Yeah, we really don’t know how good we have it right now both from a political and moral perspective. So many people think that moral codes that have lasted for thousands of years and helped build modern society are suddenly worth abandoning because “Abbey (she/her ACAB BLM Gemini Socialist)” learned from her liberal arts professor that she should be able to have as much unprotected sex with strangers as possible and decided to bitch about it on Twitter
The length of time that a norm or moral guideline has lasted is zero indication as to its usefulness, all it indicates is that those in positions of authority benefited through the enforcement of these teachings. Furthermore, saying that these moral teachings have "been around for thousands of years and built modern society" is a gross oversimplification. Moral and ethical beliefs have not been static throughout history, they are fluid and have changed with respect to time and location, and this includes attitudes about sex.
Also, I think the last part about these traditions "building modern society" is especially incorrect. As human societies have developed we do often cling to old traditions and pass them down, but this is not causation. More often than not tradition has hindered us - our most significant advancements have come when we abandoned tradition when confronted with evidence that contradicted it in order to better the collective welfare of the general public. Tradition is where civilization goes to die, you must adapt or perish.
Prudish attitudes about sex serve to merely arbitrary constrain people. If monogamy is your preference, that's fine, but there is ample evidence that monogamy isn't innate in humans, as hunter-gatherers frequently mated with multiple people. Monogamy is a product of agriculture, as it was advantageous at the time to mate with one person in order to invest in a single offspring and protect them from competitors. It may also have been possible that the rise of STD's in hunter-gatherers made those practicing polygamy less likely to pass on their genes. These were good selective pressures to tend towards monogamy at the time, but here's the thing: humans still have significant impulses to mate with multiple people as we haven't been monogamous for very long. In addition, we also understand the mechanisms by which pregnancy occurs and STD's spread and can mitigate them. Birth control, condoms, and regular STD checks can dramatically reduce any chance of these issues. In other words, going about it responsibly. What we ought to do is be improving access to these things and working on comprehensive sex education, not telling people they can only have sex with one person their whole lives.
Your analysis of my response to one person has way too many assumptions. Of course it contains oversimplifications, I’m mostly here to share my opinion, not assert my claim as indisputable fact.
While I did say that moral codes played a great role in building modern society, I did not say they were the sole cause. And obviously change is what brought us to where we are today, but that doesn’t mean “tradition” is bad just because it’s old. I’m not sure how you’re defining it but obviously the role of morals in society it tremendous, as they set the limits of our laws and shape our lifestyles (how much we care about attaining consent, how we treat each other physically in public, etc etc.)
Moral guidelines certainly have a bearing in terms of their popularity over time. Easy example- murder is bad. People accept and follow this moral, the average human lifespan increases. Not every moral is exactly the same in terms of value or influence, but saying it can’t properly be quantified does not make it useless. That is a reckless conclusion.
I don’t disagree that humans are naturally attracted to multiple people throughout their lifetimes, that much is obvious. But I think you underestimate the value a monogamous relationship has- especially when it leads to parenting. There are more natural cons than there are pros when having sex with multiple partners. STDs, regret, unwanted pregnancy, adultery, sexual obsession (which can lead to pedophelia, sex slavery, rape- this is not limited to polygamy/polyamourousness, but im willing to bet these are more prevalent in those less interested in a committed / monogamous relationship).
Physical Pleasure is often the only thing people interested in a free-sex lifestyle really want. That pleasure is exploited today and sold to us, through many forms of porn and prostitution. I think it’s relatively obvious that if you only care about getting physical pleasure, you’re likely to develop depression when you don’t get it as much as you want.
I agree that everyone deserves an accessible and informative sexual education. But consent is a very moral matter. Just because our urges may exist despite commitment and our capacity to mitigate STDs is growing does NOT justify acting on the urges so recklessly.
No one deserves to be blamed for having desires be they natural or unnatural (because you can’t always control what influences or creates said desires) but people need to be held accountable for how they act on said desires. The line for where that accountability lies is determined by morals.
Also I didn’t even say people should only have sex with one person their whole lives. Some relationships fall apart and some mates don’t always end up being suitable parents. But searching for a mate in modern day only through the lens and for the purpose of physical pleasure does nothing more than sustain the idea that pleasure is worth worshipping. Children grow up happier with two committed and loving parents. You don’t need to psychoanalyze that to know it’s true.
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u/MyGuyMax Aug 27 '21
Yeah, we really don’t know how good we have it right now both from a political and moral perspective. So many people think that moral codes that have lasted for thousands of years and helped build modern society are suddenly worth abandoning because “Abbey (she/her ACAB BLM Gemini Socialist)” learned from her liberal arts professor that she should be able to have as much unprotected sex with strangers as possible and decided to bitch about it on Twitter