How would you imagine a world where the human drive for sex is taken away? I tried to look for a topic relating to this but found nothing. Would there even be any interaction between people of higher intelligence/knowledge and those of a lower intelligence? How would this world be? How would the two sexes react to it?
I imagine it to be a world where there would no longer be a need for social interaction. Would societies rise out of a need for knowledge? I’m not certain such a society would be very stable. Man trying to find something to occupy himself with, but no incentive for doing so. I often fantasized that it would be great if one had no sexual drive; a world of logic and progress. But, what would then be the ultimate pleasure? Discovering/inventing something new? What would be the point? Is the point of this one anything other than to procreate? It occupies the life of every potent man/woman regardless of mental ability, it predominantly occupies one’s thoughts, and its fulfillment is the ultimate point of satisfaction.
I personally feel that the planet would benefit from less sexual activity, myself - people are too ‘on it’ these days, and think they’re missing out if they aint getting some: not a very mature outlook to have.
Those who are always chasing the next conquest don’t have sufficient time to contribute enough to the progresion of the planet: which means that those with a hardier disposition are doing more of the work.
People of different intelligence levels only interact for sex?
I suspect much of sex is unfulfilling because it does not adequately fulfill the need for social interaction, and in fact, interferes with it.
One can only hope.
I’m not certain any society will be particularly stable. The population could be stable if people only had sex a dozen or so times in their lives.
If sex was my only incentive for doing anything, I would have stopped years ago.
That’s why my second wife wanted me on Prozac.
Maybe, maybe not.
If sex is the ultimate pleasure, how does it get to be more trouble than it is worth? Don’t discount the joy of doing a good job, or a warm summer day, a nap, a good cup of tea, the cat gently purring on your lap.
Watching the children grow has been far more pleasurable than the sex ever was. While sex may predominantly occupy ones thoughts, it does not necessarily preoccupy everyones thoughts.
Eli Lilly would like to give it a try, Prozac everyone?
oints out the obvious fact that we need the sex for the baby making:
Less sexual activity would probably lead to less STD’s, which would increase the quality of life for a lot of people. It might also decrease the population…a good thing at this point.
Thank you for the responses. I’d like to point out that reproduction is not the issue here. I’m proposing a sexless world from a social perspective, not a biological one. Something like a Brave New World, but without the sex. Embryos in test tubes or whatever you like, reproduction and STD’s are not the issue.
I speak from the perspective of a uni undergrad, so for the people like kris and stephen that have families, I’m sorry I can’t relate. What I am curious about however is, would these families exist if there was no sex? I think it is just incorrect to think that sex is not a huge social phenomenon. I’ve witnessed a number of virgins, guys, have sex and their entire personalities suddenly seem to mature. Sex must certainly be more than just a physical act.
I can agree but what/how would they contribute? What is the progression of the planet anyways, simply a scientific/philosophical one or isn’t this part of its progression as well? These people will end up doing plenty of work once they’re past 20-25, not very valuable perhaps but essential nonetheless.
No but I do find that the topic of a discussion with those who aren’t as interested in intellect will, in a great number of cases, lead to sex in one way or another. To clarify the term intelligence here though, I use it to mean intellectual ability. I’ve noticed this with many many people, with guys it usually ends up being related to that in some sense. With girls, truth be told, there aren’t many attractive intelligent women; generally speaking. The women of this board, I’m sure you feel the same way towards men so please don’t take this personally!
I find sex to be the greatest incentive for social interaction. This might be too Freudian but I can think of a couple reasons.
I’m still baffled as to the reason for why we do any given thing. I tried to ask people why they go into philosophy a while ago, didn’t really get any responses. Most people I think, would rather attribute it to their intelligence as opposed to a deficiency in some area which led them to think too much about things.
I definitely don’t, but I think after hours of sitting on my computer writing a program, or passing an exam with flying colors, the greatest joy must still remain sex. At least, with my current sex drive.
A couple of the things you said I can’t comment on due to a lack of experience. A possible counter argument, I think, is still the fact that most of these feelings are still related to sex; in principle at least. They all come from a need to perpetuate human life; the desire to have sex and the necessity of raising children. It seems to me that all of our feelings regarding any family oriented or unselfish cause is related to perpetuating the tribe, which can only occur through sex. If we took sex out of the occasion, would families and socieites still be possible? Would that sense of group egoism still exist? Can you remove the need to procreate and still have that love for the kids?
What do you mean by sex drive exactly? theres a lot of mental mechanism intertwined with that and humans wouldn’t really be humans without them. I t hink it’d be pretty hard to predict how huhmans would act if they were fundamentally changed in a meaningful way, as its hard to predict how they act now.
the patriarchal structure of society forces many women to “whore” themselves. i sympathize with that, it’s perhaps their only asset to get ahead in the male dominated world, but “ideally” it would be better if people, regardless of gender, would be valued only for “ability”. though i’d love to get ahead in any career if i was “forced” to sleep with my female boss
I like the “those poor little things just trying to get by in a world that doesn’t sympathize with them” thing
Use your imagination.
Perhaps I was expecting too much but I was hoping to get some response to either bash man for being a completely instinctive creature, or one to say he’d be a perfect manifestation of stoic virtue. I like to think we’d be constructs of logic and reason without instinct, to live to know everything, but perhaps I put too much faith in man’s virtues.
Rouzbeh: I like to think we’d be constructs of logic and reason without instinct…
That is a naive view.
Logic and reason have emerged from our basic instincts and human perverse behavior. If it wasn’t for basic instinct and human corrupt behavior, and sex, humans would have nothing to work with to make themselves better. We wouldn’t be as sophisticated and accommodating as we are. We need things that are grating and mischievous to motivate us.
If the world was all logic and reason it would be a dull and drab place.
Perspective, and perception, changes if you are attracted to intelligence.
Sex drive may well be the most powerful thing bringing you to the table, but getting laid rarely fulfills the need for social interaction. See also, post-coital depression.
I actually have some deficiency, or difference, that interferes with usual social interaction. This undoubtedly effected the amount of time I spent in contemplation, and the amount of thought I have directed toward this particular human need. ‘‘Too much’’ is subjective. How much is enough? I think all the time anyway.
Sex has been out of the equation for a long time, and was a minor and largely negative factor. The kids though, have provided some level of fulfillment for my need for social interaction. While this may be associated with a need to procreate, it also may suggest some difference between a need to procreate and a sex drive.
Yes dave, I do not disagree. I have asked if there would be a point to anything, if there was no instinct. This is one reason I often find atheists to be arguing against themselves or simply creating a void using rationale. I don’t want to get into that debate in this thread but I do generally agree with your version of reality , however I cannot remove this image of grandeur and nobility if humans were motivated by science. I do believe that even our ability to think using logic is a direct effect of instinct, but nevermind. Naive or not, I must admit that I prefer humans as supreme virtuos beings.
Is it?
You’re defying instinct. I find that hard to believe. I would never go for a stupid woman as a lifetime partner but to think that I would rather have sex with an intelligent yet ugly woman as opposed to a stupid yet beautiful woman is simply a form of supremacist hypocrisy. Sex has nothing to do with intelligence, it’s a matter of instinct and instinct loves physicality.
I do not mean getting laid; as I’ve mentioned before, I find the path to something to be the greatest reward that something can provide. Attaining it is not necessarily the reward, but the effort is. I do not mean sex as the actual act of getting laid, but all the factors going into it.
I find that I think about things when I shouldn’t. I find it difficult to let go, even when I’m drunk. I’ve had 5-7 pints tonight as I’m writing this. This makes me distant oftentimes but yes, I agree; I’m not sure it was really my choice to think about why or not. I think it was in all probability a curiosity as to why I was the black sheep and nontheless instigated by a social factor.
All that I’m saying is that I think you wouldn’t get to this level if sex hadn’t been the stepping stone.
I would appreciate a lack of condescension, and objective arguments as opposed to witty or subjective ones like “I find this funny”. Reason will do for me, regardless of how obvious it may seem. Online ego battles are useless.
It appears to me you are encompassing all emotions within the sexual drive. If you are proposing that then I could not conceive a life without emotions and only relying on an existence of logic and progress. Emotions are the oil and gas gauges to a car. They tell us what is happening within our bodies.
Our acts of sex manifest from these emotions. It is how we expend our energy and share it with another. If we act only on thought that would not be sufficient. Thoughts only direct our energies of these emotions. Without the actions of these emotions as a pressure release we would be doomed as a person.
The only way to remove the sexual drive in humans would be to remove emotions from humans. Sex is a very primal release of emotions. A life without emotions may sound enticing but it would result in a life that has no energy. If your life is to have energy you must have a thermometer of that energy and a force to expel that energy. Anger tells you when you have been violated. Without anger you would be doomed to being a victim all of your life.
If you have emotions you must have a force to expel these emotions. You expel the force of love to another through sex. Many do not realize this is what the action of sex constitutes and is manifesting in their lives. They end up expending other emotions through the act of sex which become self-destructive.
If we have a life without sex we would have to have a life without emotions. We would only be left with thoughts through logic and that would leave us without any energy to share or any energy force in our lives. Actions based only on thoughts or logic does not have any energy or force of energy and end up being worthless.
A life without sex would look very empty and would leave us looking like a vehicle without fuel or oil. Even with the absence of fuel you would be able to manually crank your life with logic and force it to go forward. But the lack of oil would tear apart the engine as you did it.
It’s a thought experiment. Simply saying “well we’d be entirely different creatures” isn’t the type of response I want; there’s a reason this wasn’t in the natural sciences section. Just use your imagination with the knowledge you have of humans as we are now, that’s all I’m looking for.
What is this ‘energy’? A ‘life force’? But what exactly is that? Is that the incentive to keep on living? If I were to become a creature of logic, would I necessarily find an absence of purpose in my existence?
As for sex being the releasing method of the emotion of ‘love’, I must disagree. The most beautiful and sweetest women that I have encountered, I hesitate to think of having sex with them. If I have feelings for them, I regard sex as a violation of that image of purity I have in my mind. Where there is an attraction that is more than just physical, I think sex becomes trivial. Perhaps I’m too much of a romantic. I believe it’s only a physical need, not an emotional one. In fact, I find the term ‘Making love’ to be quite wrong, because I ‘make love’ by the emotional attachment and the unselfishness that I exhibit, not through sex. I can have sex with a number of women and it’ll be just that, but emotional attachment is unique in that it isn’t something that can experienced over and over again through a mere physical act; not to say that physicality is entirely absent.
oints out the obvious fact that we need the sex for the baby making:
