Why Most Men Aren't Man Enough to Handle Web Porn

http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/12/26/why-we-should-limit-internet-pornography/

by mapleoin • 14 years ago

25 6 14 years ago

blogs.wsj.com

spindritf• 14 years ago

Somewhat OT but author's Twitter feed[1] is remarkably good.

[1] https://twitter.com/alaindebotton

petercooper• 14 years ago

Furthermore, pornography weakens our tolerance for the kind of boredom which is vital to give our minds the space in which good ideas can emerge, the sort of creative boredom we experience in a bath or on a long train journey.

There are far more trivial things than pornography that seem to be having that effect, like e-mail, mobile phones, Twitter or Facebook (HN? ;-)).

Some people can't go more than a minute or two in a waiting room, train, or commercial break without hitting up their boredom reliever of choice. I have to work hard at that temptation myself. I'd stick Twitter way higher on my list than pornography on my list of things that have become time-wasting addictions.. and, indeed, seem to do my best brainstorming when walking, driving, or otherwise doing things where I can't lean on those crutches.

Maybe the solution is not simply less pornography, but more of those baths and long train journeys ;-)

lsb• 14 years ago

As with all proposals to limit the freedom of speech:

1) It's not just the right of the people who speaks to be heard. Your own right to hear and be exposed is as much at stake. Every time you silence someone you make yourself a prisoner of your own actions.

2) Who's going to determine what speech is harmful? Who determines what uncomfortable things you might read, see, hear? Who is eloquent enough to decide for you? Who relieves you from the responsibility of being exposed to minority viewpoints?

There's a pernicious sexism that runs through this entire article. Do women not have sexual thoughts? Why is "man enough" used to mean "strong enough"?

pavel_lishin• 14 years ago

> The secular world has no problems with bikinis and sexual provocation of all kinds because, among other reasons, it does not believe that sexuality and beauty have the potential to exert a momentous power over us.

Or maybe the secular world has no problem with those things because it believes that we are strong enough to overcome the power they hold over us, without a priest hiding those things away behind a curtain.

mapleoin• 14 years ago

Yes, that's exactly what the author is saying. But believing something, doesn't make it true. In this case, the question is whether or not these things that our brain isn't fit to cope with do really have more power over us than we think.

_wo6a• 14 years ago

This was great until he started confusing sex with porn.

Why Most Men Aren't Man Enough to Handle Web Porn

Related Stories