[paulvnickerson]

What they should do instead is invest in technology that can do age verification while protecting privacy. This is obviously a required piece of technology. It is not acceptable for children to grow up on the Internet and easily access pornography by simply going to a website. Imagine letting your children loose in a city where they can wander in and out of peep shows without friction.

[GuB-42]

While the "required piece of technology" aspect is debatable, there is certainly enough demand for it that it is going to happen in one way or another.

So I agree that instead of fighting some change that I think is inevitable, they should make it so that it works in the most privacy-conscious way possible. And I mean with real technical solutions, like an open-source app or browser extension you can download, a proof-of-concept server for age verification, etc... using the best crypto has to offer.

[maerF0x0]

It's funny to me that porn does not have more age verification than just "Yes, I promise I'm 18+" (or whatever).

If I go to the liquor store, I can't just promise "I'm 21+"

If I go to vote, I can't just promise I'm 16+

If I go to buy a lottery ticket I cant just promise...

I think I made my point.

[Spivak]

And yet this has been the system for the last 35 years and somehow the sky didn't fall.

Either you're old enough to understand what porn is and have desires to consume it in which case you won't be scarred by it and don't need protection from it, or your not in which case you won't seek it out. You need id checks for alcohol because people too young to consume it want it, and given how much teens drink and how not a problem lower drinking ages are in other countries even that claim is somewhat dubious.

[kmoser]

Not true; kids too young to understand porn can stumble across it, or find it because they searched for it simply because they heard about it from their friends. I'm not saying they'll be harmed by it (most of them won't be), but there will always be a small percentage of people who find a certain thing and then go on to get harmed by that thing. That doesn't mean the rest of us should have to jump through hoops to responsibly use that thing.

[maerF0x0]

I wouldnt just say "they can", the average first exposure to porn is ~10, so "they do". And this isnt some spicy magazine the issue with internet porn is that it's an intense supranormal stimuli relative to, say, a handful of images of which you have to do a ton of effort (and ID checks) to get more. Internet porn today is multi-tab, rapid desensitization requiring escalation in content, and an increase in young Porn-induced Erectile Dysfunction -- an element why ED drugs are being pushed on younger people these days (besides the socially sick trend of objectifying people by their size and "performance"). Some believe the Australian jewel beetle story is basically playing out with Men these days leading them to not go through the right motions to become successful and find a mate.

I'm sure i'll get downvoted into oblivion by skeptics, but there is a good amount of reasons to believe this is true. Your brain on porn by gary wilson is a good starting point for the ideas, and then to dig deeper if you are inclined to fact check.

ok /rant.

[Spivak]

Well I have to imagine any downvotes will come because most of this is pseudoscience. But you seem like you're replying in good faith so it's all good to me.

* There is some research that the age of first exposure to porn is lower and there's speculation that this might affect attitudes towards sex in teens but there's nothing conclusive.

* YourBrainOnPorn is most charitably a misreading of scientific literature juxtaposed with people's personal experiences of porn becoming an issue in their lives, but is probably more accurately pseudoscience manufacturing a specific narrative by citing studies that don't actually support their conclusions but are banking on people not actually checking. It's "The Body Remembers" bullshit all over again.

* Porn Induced ED isn't a medical condition and was made up by NoFap. There is an increase in ED prescriptions among young people but there's no evidence whatsoever that this is connected to porn and is much more plausible that there's just less stigma about it, it's just easier to get using an app, and more people are using it for enhancement and performance anxiety rather than ED.

* And there's this awkward problem that men actually care about size and performance significantly more than women do so this objectification angle is a bit silly. Like these two things aren't even in the top 5 of priorities for women's sexual partners. And uhh… can confirm personally as a woman. Larger becomes painful faster than most guys think and my ability to climax is more mental than physical. I've had more than one friend go home with a guy pull down his pants and laugh being like, "wow but also that's not gonna fit."

* I'm not even touching the beetles thing.

And look a ridiculous number of people bought into The Body Remembers and it's still going to be years and years to shake the public out of that one. I don't expect this to be any different. The good news is, outside of a few people with an unhealthy relationship with porn, that in general things are actually fine. Whole generations aren't being addicted to and made impotent by porn.

[maerF0x0]

I just wanted to say I appreciate your overtly good faith reply :)

[jacobgkau]

> Whole generations aren't being addicted to and made impotent by porn.

They literally are. Mostly men, though, so you might not really get it.

> There is an increase in ED prescriptions among young people but there's no evidence whatsoever that this is connected to porn and is much more plausible that there's just less stigma about it,

Yes, just like cancer rates and mental illnesses. The number increases aren't real, we're just getting better at detecting it. Surely, nothing ever gets worse in the world. /s

You're right, though, that most of this is pseudoscience. Most of the "problem" with porn is psychological, rather than strictly physical, and psychology is generally pseudoscience.