Three Myths About Porn
Keep in mind that by jacking off too much you [young men] lose one of the fundamental advantages in starting a company: blue balls. Blue balls brought the Age of Discovery. Empires conquer foes with armies of men with blue balls. When the balls of these young men stop being blue (because they proved themselves and got relief, or otherwise, by jerking off too much) they desist from these feats. Scientists who get married don't desist from research just as excons who get married desist from crime. Just a few tidbits to keep in mind:
Castration was once used as a form of punishment for felonies. The recidivism rate was 2.2%.
Because of population growth policies and parental preference for boys, there are substantially more boys than girls in China. Historically, when Portugal had a lot of landless young noblemen in the early 1400s...well, you know how that went. I don't want to think about what these restless Chinese dudes will do to prove themselves to the opposite sex.
They should do more research on news addiction. At least, porn needs a restricted environment, so we can't do this all the time. But news sites as hacker news is really a big problem for everyone.
If you look at the rest of the site, they're not only against porn, but seem to be discouraging orgasm in general, based on the ideas of spiritual traditions such as Taoism.
While it's true that many traditions did advise this kind of thing, that usually would have been in the context of cultivating some kind of overall spiritual path. It's not something that would just be recommended to everyone in a blanket way. It seems to me the people in their forums who talk about struggling not to masturbate at all may be doing themselves more harm than good (at least, they could apply their energy to something other than trying to subdue a basic biological function). I think a lot of people persuaded by the message of this site are just indulging some aspect of their psychology that gives them a tendency toward self-denial, while buying into the notion that it's for some higher purpose.
It's important to distinguish between a habit and an addiction. It would be a difficult adjustment for me to live for two weeks without electricity, but I wouldn't consider myself to have an electricity "addiction". To qualify as an addiction, a habit would have to have additional characteristics: for example, escalating momentum, interfering with other life activities, being used as an escape from problems that were created by the addiction in the first place, and so on.
There's a tendency to use the most extreme examples as anecdotal evidence. Some people can have a glass of wine with dinner and it's not an issue, and some people (alcoholics) may ruin their lives in a matter of days after the first drink. But that's not a particularly strong argument for saying that no one should ever drink, just because some people may become alcoholics. You just have to carefully observe your own life and figure out how to make use of your energy in an appropriate way. Anyone who has a blanket prescription for everyone is peddling dogma.
Myth 3 is most interesting. The problem with the claim is that it implies that masturbation is somehow "junk food" in a way that sex isn't. Most people I know would suggest the opposite: sex is preferable to masturbation, which is a poor substitute.
Furthermore, the evidence that it is bad consists of two anecdotes, one from a true addict (which is a problem), and one from a man who stopped for less than two weeks. As far as quitting goes, the trouble is that there is no reason aside from willpower in most cases. You save (at most) half an hour or so, during which you probably wouldn't have done anything anyway. What you get in return is orneriness and frustration.
Remember: people have sex drives. They aren't bad. Fulfilling them isn't bad either. Just keep it in moderation if it starts to interfere with life.
Also: without porn, where would the internet be?
Wow, what a ridiculous article. I'm not willing/able to write a full rebuttal, but this quote should be enough:
"Delving into porn is not unlike hopping into a car without brakes."
Really? Wow.
Speaking as a single workaholic entrepreneur, I can safely say that without porn, I would not be able to function in my job.
Once you have regular sex, porn is really boring.
The idea of super stimuli was the most valuable, but I can't find much on it.
It's also called, "supernormal stimuli", "supernormal releaser" or just "super releaser". It's defining quality is that it invokes a "fixed action pattern", or hard-wired response. But as you increase the stimulant the response goes into overdrive, or becomes maladapative.
Not everything can be considered super stimulus. But certainly a lot can be.
What other things are super stimuli?
All I know is that, in my personal experience, porn has never done single discernable ounce of good (but plenty of harm).
An interesting piece on the subject here:
interesting linked article about Oxytocin, a hormone and neurotransmitter: http://www.reuniting.info/science/oxytocin_health_bonding
holodecks = end of humanity. every achievement of man has been an effort to impress women.
I the near past this article wouldn’t have made it to the top 20 of HN, does it mean that HN quality users are drifting away?
I don't think all pornography is harmful. Most people have used it, and relatively few people have long-standing problems with it. Then again, I don't fully get the appeal of it, being one who has viewed but never used it. I get more (sexually, not just aesthetically) from a painting of a beautiful woman than from a video of some man fucking her, often in some degrading way.
I have a beauty addiction. I'm addicted to beautiful imagery and experiences. Sexually, this means that I need emotions and context, and only have serious interest in sex with a romantic partner. Porn does nothing for me. But then again, my mind is very female for a man's, possibly due to a case of high-IQ androgyny (smart men tend to be effeminate; smart women, tomboyish).
The real problem is not limited to pornography but to cultural garbage-- disrespect for sexuality and humanity-- in a broader sense. Excessive and extreme pornography certainly can damage mens' ability to have fulfilling relationships, as does casual sex (porn acted out). On the other hand, Sex and the City has the same ruinous effect on women.