TheTomG
Thomas M. Grimes
- Joined
- Aug 9, 2011
- Messages
- 613
I don't think sex has *become* a big part of our lives - I think it always has been. It's a biological imperative, programmed into your brain and nervous system as a whole. It is built-in. It's only really beaten by hunger, thirst, and the need for sleep, as those too are built-in to your body.
All of these biological imperatives tie in to your conscious wishes and wants - thus, hunger ties in not just to making you want to eat, but becomes a love of particular foods, the merging of the necessity with your personality. Sex does the same.
Thus we have structures built on top of the base necessity - hunger, now that food is readily available (for most of us in the rich and well-off countries), channels into all sorts of other moires and behaviors. Same with sex.
If either became a shortage again, as it was in the earlier phases of our evolution, those fancy structures could be stripped away, but the base need would remain. People would fight and die over hunger. And over sex.
The fact that these motivations are primary and innate are why we see so much of our society built on them. The prevalence of fast food? The use of beautiful men and women to sell products? These things are not mere exploitation, they arise because of what we are on our most fundamental levels.
And I think this is nothing new. Discussion and thought on it all has become more common, but the drives themselves and their importance in shaping our lives and who we are - that hasn't changed in many many thousands of years
All of these biological imperatives tie in to your conscious wishes and wants - thus, hunger ties in not just to making you want to eat, but becomes a love of particular foods, the merging of the necessity with your personality. Sex does the same.
Thus we have structures built on top of the base necessity - hunger, now that food is readily available (for most of us in the rich and well-off countries), channels into all sorts of other moires and behaviors. Same with sex.
If either became a shortage again, as it was in the earlier phases of our evolution, those fancy structures could be stripped away, but the base need would remain. People would fight and die over hunger. And over sex.
The fact that these motivations are primary and innate are why we see so much of our society built on them. The prevalence of fast food? The use of beautiful men and women to sell products? These things are not mere exploitation, they arise because of what we are on our most fundamental levels.
And I think this is nothing new. Discussion and thought on it all has become more common, but the drives themselves and their importance in shaping our lives and who we are - that hasn't changed in many many thousands of years