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Comment by jcromartie | Hacker News Reader

Two things:

First: As a society, we should really examine the kind of impact internet porn is having on the lives of our young men. There is a growing body of knowledge around porn-induced ED in 20-somethings, among other myriad ways it negatively impacts the health and productivity of individuals and relationships.

Second: Who actually saves porn anymore?

(EDIT: it's not a "huge body of knowledge"... yet, it's growing)

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I'd like to see some references to this supposed "growing body of knowledge", because it sounds like the kind of complete BS put out by anti-porn religious zealots.

As a society we need to move past this ridiculous idea that the enjoyment of sex, including sexual fantasization and pornography, are something to be ashamed of or feared. Sex and porn are normal parts of a healthy, adult sexuality.

> ... porn [is a normal part] of a healthy, adult sexuality

This is the kind of statement that should really be carefully evaluated. Smoking was "normal" once, too, along with many other unsavory bits of culture we have now moved on from.

See: http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/cupids-poisoned-arrow/20...

I followed your link and could not find any studies cited in the article that back up the claims made (not saying there aren't any, just that I couldn't find any in the article). Most of it hinges on a self reported survey conducted once in Italy.

Basically, show some solid evidence. Otherwise it would seem that you are taking a moral position on this, not a scientific one.

I think the the "normalcy" of smoking is much more similar to how the suppression and shaming of normal sexuality was, until relatively recently, the norm in modern western civilization.

IMHO, the article you linked to is about as enlightening as an article saying that overindulgence in cakes and cookies is harmful. Well duh! In normal, moderate consumption both cakes, cookies, and porn are completely normal and healthy.

A lot of the research, at least that I'm familiar with, actually comes a bit more from the left, generally pro-sex but skeptical of (at least some kinds of) porn, with the arguments being that porn tends to promote unrealistic expectations and a certain sort of attitude towards women, which get in the way of forming healthy real-world sexual relationships.

I'm not sure how solid any of the conclusions are, though, and I don't know what the ED research would be referring to. Here's one (slightly dated) meta-analysis that does find some association with aggression, especially following watching porn that involves violence: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1468-2958.1995....

I'm curious now: do you have citations for the "growing body of knowledge around porn-induced ED in 20-somethings"? I don't mean to undermine your point, I'm just interested in hearing more.

I would also be extremely curious to see those citations.

Because time and again, sociological "research" that attempts to show porn as bad winds up being exposed as the worst kind of science, when it's even remotely related to science to begin with.

I don't like to be so biased based on my (dis)agreement with a study's conclusions. But in the case of porn research, it just so often winds up being about as close to relevant as "Reefer Madness" is to the effects of drug use.

It's not impossible to gather objective data on the impacts of internet porn use.

So it's been gathered, right?

There is a huge and growing body of knowledge around porn-induced ED in 20-somethings, among other myriad ways it negatively impacts the health and productivity of individuals and relationships.

Source?

I suspect you are referring to this: http://yourbrainonporn.com/

Their copy says that they scan for it also in the browser's history.

It scans for cookies and history as well.

It's not a one-way street through - access to porn also reduces sexual violence.

It also helps people get over the 'shame' of having a body. Some people like the taboo of 'private parts', some people don't, and my personal opinion is that taboos for taboo's sake are pointless and should be squashed.

What is ED?

Erectile dysfunction.

Sorry for the tangent, but why does this word get a "y" in the "dys", when any other "dis" word is spelled with an "i": disturb, disrespect, discombobulate, disconcerting, etc.

Different root - think dysphoria.

Dys means "abnormal" or "bad" or even "impaired" Dis means "without" or "lacking"

Dysfunction in this case means 'impaired function' as opposed to 'lacking function'.

What bitops and noahc said. See http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=dys-&allowed_in... and http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=dis-&allowed_in....

As a society, we need to be less obsessed with being everyone's parents. (edit: not that I want my parents monitoring my porn intake either, frankly)

"a huge and growing body of knowledge"

... Laydeez

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