a source. I think it may be true, but is it?
  - AlecSchueler 4y ago
    The Wikipedia page for pornography addiction lists several good sources: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_addiction https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_addiction And YourBrainOnPorn gathered together some of the literature about escalation: https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/nl/relevant-research-and-articles-about-the-studies/porn-use-sex-addiction-studies/studies-find-escalation-and-habituation-in-porn-users-tolerance/ https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/nl/relevant-research-and-art...
    - laserlight 4y ago
      Here's the first sentence of the Wikipedia article: > Pornography addiction is the popular but unscientific[5] application of an addiction model to the use of pornography. [5] Science Stopped Believing in Porn Addiction. You Should, Too. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/women-who-stray/201808/science-stopped-believing-in-porn-addiction-you-should-too https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/women-who-stray/2018...
      - AlecSchueler 4y ago
        Yes, I read the article and the sentences which followed the first. I was referring you to the references below it. See this comment about the difficulty of getting pornography addiction recognised in the DSM: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35790536 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35790536 It's more of an issue of classifying it separately from other sexual disorders than recognising the addictive potential of pornography itself. I myself have been addicted to pornography so I understand the reality of it intimately. I have been in groups with other men who are distraught with their lack of control. I have spoken to countless women whose relationships have been destroyed by this. I can point you towards some large support groups online if you'd like to inform the men who are suffering that their issue is not scientifically recognised. By the way, did you have anything to say about the other point I made? It wasn't clear which point the grandparent was finding questionable.
        erenyeager 4y ago
        Thanks for recognizing this problem, really online support groups helped so much when it seemed so much of common society didn’t know or care about these issues.
      - QuarterReptile 4y ago
        [dead]
- Aachen 4y ago
  When you use the word "extremely", what kind of incidence are you referring to? If someone says "water is extremely common in the solar system", I'd expect maybe two in three planets to have it. Half at minimum.
  - AlecSchueler 4y ago
    More than half of divorce cases in the US mention compulsive pornography usage: https://s3.amazonaws.com/thf_media/2010/pdf/ManningTST.pdf https://s3.amazonaws.com/thf_media/2010/pdf/ManningTST.pdf
    - Aachen 4y ago
      ... I gotta say, that's a surprisingly good comeback. One would have to dive into the stats on how many people get married in the first place and then divorce (iirc the latter is about a third? At least in my country) and then halve that rate, so it's not going to be an "extremely" by any definition I think, but I do better see your point. Makes me think about gambling. Most people either don't do any or do it in normal proportions. For those that do have trouble, as this argument is about addiction after all, there's a self-imposed timeout mechanism that gets centrally registered so that any gambling place will enforce the timeout on this person. I don't know how much it helps, and it also goes into having to identify users to avoid circumventing even a self-imposed safeguard, but it might be an industry to compare against and draw research from (I haven't seen it mentioned yet in the greater thread).
rchaud 4y ago
Porn absolutely is dangerous if it becomes a habit. But just like binge-drinking and narcotics, parents and kids should have conversations and work together to build healthy ideas of sexuality. It shouldn't be a government decree thing, because that seemingly takes the responsibility off parents. But we all know a decree won't work, kids will find a way, so it will return to being the parents' problem.
- mrweasel 4y ago
  This was actually what I was thinking, but sort of the other way around. We already have an age limit drinking, narcotics are more or less banned. I don't know how the US handles this, but online gambling is a pretty good model for this. You need to be of a certain age, verified with a government ID (here in Denmark at least) and if you have a gambling problem, you can add yourself to a list the ensures that you're blocked on all gambling sites (and casinos).

AlecSchueler 4y ago

Pornography is dangerous. It's extremely addictive and users become increasingly tolerant to what their viewing, often leading to the development of distressing fetishes or real life intimacy issues. I'm sex positive and I believe in being open with children about the realities of life but the dangers of pornography are real.

juve1996 4y ago
> It's extremely addictive and users become increasingly tolerant to what their viewing, often leading to the development of distressing fetishes or real life intimacy issues. This is a strong claim - please provide a source. I think it may be true, but is it?
- AlecSchueler 4y ago
  The Wikipedia page for pornography addiction lists several good sources: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_addiction https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pornography_addiction And YourBrainOnPorn gathered together some of the literature about escalation: https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/nl/relevant-research-and-articles-about-the-studies/porn-use-sex-addiction-studies/studies-find-escalation-and-habituation-in-porn-users-tolerance/ https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/nl/relevant-research-and-art...
  - laserlight 4y ago
    Here's the first sentence of the Wikipedia article: > Pornography addiction is the popular but unscientific[5] application of an addiction model to the use of pornography. [5] Science Stopped Believing in Porn Addiction. You Should, Too. https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/women-who-stray/201808/science-stopped-believing-in-porn-addiction-you-should-too https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/women-who-stray/2018...
    - AlecSchueler 4y ago
      Yes, I read the article and the sentences which followed the first. I was referring you to the references below it. See this comment about the difficulty of getting pornography addiction recognised in the DSM: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35790536 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35790536 It's more of an issue of classifying it separately from other sexual disorders than recognising the addictive potential of pornography itself. I myself have been addicted to pornography so I understand the reality of it intimately. I have been in groups with other men who are distraught with their lack of control. I have spoken to countless women whose relationships have been destroyed by this. I can point you towards some large support groups online if you'd like to inform the men who are suffering that their issue is not scientifically recognised. By the way, did you have anything to say about the other point I made? It wasn't clear which point the grandparent was finding questionable.
      - erenyeager 4y ago
        Thanks for recognizing this problem, really online support groups helped so much when it seemed so much of common society didn’t know or care about these issues.
    - QuarterReptile 4y ago
      [dead]
Aachen 4y ago
When you use the word "extremely", what kind of incidence are you referring to? If someone says "water is extremely common in the solar system", I'd expect maybe two in three planets to have it. Half at minimum.
- AlecSchueler 4y ago
  More than half of divorce cases in the US mention compulsive pornography usage: https://s3.amazonaws.com/thf_media/2010/pdf/ManningTST.pdf https://s3.amazonaws.com/thf_media/2010/pdf/ManningTST.pdf
  - Aachen 4y ago
    ... I gotta say, that's a surprisingly good comeback. One would have to dive into the stats on how many people get married in the first place and then divorce (iirc the latter is about a third? At least in my country) and then halve that rate, so it's not going to be an "extremely" by any definition I think, but I do better see your point. Makes me think about gambling. Most people either don't do any or do it in normal proportions. For those that do have trouble, as this argument is about addiction after all, there's a self-imposed timeout mechanism that gets centrally registered so that any gambling place will enforce the timeout on this person. I don't know how much it helps, and it also goes into having to identify users to avoid circumventing even a self-imposed safeguard, but it might be an industry to compare against and draw research from (I haven't seen it mentioned yet in the greater thread).

rchaud 4y ago

Porn absolutely is dangerous if it becomes a habit. But just like binge-drinking and narcotics, parents and kids should have conversations and work together to build healthy ideas of sexuality. It shouldn't be a government decree thing, because that seemingly takes the responsibility off parents. But we all know a decree won't work, kids will find a way, so it will return to being the parents' problem.

mrweasel 4y ago
This was actually what I was thinking, but sort of the other way around. We already have an age limit drinking, narcotics are more or less banned. I don't know how the US handles this, but online gambling is a pretty good model for this. You need to be of a certain age, verified with a government ID (here in Denmark at least) and if you have a gambling problem, you can add yourself to a list the ensures that you're blocked on all gambling sites (and casinos).