What is more damaging?

[byu71]

I know. What was up with that Maslow link? Is that a new wiki thing or something?

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you on this. I've been distracted and distant from the board for a few days. When I get a few I'll pick this conversation back up. I'm also still interested in your other answer .

I have worked to get this thread back up to a 4 star. Would you and Robin take this somewhere else.

[Rosebud]

I have worked to get this thread back up to a 4 star. Would you and Robin take this somewhere else.

Lol... no. And you and I both know how meaningful CUF popularity is .

Then we don't really disagree.

[*]We both agree that porn can be addictive.

agreed

[*]We both agree that cultural factors significantly affect the addictive potential of activities.

not sure. I believe that genetic factors significantly affect the addictive potential of activities and that cultural factors affect exposure to activities and attitudes towards them. I'd be interested in reading research that correlates cultural factors with the addictive potential of activities.

[*]We both agree that genetic and biological factors significantly affect individuals' risk of addiction.

agreed

[*]We both agree that Mormons and scientists probably use the word 'porn addiction' to mean different things.

agreed. IMO, communication problems are part of any and all discussions.

[*]I think we both agree that masturbation is a normal, safe and useful form of sexual release.

sigh. I'm in a predicament here. I have lot to say on this subject, but am posting in a foyer full of men who have a history of throwing me into the center of fights. I've tried to get my husband to join up to make my life easier around CUF (yes, that sounds very very non-feminist of me), but this place isn't as interesting to him as lurking on his skyscraper forum is.

Mostly, I agree with your statement, though. I guess my issue with it is that it's overly simplistic. I'm interested in fleshing out the discussion about why I think it's simplistic and similarly, why I also think the traditional Mormon reaction to masturbation is simplistic. There are a lot more factors to be considered than normalcy, safety, and sexual release. IMO, this is an important and interesting topic, I'm just not sure about getting into it on CUF. I'm still considering. Maybe I'll end up finishing out my thoughts (apologies 71).

We could really use some more women around here. Lurking women, please get an account and start posting. PLEASE!!!!!!!!!!

[*]In spite of masturbation being normal, safe and useful, we probably both agree that it too can be addictive.

I can't really respond to this one until I fully respond to the previous one.

It looks like we are disagreeing in the margins. You think porn is addictive enough to disparage it in general. I think the addictive risk of porn can be made trivial by encouraging healthier attitudes about sex and human sexuality.

RB, if you can agree that a person could use porn every day, as a tool to help self-service, and that he could still live a normal life so that his heavy use of pornography could not be considered an 'addiction,' then we are practically on the same page.

Hmmm.... still can't really respond to this without fleshing out my other thoughts. I think you're right that we're closer than many would think, but also keep in mind that I believe that porn can be hurtful to the models in both the legal and illegal porn industries. I also think that the addictive nature of the product means that it's likely that the legal porn industry contributes to the viability of the illegal porn industry.

Finally, I've put some thought into answering your other question. I even started writing a response, but it started to get very long and personal, so I saved the response as a draft and decided not to post it. Maybe some time.

Fair.