Sirona

It's not just that they're children, but they also have the power of anonymity which means there are rarely consequences for anti-social, malicious and apathetic behaviour. They've no real need to maintain a respectable level of behaviour (or so they think) because they know that they won't be personally accountable, nor is cooperation online as necessary as it is offline. There is a lot of bullying online and it's not just in a gaming context either.

+1 However, I'd like to add that females are just as curious about erotic material, however, they're not as open about it for various reasons such as the fear, isolation, judgement from society which deters from openness. Thankfully in Australia we're fairly liberal when it comes to sex, even so that criticism and disapproval still exists, albeit to a lesser degree than other countries. Edit: Grammatical error

Nicely said, Phi. It's sad that people often ostracise others because they don't fit into the mould of social norms, but it is what it is. It would also explain the aggressive behaviour as that is a common consequence of social rejection.

I'm not too cool for TV, I just don't have time. I don't mind the occasional self indulgence (ads and all). We all need a [sic] break from being intelligent!

Itching can also be a result of paranoid behaviour and since he seems to associate masturbation with negative connotations, that could be it. Either way, why focus on the least likely reasons when there are countless simple/logical/likely explanations?

Of course you're entitled to an opinion. Someone may even still believe it makes you crippled and blind. Yet you're not going to get a thumbs up on a science forum when you have no evidence based research to back your claims. That's all everyone is getting at, not silencing your opinion.

Ageing is very complex and there are many theories and the most commonly accepted would probably be the free radical, mitochondrial, inflammation and immunological theories. There are others like the evolutionary theory also. I suppose each theory works together rather than singularly to explain the physiological changes which occur in the ageing process. To answer some of your questions, children are actually less, not more resilient to radiation cell damage. You have seen children under 16 with skin damage, however, not in the form of wrinkles or spots; children burn a lot easier than adults and UVA/UVB is skin damage. Although hormones like estrogen/progesterone, DHEA, human growth hormones do decline as you get older, hormone therapy/supplements is ineffective and largely publicised because we see aging as a disease which needs to be cured. They have no evidence based treatments available.

One of the many benefits of masturbation is that it does feel good. I don't think you can technically call it an indulgence unless you're doing it 4-5 times a day. Seems like you're turning this into a moral debate rather than discussing the psychological implications.

+1 It is a very strange thing to say indeed, although I speak a second language at home and sometimes when I try to translate a saying that is relevant into English, it just doesn't have the same meaning or sounds like a very bizarre thing to say which you just wouldn't use in English. Eshel, perhaps it is your severe reactions which arise such comments from people; don't you think carrying a knife and tear gas is an excessive retaliation on just words? Ignoring them may have a more profound effect. Even so, comments like this are not common, most people understand there is a minimum level of behavioural expectations to be accepted in society. Unless they're very intoxicated, mentally unstable or very aggressive/violent then they have no real reason to be so verbally insulting to your face. This behaviour is not just genetic but environmental too, children learn from a young age what is acceptable and what is not. Therefore, as Phi said, I don't think we're hearing the full story.

I very rarely watch TV these days, but a few years back when in high school I had more free time and occasionally watched the Discovery Channel. The only memorable programs were the Planet Earth and Frozen Planet series (I have a ridiculous affinity for David Attonborough).

With no disrespect intended to your religion, many non-religious people would not see it as idle sexuality but a release of endorphins which impede the transmission of pain signals, resulting in you feeling happier, less stressed and relaxed. It's a similar feeling you'd get after vigorous activity or exercise. Also, it allows men to release their old sperm and produce more successful (sperm that is less likely to be rejected). Back to the topic of potential psychological damage, I think the porn industry is constantly pushing the boundaries of mainstream sex and youths are exposed to such a variety of porn that they find themselves needing greater stimuli and thus developing unrealistic expectations of what sex should be like. It can also affect your confidence in your appearance as well as performance and your expectations in a partner.

To the OP, I think perhaps you'd enjoy reading 'The Origins of Virtue' by Matt Ridley and it's an engaging and accessible history of the development of human morality. It's particularly interesting because it attempts to explain human social behaviour from an evolutionary perspective rather than a philosophical one. You're being pessimistic; you're not kind to others because you're 'good', and those few who are not not 'evil'. It's much more complex than that. You saved six lives because these genes have been passed onto you and it's not about doing good or bad but cooperating. Humans are cooperative beings and part of this behaviour is to do 'favours' (for better lack of a term) for others in your tribe/community/commune etc in hope that the favour will be reciprocated when you in turn need something.

Only if it's cartoon porn because that way you're only objectifying pixels and not people.

Amusing and interesting video, thanks for the link I've read a little about the effects of procrastination on the health before and though it might have detrimental effects on your health, I don't believe a lot can be done to be less of a procrastinator as it is a personality type. Conscientiousness is one of the 'big 5' tendencies of behaviour, therefore some people are just careless, lazy, disorganised and lack personal discipline. Although it's well known that these personality traits are undesirable because they are linked to poor health and often a lack of success, it's also difficult to change. Then there is the principle of cause and effect; if they're lazy/disorganised/undisciplined, then they are not likely to be in a hurry to change either.

In Australia we don't need to rationalise walking around in cozzies and thongs; we call it common sense.

+1 It's really like hypocrisy of any sort. A way to separate yourself from us by convincing yourself that you're morally superior because you don't do it, however, doing it differently is not a good way to rationalise behaviour which is supposedly 'good' just to feel better about it. Comparing the damage of masturbation to smoking is somewhat amusing. Unless someone is extremely simple minded or has a very strange fetish, it's not really possible to do damage even remotely comparable to what smoking does, or even drinking and poor lifestyle. If done properly (I am sure the majority of people know how to masturbate) it should be physically GOOD for you, not damaging.

I think you're confusing 'damage to the body' with psychological impact (this may be purely an error in translation since English doesn't appear to be your native language). I would be very willing to discuss the potential psychological impacts porn has on the brain, but this talk of 'soul' and it being intrinsically wrong which you seem to be saying is a separate discussion best saved for the philosophy forum.

And people think they have no privacy now...

I see what you did there

That's not how I intended it to sound...hmmm.

I'm not entirely sure how that is relevant to my point, but OK

Interesting perspective. Although, porn being 'sick' and 'inhumane' is very subjective since everyone is going to have a different opinion on what is arousing and what is not. I would argue that being repressed, uneducated on sex and closed mindedness is worse for youth than (mainstream) pornography. People don't 'idolise' pornstars as such but are aroused by them and that's perfectly natural since they are usually healthy and attractive and this is evolutionary so it can't really be labeled as sleazy. The only negative impact I could really argue on (legal/consensual) pornography is that it could lead to unrealistic expectations and disappointment.

I personally don't wear accessories or pay much attention to what I wear because I find worrying about things like that requires too much time and brain glucose that I could use for something that will either give me more pleasure or advancement. It's not just the time wasted in selecting clothes/accessories but the time it tastes to choose, purchase, transport, store, keep inventory, depreciation etc. When you have a build up of possessions it just gives you more to think about and more choice. Since I place a cost on my time, it doesn't seem like a good use of time, finances and space for something that I gain little pleasure from. I will focus on healthy lifestyle choices and exercise instead to gain the same things you would get from clothing/accessories such as acceptance, social connections, etc.

Are you referring to the reading of brain waves? They can already transfer neural signals into speech, although not very accurately so you could hardly call it mind reading.

Aggression like almost all behaviour/personality has a genetic component so to answer your question, yes, naturally some are more aggressive than others. Studies on young infants show that the genetic factor is stronger for physical aggression than environmental factors. However, over time aggression can be self managed to a certain degree due to negative consequences of the behaviour. Other environmental factors not mentioned that could contribute is lead poisoning which although is not a serious problem for youth today, did affect youths in previous decades. Lead poisoning results in lower IQ and aggressive tendencies. Other than the medical conditions listed above, hyperthyroidism can also cause irritability and aggression too, imbalanced hormones for women such as high level androgen hormone. Sometimes head injuries/trauma or brain tumours can change personality/behaviours to become more aggressive. Another factor could be exposure to extreme heat.