
Why Most Men Aren't Man Enough to Handle Web Porn - mapleoin
http://blogs.wsj.com/speakeasy/2012/12/26/why-we-should-limit-internet-pornography/
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petercooper
_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 ;-)

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lsb
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"?

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pavel_lishin
> _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
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.

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

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

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_wo6a
This was great until he started confusing sex with porn.

