Sex

[andrewducker]

There was a discussion on Slashdot about where the following was said:

Person 1:
Who's hyping anything? HL2 is better than sex.

(And yes, I've had sex. In meatspace. With a female. A human female. But my PC was also in the room, and I was able to get some coding done after she fell asleep, so I don't have to turn in my geek card just yet.)

Person 2:
If you think that a FPS is better than sex you are not fucking correctly.

Person 3 (responding to person 2):
Sex is boring, the only reason I give into my body's incessant desires to fuck (women, yes just women) is because if I don't my body makes me feel depressed/inadequate.

Sex is mostly only good for girls as far as I can tell. The whole-skin sensitivity thing is a bit good by the look of it, as well as having more erogenous zones, and they get all the foreplay too.

I prefer programming and computer games quite often actually, although ocassionaly sex is really good and I do confess, that is hard to beat. But usually that kind of sex requires a lot of booze, and anyway, like everything else in this world stuff gets boring eventually, and sex is basically just in and out with some grunting.

Which brings the whole 'better than sex' thing to mind.  I like sex - it's fun.  But I've never really understood the whole 'sex is better than everything' idea.  Every so often the urge for sex is fairly overwhelming, but it's not this mind-numbingly amazing thing that overrides everything else.

Anyone care to explain it to me?

[Poll #385756]

Comments

[scarlatti.livejournal.com]

Well it *can* be, but obviously not every single encounter will rate as "the best thing ever."

It's best, IMHO, when the emotions are involved as well as the flesh.

[catamorphism.livejournal.com]

If you think that a FPS is better than sex you are not fucking correctly.

I agree with this. And as for the responder to that who thought sex was better for women than men, chrissakes, get some imagination... just because you're a man doesn't mean you have to conform to the stick-it-in done-in-5-minutes model of sex.

[lilitufire.livejournal.com]

Can I have it depends on the sex please?

[derumi.livejournal.com]

YES!

[green-amber.livejournal.com]

Actually it depends on the sex and the person you're having sex with and how you feel about that person at that moment.. (and to some extent, yes, what recreational drugs you've used - my best sex has been on drugs.)

[robhu.livejournal.com]

You missed out 'I don't know' on your poll :0|

[dalglir.livejournal.com]

*superb* usericon there robhu

[robhu.livejournal.com]

Thankyou, but I must be honest and point out that like the one in this comment I actually stole them from other live journalers! If I could remember who I would point the praise in their direction.

[lproven.livejournal.com]

I'm with Woody Allen on bad sex: "I've never had an orgasm that wasn't pretty much *right there* for me." It's all good.

There's nothing else in the world that I have discovered that quite captures the extremity of pleasure of an orgasm, and a self-induced one is never as good. However, there are some things that are not nearly as intense that sustain a very high level of pleasure for a long time, which is both rare and hard work in sex: for me, riding a motorcycle on good interesting empty country roads on a clear sunny day is probably the next best thing.

best things.

[wolfieboy.livejournal.com]

Cuddling and intimacy are the best things ever...

[blackmanxy.livejournal.com]

Imaginative creation and intellectual stimulation are both way, way better than sex.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

That's a great conversation. I love geek conversations. :)

[kellibunny.livejournal.com]

i've heard this from a geek... my ex b/f. i still don't understand him but it's true, he enjoyed sex (of course) but was never really into it (shy and insecure) and quickly wanted to do other things, like go home and play a video game. He's still young. Maybe he'll get over it eventually.

[andrewducker]

Maybe you'll get over sex eventually...

[kellibunny.livejournal.com]

God i hope not.

[andrewducker]

Wel, not 'over it' in a "don't want sex any more" sense - I just mean that while sex is good there's no reason why it should be 'the best thing ever' - and there's no reason why some people shouldn't like video games more than sex, or books more than movies, or Gilliam more than Burton. It's all just a matter of taste.

[tamaranth.livejournal.com]

I've had more bad sex than I've had bad Beethoven.

[red-cloud.livejournal.com]

That is so quotable!

[octopoid-horror.livejournal.com]

meatspace?

I thought people only used that word in Neal Stephenson and William Gibson books?

[andrewducker]

And on /., home of the cyber-nerd-elite.

[darkoshi]

Person 2 needs to understand that it's not just a matter of doing it right or not, but that different people have different bodies and different brains, and that some people won't ever get as much enjoyment from sex as other people do.

Something I want to know is, other than the emotional factor, what difference is there in the pleasure people get from sex vs masturbation? Why do people want to fuck other people as opposed to doing it themself? How is it different? Is it just the emotional factor?... Is it getting extra pleasure from pleasing someone else besides yourself? Is it the esteem-boost from having someone think you're attractive enough to have sex with? Or is it physically somehow very different?

[andrewducker]

There's a different physical sensation in sex - not _vastly_ different, but there's a much larger area of touch, there's more variation and you can be surprised by things they other person does.

[red-cloud.livejournal.com]

As a rule of thumb:

5 decent wanks = 1 mediocre shag

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

ObCryptonomicon: the bit where Waterhouse works out that being horny is interfering with his productivity, and further works out that a real shag is more effective than masturbation, and so for the most self-sacrificing of reasons decides that he must visit a whorehouse once every three to five days.

[andrewducker]

I empathised with that.

Personally, I find that masturbation is about as effective as real sex.

Real sex is usually more fun though.

[coalescent.livejournal.com]

I empathised with that.

As did I, although possibly not to quite the extreme extent of Waterhouse. It can definitely get in the way, though.

Personally, I find that masturbation is about as effective as real sex.

Nah, the real thing definitely wins over here.

I almost can't believe I'm having this conversation.

[cx650.livejournal.com]

Whilst sex may or may not be the best thing ever we must bear in mind the fact that the frequency/regularity and efficiency of 'natural bodily functions' has an invisible but nonetheless far-reaching effect on our health and well-being. I am a long-term sufferer of depression and have found that a lack of meaningful lovemaking has a deleterious effect on my state of mind. By the same token gratuitous sex is of very little consequence. The 'sexual imperative' is part of our physical and psychological make-up and should not be dismissed as unimportant. I suppose the "mind-numbingly amazing" part depends on with whom, how and why one indulges these instincts.

[darkoshi]

and what the heck does FPS stand for? (I know I'll feel stupid when I hear the answer.)

as for your enthusiasm for HL2, which I have no clue what kind of game it even is, other than I assume the name stands for "Half-Life 2", and although I therefore obviously don't share your enthusiasm for it, nevertheless, I think it's great that you are enthusiastic. if it's fun, enjoy it, by golly, and certainly get up early to play it, even if you're sick, because, by golly, feeling enthusiastic about something is fun and you might as well have fun, because it's better than not having fun. yep!

[moniqueleigh]

FPS = first person shooter

Don't feel stupid. It took me the longest time to figure that one, myself. :)

Aw shucks..

[troworld.livejournal.com]

And here I was thinking it stood for Frames Per Second. I need more gamer-friends.

[andrewducker]

FPS = First Person Shooter - games like Doom, played from the first-person perspective.

And yes, am having lots of fun.

You can get an idea what it looks like here:

http://www.3dgamers.com/games/halflife2/screenshots/

[red-cloud.livejournal.com]

My relationship is very important to me and sex is a large part of that, so I can't reduce it to simple terms.

However, if I was feeling particularly reductionist and ignoring things like love, respect, a sense of fun/danger, etc, then sex could be modelled as an intermittent necessity like, say, food.

When you're starving then bread and water is the best thing ever.

Much of the time a decent meal once a day is adequate and satisfying but not the best thing ever.

Every so often, though, you need to go out and experience something really tasty and exotic. Could be the best thing ever. Or just the worst.

And, of course, there are some foods that you just don't like or don't care to sample.

Just to take the edge off things, we all need a quick snack-off-the-wrist from time to time.

[terminalmalaise.livejournal.com]

About one percent of adults have absolutely no interest in sex, according to a new study, and that distinction is becoming one of pride among many asexuals.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/10/14/asexual.study/

and

http://www.newscientist.com/news/news.jsp?id=ns99996533

[darkoshi]

And I may be one of them. Or at least, I used to be, but now I'm not sure if I still am, for various reasons. Maybe something I ought to try putting into words in a post of my own one of these days.

[blackmanxy.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of people who don't watch TV. You know, the ones who spend a lot of time talking about how they don't watch TV?