Is porn actually harmless, or are we just pretending?

[bazera]

@Basman Lets not split hairs about the terminology. The fact is that you can get so used to using it, you can overdo it and experience negative side effects (weak or no erections, low libido, requiring more intense content to get off, objectifying women in an unhealthy way, guilt, unable to maintain proper intimacy with a girl, etc), then you decide to quit and find yourself in a craving and relapsing cycles.

That's classic addiction to me. It can have psychological roots but also deep physiological dependency as well.

[TruthFreedom]

I AM PORN.

Edited 5 hours ago by TruthFreedom

[Monster Energy]

 

[UnbornTao]

1 hour ago, Carl-Richard said:

Wut

It's "nut," Carl.

[Carl-Richard]

12 hours ago, Monster Energy said:

You’re trying to define cheating in a very external, surface-level way. Like it only counts once there’s an obvious wedge or another physical person involved. But that’s already too late.

That's not what was said. Those were particularly pertinent examples. And the definition involves where you put your attention. That is why I concluded porn can be that wedge for some people. It just depends on strong the effect is. And you can't necessarily put a strong dichotomy there whether it's a definite wedge that would be detrimental or if it's simply a way of using one's time. That's why you have a problem definitely defining it as cheating.

Edited 2 hours ago by Carl-Richard

[integral]

Would porn still exist without capitalism?

[Monster Energy]

15 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

That's not what was said. Those were particularly pertinent examples. And the definition involves where you put your attention. That is why I concluded porn can be that wedge for some people. It just depends on strong the effect is. And you can't necessarily put a strong dichotomy there whether it's always a definite wedge that would be detrimental or if it's simply a way of using one's time. That's why you have a problem definitely defining it as cheating.

You’re not wrong, it does depend on the effect. But that’s exactly why it matters more than you’re making it sound.

Things don’t have to be obvious to be real. Some of the biggest shifts happen slowly, quietly, until they just become normal.

So yeah, maybe you can’t draw a clean line and call it cheating or not. But if something can create distance, even subtly, then pretending it’s neutral just because it’s not extreme yet, that’s where people fool themselves.

 

[bazera]

2 minutes ago, Monster Energy said:

Things don’t have to be obvious to be real. Some of the biggest shifts happen slowly, quietly, until they just become normal.

From my experience, you only realize those shifts happened after months of abstinence. It just strucks you after couple months.

Edited 3 hours ago by bazera

[Monster Energy]

3 minutes ago, integral said:

Would porn still exist without capitalism?

Porn would still exist. Desire isn’t created by capitalism.

But what you’re seeing now isn’t just desire, it’s a system built to amplify it. Endless novelty, instant access, constant stimulation, all optimized to keep you hooked.

Without that structure, it wouldn’t dominate people the way it does now.

 

 

[Monster Energy]

3 minutes ago, bazera said:

From my experience, you only realize those shifts happened after months of abstinence. It just strucks you after couple months.

That’s the thing. You don’t notice it while you’re in it, because it is your normal.

It only becomes obvious once you step out of it. It took me years before I even started to feel like something was off.

 

[Carl-Richard]

33 minutes ago, Monster Energy said:

You’re not wrong, it does depend on the effect. But that’s exactly why it matters more than you’re making it sound.

Wut

 

33 minutes ago, Monster Energy said:

Things don’t have to be obvious to be real. Some of the biggest shifts happen slowly, quietly, until they just become normal.

So yeah, maybe you can’t draw a clean line and call it cheating or not. But if something can create distance, even subtly, then pretending it’s neutral just because it’s not extreme yet, that’s where people fool themselves.

There are people who think it's neutral, there are people who think it's the devil, and then there are people who think it depends. I don't think it's merely neutral, neither that it's the devil, but that it depends.

Does doing drugs make you a useless, criminal tumor on society? It depends. Does making a lot of money make you a spiritually dead capitalist drone? It depends. Does doing psychedelics make you have insightful and true insights into reality? It depends.

Edited 2 hours ago by Carl-Richard

[Monster Energy]

18 minutes ago, Carl-Richard said:

Wut

 

There are people who think it's neutral, there are people who think it's the devil, and then there are people who think it depends. I don't think it's merely neutral, neither that it's the devil, but that it depends.

Does doing drugs make you a useless, criminal tumor on society? It depends. Does making a lot of money make you a spiritually dead capitalist drone? It depends. Does doing psychedelics make you have insightful and true insights into reality? It depends.

I’m not saying it doesn’t depend. I’m just saying it’s not random. Over time it tends to push people in a certain direction, even if it shows up differently for each person.

 

[CARDOZZO]

We could say that porn is good because we have less rape, child abortion and physical prostitution. It is a guess!

[bazera]

4 minutes ago, CARDOZZO said:

We could say that porn is good because we have less rape, child abortion and physical prostitution. It is a guess!

I don't think so, if we actually had a statistics on that, I'd expect no significant change, maybe even rise in rape, who knows.

Sexual need is insatiable. It's not like rapist watches porn and he's satisfied. 

Edited 2 hours ago by bazera

[Monster Energy]

6 minutes ago, CARDOZZO said:

We could say that porn is good because we have less rape, child abortion and physical prostitution. It is a guess!

That’s an interesting theory 😄 I feel like that might be giving porn a bit too much credit though.

 

[CARDOZZO]

37 minutes ago, bazera said:

I don't think so, if we actually had a statistics on that, I'd expect no significant change, maybe even rise in rape, who knows.

Sexual need is insatiable. It's not like rapist watches porn and he's satisfied. 

I could be entirely wrong. Just think about the sexual variety that exists on Xvideos. You can explore this for years whenever you want. 

[LordFall]

You also have to look at it from the customer's point of view, it's clearly a successful product with many satisfied customers. Then you have to look at it from an addiction point of view where of course if you're a drug addict you're gonna choose to stay hooked on a substance. So then we have to look at impact on happiness and life in general and it becomes a more complicated issue. What exactly do you think porn stops people from doing and to what extent? Plenty of people of both genders in happy relationships that watch porn. 

You could then look at it in terms of socioeconomics and how porn interacts with society as a whole and other linked activities like prostitution. It's an interesting discussion that should be had and will keep being at the forefront of our society for years to come as AI takes it even a step further. 

[CARDOZZO]

37 minutes ago, Monster Energy said:

That’s an interesting theory 😄 I feel like that might be giving porn a bit too much credit though.

 

Maybe...  

It is unhealthy anyway. 

[Lila9]

Porn is not harmless. It is harmful for everyone.

Sex, at least between humans who are complex beings, naturally involves emotions and feelings because we are not only material beings but emotional and spiritual beings as well.

Porn is the capitalist version of sex: mechanical, materialistic, violent, stripped of feelings or any meaning, performative, non-erotic.

People start watching porn from childhood because it is so accessible. Girls learn to objectify themselves, and boys learn to objectify women.

This provides such a distorted view of sex and creates unrealistic expectations.
It doesn’t do well for the psyche. The porn industry is very exploitative.

There would be a better world without it, or at least if people were more critical and mindful about it.

 

 

 

[Monster Energy]

13 minutes ago, LordFall said:

You also have to look at it from the customer's point of view, it's clearly a successful product with many satisfied customers. Then you have to look at it from an addiction point of view where of course if you're a drug addict you're gonna choose to stay hooked on a substance. So then we have to look at impact on happiness and life in general and it becomes a more complicated issue. What exactly do you think porn stops people from doing and to what extent? Plenty of people of both genders in happy relationships that watch porn. 

You could then look at it in terms of socioeconomics and how porn interacts with society as a whole and other linked activities like prostitution. It's an interesting discussion that should be had and will keep being at the forefront of our society for years to come as AI takes it even a step further. 

Just because something is popular doesn’t make it harmless. People get hooked on things that feel good all the time. That’s nothing new.

And yeah, people in relationships watch porn. That doesn’t prove anything, it just means it’s normal to them. You don’t notice what it’s doing while you’re in it.