Is porn actually harmless, or are we just pretending?

[something_else]

7 minutes ago, Valach said:

I feel like the issue is that humas are not really built to moderate such things. It is very easy to get addicted. It's quite similiar to social media you have listed in your list of "worse things".

I would argue social media addiction is much more prevalent. There are a lot more people spending 4-5+ hours a day scrolling on social media than there are people spending 4-5+ hours per day watching porn.

For most people who watch porn it's like 30 mins per day, if that.

Edited 46 minutes ago by something_else

[Valach]

5 minutes ago, something_else said:

I would argue social media addiction is much more prevalent. There are a lot more people spending 4-5+ hours a day scrolling on social media than there are people spending 4-5+ hours per day watching porn.

For most people who watch porn it's like 30 mins per day, if that.

Yeah, social media addiction is crazy out of control. That being said I would not consider watching porn for 30 minutes a day healthy either.

[bazera]

For me quitting social media was like 100x easier than quitting porn. But it's a huge problem in society I'd agree. People are mindlessly scrolling through slop 5+ hours a day. Such a waste.

Quote

For most people who watch porn it's like 30 mins per day, if that.

When it comes to porn, the downside isn't the wasted time per se, it's all the side-effects that come with seeking constant dopamine pleasures day in day out.

I'd guess it won't be that bad if you do it once every one or two weeks.

Edited 37 minutes ago by bazera

[something_else]

2 minutes ago, Monster Energy said:

In theory, moderation sounds fine. The problem is that most people aren’t actually operating from that level of control.

It’s not just about whether something is ‘objectively bad’, it’s about how it interacts with human psychology. Easy dopamine and constant novelty are literally designed to bypass moderation.

So yeah, there’s nothing wrong with it in a vacuum. But in reality, most people don’t live in that vacuum.

 

Just because some people cannot moderate themselves does not make the thing itself bad. Take other addictive things like heroin, cigarettes, sugary sweets, for each of these you can point to concrete health problems that occur as a result of excess consumption. With porn are there really any concrete health issues you can point to?

Probably the biggest issues are the ethical implications of funding the porn industry, and causing strain on relationships. The porn industry isn't super ethical, but you can consume amateur porn to bypass that. If your partner isn't happy with you watching porn I can see it causing strain on your relationship, but if they don't care then it's a moot point. Most couples I've met don't really seem to care if their partner watches porn. 

Aside from that I can't really think of anything else. Maybe causing people to have unrealistic views on sex? But again I don't really think that's universally true. I've found that porn has actually improved my sex life if anything.

[something_else]

4 minutes ago, Valach said:

Yeah, social media addiction is crazy out of control. That being said I would not consider watching porn for 30 minutes a day healthy either.

You say it isn't healthy, but can you point to anything concretely unhealthy about it?

[bazera]

@something_else Overconsumption causes issues, not moderate usage. I suspect you don't have overconsumption issues, so you haven't experienced anything related to that.

If you watch porn and masturbate way more than what's considered healthy, you'll see what we are referring to.

But I agree, it's a problem with self-control, but it's harder to control yourself when you are a teenager, and once you get hooked on it, it's hard to get unhooked.

Edited 30 minutes ago by bazera

[Valach]

12 minutes ago, something_else said:

You say it isn't healthy, but can you point to anything concretely unhealthy about it?

It is a very common coping mechanism like anything you listed to escape internal shame, pain and all the uncomfortable feelings. I am not completely against porn and masturbation, though I think it is just better to masturbate without consuming porn.

It also replaces the need to meet someone, to have sex etc.

[something_else]

1 minute ago, Valach said:

It is a very common coping mechanism like anything you listed to escape internal shame, pain and all the uncomfortable feelings. I am not completely against porn and masturbation, though I think it is just better to masturbate without consuming porn.

It also replaces the need to meet someone, to have sex etc.

All valid points, I did mention earlier that I don't think it's healthy when used as a coping mechanism to avoid actually finding a partner or having sex.

[Valach]

5 minutes ago, something_else said:

All valid points, I did mention earlier that I don't think it's healthy when used as a coping mechanism to avoid actually finding a partner or having sex.

Fair, I missed that, sorry.

The issue also is that most people lack self awareness to recognize when they indulge with it as coping mechanism. 

[something_else]

5 minutes ago, Valach said:

Fair, I missed that, sorry.

The issue also is that most people lack self awareness to recognize when they indulge with it as coping mechanism. 

This is true for lots of things that are fine in moderation. Beyond spreading awareness of that, it's not really clear what else you can do. Banning porn or sugary sweets is extreme and impractical

[Monster Energy]

31 minutes ago, something_else said:

Just because some people cannot moderate themselves does not make the thing itself bad. Take other addictive things like heroin, cigarettes, sugary sweets, for each of these you can point to concrete health problems that occur as a result of excess consumption. With porn are there really any concrete health issues you can point to?

Probably the biggest issues are the ethical implications of funding the porn industry, and causing strain on relationships. The porn industry isn't super ethical, but you can consume amateur porn to bypass that. If your partner isn't happy with you watching porn I can see it causing strain on your relationship, but if they don't care then it's a moot point. Most couples I've met don't really seem to care if their partner watches porn. 

Aside from that I can't really think of anything else. Maybe causing people to have unrealistic views on sex? But again I don't really think that's universally true. I've found that porn has actually improved my sex life if anything.

You sound exactly like me when I was addicted to porn.

And I get your argument, but I think you’re looking for obvious, physical damage to prove it’s harmful. Not everything works like that.

The effect is more subtle. It’s in attention span, motivation, attraction, and how your brain gets used to constant novelty and easy stimulation. You don’t notice it while you’re in it, because it becomes your baseline.

And saying ‘most couples don’t care’ doesn’t really prove much either. People normalize things all the time. That doesn’t mean it has no impact.

If it works for you, fair enough. But that doesn’t mean it’s neutral long term.

 

[Elliott]

Does porn help someone get to what they want to achieve or attain. If porn didn't exist, would there be a void.

I say all that, but I will say I think nudity is good, or more accurately the aversion to nudity is bad, and probably directs people to porn addiction.