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Stanford professor: video games and online porn will lead to the extinction of men

amazing how no one sees how this could lead to a problem but yeah everyone just pile on

Because it is ultimately without consequences, The introverts who would likely be single for life just become more introvert and the people who are social and outward use games to socialize more and porn is integrated into peoples lives near perfectly multiple couples watch porn during intercourse and/or as a way to get themselves in the mood.

Single people stay single (many now have the opportunity to find peple similar via social networks and the technosphere)

Social people remain virtually the same with more ways to socialize.

This whole notion that an xbox and masturbation turns someone into a shy husk devoid of emotion with the inability to talk to people is beyond hilarious.
 

Arcteryx

Member
Wait wait wait..."risk averse" vs media stereotype of video games being crazy and violent.

Whew, almost thought for a second this was a legitimate article.
 

Karak

Member
As someone married 4 years, together 7 years and no kids yet, who games a shitton and watches porn I actually do worry about this kind of thing. Though everyone may want different things, social interaction is obviously VERY important to far more than just relationships. Any one part of life's triangle of needs that gets incredibly out of whack could lead to complications. I have self regulated all my life but at other times I have found myself on 20 hour benders in a game, or spending all weekend playing one because its fun.

But its only 1 kind of fun. I do worry that the instant gratification people(and me) CAN get and have started to seek is a bit unhealthy, even if just considering how they may feel when they get to an older age. I just try to keep all aspects of my life in some kind of parity so that 1 doesn't get out of hand.
 

jon bones

hot hot hanuman-on-man action
As someone married 4 years, together 7 years and no kids yet, who games a shitton and watches porn I actually do worry about this kind of thing. Though everyone may want different things, social interaction is obviously VERY important to far more than just relationships. Any one part of life's triangle of needs that gets incredibly out of whack could lead to complications. I have self regulated all my life but at other times I have found myself on 20 hour benders in a game, or spending all weekend playing one because its fun.

But its only 1 kind of fun. I do worry that the instant gratification people(and me) CAN get and have started to seek is a bit unhealthy, even if just considering how they may feel when they get to an older age. I just try to keep all aspects of my life in some kind of parity so that 1 doesn't get out of hand.

well put - and without my trademark arrogance no less
 

Jarmel

Banned
I can't remember who said it, but..

"There won't be humans in 500 years. Enough people choke themselves when they jerk off we gave it a name. We ain't a species made to last."

Seems apt.

Lolollol

Anyway I'm perfectly fine playing video games and jerking it off until I die.
 

Shai-Tan

Banned
this is his Susan Greenfield moment. making theories like arousal addiction then selling them to the media instead of doing actual science. also this from 2011 but The Daily Mail likes to resurrect bad science stories to troll for hits
 

Corto

Member
I think I got why porn will lead to humanity extinction. Young males that abuse its consumption will think that every sexual intercourse ends with ejaculating on their partners face. Functional sterilization.
 

Klyka

Banned
I think I got why porn will lead to humanity extinction. Young males that abuse its consumption will think that every sexual intercourse ends with ejaculating on their partners face. Functional sterilization.

Going by my girlfriend's needs, it might as well end like that all the time, yeah.
 

Zaptruder

Banned
Bloody hell Zimbardo.

How can you be sure of the direction of your causality?

The high level implication is that cheap digital alternatives are driving down the productive capacity of our world.

Are we fleeing to cheap digital experientialities because the world itself is making attaining the real things increasingly difficult?

Or is it made more difficult because we don't spend enough time cultivating effective skills and abilities because of the availability of these cheap experientialities?


Personally... I think videogames by way of virtual reality providing cheaper and higher fidelity virtual experiences are the solution for many intractable structural social issues in our modern world.

Its just we need to develop the societal mindset that can allow us to make the leap to best take advantage of these emerging technologies - embrace digital online virtual education. Embrace digital online telecommuting of jobs. Embrace virtual social networking.

We're already doing that to an extent; but lets not continue to half ass it - take the ball and run with it. At the end of the day, beyond simply surviving, what humanity seeks most is an increased variety and depth of experiences. Lets embrace the digital medium and allow us to make it happen to the greatest possible extent.

In that sense, videogames and porn gives us a leg up on creating this world, even while deflating our ability to maintain the old one.
 

Calcaneus

Member
I think most people (not all) would do better with a bit more balance in their life (including me).

In my prime at college I did 15-20 hours of COD4.
I dont think I have ever in my entire life played 20 hours of games in one day. Not even when I was super into Pokemon.
 

Jarmel

Banned
I think most people (not all) would do better with a bit more balance in their life (including me).

I dont think I have ever in my entire life played 20 hours of games in one day. Not even when I was super into Pokemon.

First time I played Oblivion, I went on a 48 hour straight adventure. My cousin literally had to drag me out of the basement. Funnily enough I'm having problems getting into Skyrim.
 
People are getting sex education from porn?
Had this debate in the UK recently when ISPs and the government were discussing "family values" in net censorship. Making adult sites an opt in affair.

Basically it boiled down to a lot of women like that hardcore porn too. And in reality most people see the barrier between sex and a relationship. And that banning it would just make people seek it out in other ways. The only people against it are the hyper clean nuclear christian family.
 
I think most people (not all) would do better with a bit more balance in their life (including me).

I dont think I have ever in my entire life played 20 hours of games in one day. Not even when I was super into Pokemon.

Played 70 hours N64 with 3 friends to break the guinnes book world record in non-stop-gaming. No Pokemon involved though.
 

Einhander

Member
When it comes to having a variety of hobbies, that can never hurt--fishing, taking a walk, etc. At the same time, I don't fault someone for dedicating themselves to a specific hobby or two. I don't believe one or the other to be the correct way. Whatever floats your boat.

On the career front, I think having a career which'll give you a comfortable living is, of course, great, but to someone who wants to live a simple life, having a low-paying job but something they enjoy doing is also fine. I don't expect everyone to have a prestigious career.

What I have a problem with is stating that a person should have a significant other or have sex in their life. It's silly to say something like that because it speaks volumes about what has been ingrained in that person's mind by society.
 

Seik

Banned
Well, it may be true in some case. For mine, I have problem keeping a long-term relationships, but I wouldn't blame video games nor porn for this, its just my twisted mind shouting that everything have ends and its not worth it. This and not spending enough time with her and too much with my friends. :/

Job-wise, I work 40h/week, so...that's that.
 

jon bones

hot hot hanuman-on-man action
What I have a problem with is stating that a person should have a significant other or have sex in their life. It's silly to say something like that because it speaks volumes about what has been ingrained in that person's mind by society.

what about ingrained into that person's mind by personal experience? what if someone has seen both sides of the coin, knows how tough it is to flip it, but also how rewarding it is once you have? i'm not talking on people who decide not to be in a relationship, but those who are so afraid to be social they ultimately decide it's not worth the effort.
 
This thread wouldn't have been complete without the internet badass coming to let everyone know how superior he is. Anyway, I didn't see anything in the article where he said it will lead to extinction. Just that some men are at risk of dying of loneliness because they are jacked into the Matrix.
 

thetrin

Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Why is it that we only judge a man's worth by their sexual escapades and ability to create a family? What about a person like me? I have no family, but I own my own company, I'm physically active, and by virtue of my position in my business, relationships are incredibly important to my success.

Oh but wait, I don't fit the American stereotype of a "man", so I'm obviously worthless. Thanks.

Also, god guys. This is the Daily Mail. Why are we reading this shit?
 

Odoul

Member
So it' gonna be like that episode of Married with Children where Bud gets the virtual reality sex machine and starts blowing girls off and shittin on them instead of falling over himself trying to impress them.

Or that episode of Futurama.

They're completely right of course. As soon as the sexbot is developed society is doomed.
 

ReaperXL7

Member
I don't think that Video games, or Porn will lead to the extinction of "Men". If anything I think that the overall qulaities, knowledge, and over realiance on others will do this sooner, if anything. It also does not help that there seems to be groups of people that would rather we walk around calling each other "It" or "thing" rather than Men and Women.

Men are becoming too soft for their own good, balance is important imo.
 

SaberVulcan

Member
I feel the professor who wrote this has never had a lady-friend who likes sex, or video games.

Or maybe he's really bad at both.
 

jimi_dini

Member
For a professor saying that it's the "extinction of men" isn't very clever.

I mean women without men will go extinct as well. So he should have said "extinction of mankind". Which is still pretty stupid considering the population on earth is around 7 billion. So even if his theory is correct (and it is not), it would still take quite some time.
 

SMT

this show is not Breaking Bad why is it not Breaking Bad? it should be Breaking Bad dammit Breaking Bad
I feel the professor who wrote this has never had a lady-friend who likes sex, or video games.

Or maybe he's really bad at both.

OMG, do you know who Philip Zimbardo is? You're kidding, right?
This guy is pretty mainstream.
 
Why is it that we only judge a man's worth by their sexual escapades and ability to create a family? What about a person like me? I have no family, but I own my own company, I'm physically active, and by virtue of my position in my business, relationships are incredibly important to my success.

Oh but wait, I don't fit the American stereotype of a "man", so I'm obviously worthless. Thanks.

Also, god guys. This is the Daily Mail. Why are we reading this shit?

I highly recommend watching his TED Talk linked in the OP, then you'll have the answers you're asking about.
 
He may be on to something here. I would much rather just come home and play video games than deal with a relationship and all of the work that takes. I want to relax and do what I want to do with my free time, not spend it trying to make someone else happy.

Though the reason for that line of thinking is up in the air. I don't immediately blame games. Or porn. There are people out there who would call that line of thinking immature like you're supposed to get settled down and pump out kids. But I just don't want to.
Everybody has their escape. For us it's videogames but for the next guy it's alcohol or something else. If a man wants to get away, he will.
 
Well, it is. But as you see, even around here, people assume that gamer are lonely straight men sitting in a basement.

It's like...I grew up playing games, and got the internets in 1997 when I graduated high school and used it for many things, porn among them (Diablo for another).

Before that, I raided my old man's porn stash.

The point is, I hold a job, fathered two children (well, one of them is inbound), know how to please a woman, know how to build a fire, and be a present and active father. And I have lots of friends that do this as well. This argument is exactly the sort of bullshit that got me looked down on when I was growing up, and it's not OK to bring it back into the fold again.
 
Of course it is impossible for men to do these things and live normal lives, like the hundreds of thousands of men who do this currently do, a bunch of nonsense, AGAIN.

Even if men do go extinct, its not like its a big loss, the only thing we are good at is opening jars and getting shot at.
 

Einhander

Member
what about ingrained into that person's mind by personal experience? what if someone has seen both sides of the coin, knows how tough it is to flip it, but also how rewarding it is once you have? i'm not talking on people who decide not to be in a relationship, but those who are so afraid to be social they ultimately decide it's not worth the effort.

If that person is afraid to get into a relationship or afraid to have sex and would like to do either, then I can agree with you there. However, in that situation, you also have to consider that, perhaps, that person may be suffering from depression or a mental disorder which makes getting involved with a significant other or sexual relations to be highly difficult. To use these hobbies as examples, since they're the highlight of the discussion, video games and online porn may be what keeps them enjoying life, at the moment.

I'll give you another scenario.

A person may want to get into a relationship, and perhaps has in the past, but will not have sex because of fears of pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases. (even with a condom, there are still risks for both)

So you can't brush it all under the rug with one reason only. There are many reasons someone may have for not wanting a relationship or sex.
 
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