Guest Thinkers — February 11, 2011

Blase on Sex With People

Why are young men in porn-rich Japan growing indifferent or even averse to sex with live partners? Today’s synthetic hyperstimulation triggers more potent dopamine trips.

bigthinkeditor

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

“Young Japanese men are growing indifferent or even averse to sex, while married couples are starting to have it even less,” reports The Japan Times, citing a 2010 poll. Japan isn’t alone. In France, a 2008 survey found that 20 percent of younger French men had no interest in sex. “Japan has lots of porn. An unholy amount, in fact, probably more than any country in Asia or Europe.” So, the issue is not whether young men are interested in orgasm. Their heavy porn use shows they are. The issue is why they aren’t interested in sex with live partners.

A weekly newsletter featuring the biggest ideas from the smartest people

Pixelated red human figure on a black grid background with blue symmetrical curves and white geometric shapes adjacent.

Hard Science

The Arecibo Message fifty years later

In November 1974, astronomers used the radio telescope at Puerto Rico’s Arecibo Observatory to send a hello to the universe.

Bronze statue of a bearded man embodying stoicism, riding a horse with one arm extended forward, set against a black background.

Thinking

3 clues that Stoicism is a religion in disguise

All religions have three traits: metaphysical commitments, ethical guidance, and daily rituals or practices. So does Stoicism.

An open book with abstract designs: the left page displays a horizontal row of color blocks, while the right page features a hand touching a network of connected circles, highlighting strong connections.

Business

Why our “weak-tie” connections are actually super-strong

Sure, “who you know” matters — but your best contacts will be the ones you don’t know very well.

Starts With A Bang

Could dark matter be the same thing as dark energy?

Two parts of our Universe that seem to be unavoidable are dark matter and dark energy. Could they really be two aspects of the same thing?

Close-up of an analog weight scale needle pointing to zero grams, with a black background.

Hard Science

You’re made of energy: The strange truth about where mass comes from

“A person’s mass is made not of ‘stuff’ in the way we normally think about it, but rather our mass is made of energy.”

Up Next

Surprising Science

Looking Reduces Pain

Injections are less painful if you resist the natural impulse to look away, scientists have claimed. People had a higher pain threshold if they looked at the arm or hand being treated.