Is porn actually harmless, or are we just pretending?

[Monster Energy]

28 minutes ago, No1Here2c said:

@Monster Energy

Hey doesnt your profile picture look just like mine?

Identical 

[No1Here2c]

28 minutes ago, Monster Energy said:

It just becomes a loop that slowly eats away at you while giving you temporary relief

 

Humans have a tendency for addiction.

I think this loop is the like the function of a core epistemological error. A misunderstanding & lack of true awareness is why we get caught in this loop.

[No1Here2c]

2 minutes ago, No1Here2c said:

Humans have a tendency for addiction.

I think this loop is the like the function of a core epistemological error. A misunderstanding & lack of true awareness is why we get caught in this loop.

How could it be an epistemological error at fault?

How could a lack of true awareness cause addiction?

[Monster Energy]

5 hours ago, No1Here2c said:

Humans have a tendency for addiction.

I think this loop is the like the function of a core epistemological error. A misunderstanding & lack of true awareness is why we get caught in this loop.

I agree 

[Carl-Richard]

On 20.3.2026 at 9:48 AM, Basman said:

No respected medical board defines it as an addiction.

What are their arguments? Or is it simply "not enough evidence to conclude, so we side with the lobbyists until we're obviously behind all other classification systems"?

 

On 20.3.2026 at 10:19 AM, Basman said:

I'm going to sound like a broken record, but why is porn uniquely worse than gaming? Nearly everything you attribute to being bad about porn can be equally true of gaming. But only one recieves this kind of energy.

ICD-11 has "gaming disorder" as a form of addiction.

Classification systems are generally slow at recognizing new disorders/addictions. Gambling addiction (not gaming) only became recognized in 2013 in DSM-5 and in 2019 in ICD-11.

Whether you want to go by general definitions or by specific definitions from slow-moving institutional entities, it's up to you. And at the end of the day, some can engage in a behavior that can lead to an institutionally recognized addiction and not be addicted while others can't (e.g. hardcore drugs). And it would not be unwise to expect the opposite can be true (i.e. you can be addicted to something that is not institutionally recognized to cause addiction). It's always an individual thing.

Edited 13 hours ago by Carl-Richard

[integration journey]

Is soft porn also bad and conditions your brain or not? 

[Carl-Richard]

27 minutes ago, integration journey said:

Is soft porn also bad and conditions your brain or not? 

Is L-tryptophan bad? Is 5-HTP bad? Is fluoxetine bad? Is MDMA bad? It's all a spectrum. If eating too much turkey makes you have serotonin syndrome, then maybe L-tryptophan is bad.

[Osaid]

Is a knife actually harmless, or are we just pretending?

[Basman]

3 hours ago, Carl-Richard said:

What are their arguments? Or is it simply "not enough evidence to conclude, so we side with the lobbyists until we're obviously behind all other classification systems"?

It's pseudo scientific. Religion and morality are the biggest predictor of issues with porn and masturbation.

You convey you don't know but make a strong statement why at the same time. Who in the world is lobbying for porn? Anti-porn advocates have no rigor, just like how they can't stop watching porn. It's essentially propaganda most of the time.

[Eskilon]

Porn defender, now that`s something 

[Basman]

2 minutes ago, Eskilon said:

Porn defender, now that`s something 

Ragebaited by bullshit. It's not even about porn itself for me.

 

[Natasha Tori Maru]

Thing is no one is raging, or angry. Just presenting points for discussion.

Painting it as ragebait is just some low tactic to try to discredit the topic.

Edited 15 hours ago by Natasha Tori Maru

[Carl-Richard]

2 hours ago, Basman said:

It's pseudo scientific. Religion and morality are the biggest predictor of issues with porn and masturbation.

You're being ironically quite religious in your approach to this discussion. I think it would be interesting to know why the DSM-5 or ICD-11 don't want to label it as an addiction (yet).

Besides, what do you do when somebody like Dr. K makes a video explaining what addiction is as a general phenomena? Would you be like "hey, slow down there, are you not going to list the entire addiction category in the DSM-5 there, Mr. Harvard-trained medical doctor?". I don't think so.

 

2 hours ago, Basman said:

You convey you don't know but make a strong statement why at the same time.

Huh

 

2 hours ago, Basman said:

Who in the world is lobbying for porn?

The porn industry? Where there is money there is lobbying.

Edited 13 hours ago by Carl-Richard

[Basman]

@Carl-Richard your question begging and ignoring the substance of my arguments. I've made my case. 

[Willy Phallicus]

I can use fire to warm my home and cook a meal for my family or I can burn down my neighbors house with it.

Its all in how its being used.

[UnbornTao]

13 minutes ago, Willy Phallicus said:

I can use fire to warm my home and cook a meal for my family or I can burn down my neighbors house with it.

Its all in how its being used.

Well said Willy Phallicus.

[bazera]

2 hours ago, Willy Phallicus said:

I can use fire to warm my home and cook a meal for my family or I can burn down my neighbors house with it.

Yeah but you don't get urges to use more and more fire after every cooking.

It's a nice analogy but overlooks the potential of an addiction. It requires more self-control for some people to use it responsibly.

[Carl-Richard]

6 hours ago, Basman said:

@Carl-Richard your question begging and ignoring the substance of my arguments. I've made my case. 

No.