Comment by j_m_b
13 days ago
Computing has made intimate sexual relationships worse.
Dating apps are skewed: men receive little attention while women have an overwhelming amount of attention.
Porn satisfies our most base sexual functions while abandoning truly intimate connections.
The ultimate goal of sexual unions has been demonized and turned into something to avoid. That being children. After school specials since the 80s have made pregnancy a horror to avoid instead of a joy to grasp.
AI is just the latest iteration of technology increasing the divide between the sexes.
When the clankers come, we're fucked.
> After school specials since the 80s have made pregnancy a horror to avoid instead of a joy to grasp.
I don't draw the same conclusion. I think they've made teen pregnancy a horror to avoid, which is totally fair.
The more complete version of this line of reasoning is (which I've seen more than once, but no links to hand, sorry) is:
After solidly internalizing the messaging of "teen pregnancy is the worst thing ever" & "sex leads to teen pregnancy", there's no "switch" to make those thought patterns disappear without a trace at the point at which it's "ok" (by whatever metric is relevant to the individual) to participate in sex, child-rearing, etc. So individuals find themselves dealing with long-term guilt at having sex and/or aversion to having children, neither of which is "rational" according to their values but which nonetheless is real and affects their behavior.
> After school specials since the 80s have made pregnancy a horror to avoid instead of a joy to grasp.
Pregnancy can be employment-disrupting, and a horror if you're not financially ready to raise a child. Teen pregnancy can end one's future, one's educational and career prospects, before it even begins. The steady and nearly-uninterrupted decline in teen pregnancy from its peak in the early 90s is an absolute miracle of sex education.
The birth rate for women 20-24 was cut in half from 2005 to 2023, and the birth rate for teens under 20 dropped by 2/3s[1], which is frankly amazing progress.
1: https://usafacts.org/articles/how-have-us-fertility-and-birt...
> Dating apps are skewed: men receive little attention while women have an overwhelming amount of attention.
I'm not following your train of thought here. Why is this the fault of computing?
How would a million men all "like" say 1000 or more women in real life? That's only possible via the internet.
I think you may underestimate how many people one gross guy can catcall in a day if he really tries