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Psychologist: Porn and Video Game Addiction Are Leading To 'Masculinity Crisis'

HughPickens.com writes: Philip Zimbardo is a prominent psychologist from Stanford, most notable for leading the notorious Stanford prison experiment. He has published new research findings based on the lives of 20,000 young men, and his conclusion is stark: there is a developing "masculinity crisis" caused by addiction to video games and pornography. "Our focus is on young men who play video games to excess, and do it in social isolation — they are alone in their room," says Zimbardo. "It begins to change brain function. It begins to change the reward center of the brain, and produces a kind of excitement and addiction. What I'm saying is — boys' brains are becoming digitally rewired."

As an example, Zimbardo uses this quote from one young man: "When I'm in class, I'll wish I was playing World of Warcraft. When I'm with a girl, I'll wish I was watching pornography, because I'll never get rejected." Zimbardo doesn't think there's a specific time threshold at which playing video games goes from being acceptable to excessive. He says it varies by individual, and is more based on a "psychological change in mindset." To fight the problem, he suggest families need to track how much time is being spent on video games compared to other activities. "He also called for better sex education in schools — which should focus not only on biology and safety, but also on emotions, physical contact and romantic relationships."

546 of 950 comments (clear)

  1. nature will breed it out by alen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    being that many of them won't pass on their genes, nature will take care of it

    1. Re:nature will breed it out by alen · · Score: 1

      women read donor profiles on those

    2. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Don't be absurd. There's no evidence that it's inherited, and he's arguing that it is a result of events in the person's life. It's entirely nurture.

    3. Re:nature will breed it out by hodet · · Score: 1

      It's not their DNA being rewired. They would pass down the same genetic material that their parents passed onto them.

    4. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It only takes one OOPs to pass the genes, and there are an increasing number of females developing exactly the same "defect" which means that the chance of two "defective" individuals developing a relationship online that leads to procreating and thereby passing on yet the genes in an enhanced manner is fairly high. It would be far more accurate to call to admit that this "crisis" is not male only.

    5. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      That, and the free market. TFS puts it in plain sight: "I wish i was watching porn because I'll never get rejected [by porn]". So, suffering a male suitor shortage, women will lower their standards and rejection rates will go down. This will push more men back into old fashioned fornication. See, Adam Smith can really solve anything.

    6. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      In the long term yes; however, current evidence suggests they will do plenty of damage to themselves and others in the meantime (shit like GamerGate is just the beginning, mark my words). Hell the comments on this article are already filling up with videogame and pr0n addled 8channers angry that the evil feminists are going to take away their anime waifus

    7. Re:nature will breed it out by SpaceCommander · · Score: 1

      Nature will weed out the reward response for sex and female nudity? Sorry, but I think not.

    8. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      They will need more Cheetos.

      Then clients can ask for samples that tested negative for Cheetos residue.

    9. Re:nature will breed it out by durrr · · Score: 4, Funny

      And who can resist "4700 hours in Dota2"?

    10. Re:nature will breed it out by Adriax · · Score: 3, Insightful

      You read a couple thousand hours playing a single game.
      She reads "easily entertained and focuses on a single repetitive activity. Just have to stock up on learning games and mommy can have lots of Me time."

      --
      I don't suffer from insanity, I enjoy every minute of it!
    11. Re:nature will breed it out by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 1

      It's not their DNA being rewired. They would pass down the same genetic material that their parents passed onto them.

      GP is stating that they won't get the opportunity to pass on their genetic material...

      --
      Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
    12. Re:nature will breed it out by Jax+Omen · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Idk, my girlfriend of five years just spend all weekend (approx 30 hours of game time) playing Path of Exile with me, in the new 1 month challenge league.

      She's been having me teach her things so she can improve in League of Legends, and wants to get as good as I am so we can duoqueue together in ranked.

      There definitely are girls out there who are looking for nerds/gamers. The problem is most of them are subjected to so many supercreepy "oh there's a girl in voice chat in this raid I'm going to queue my mic and begin masturbating" and "white knight everything she says or does and follow her around like a puppy dog" type "gamer guys" that they're terrified of going anywhere near the rest of us nerds.

      I got lucky and found a girl who had been sheltered from online gaming, she had only played Nintendo games prior to meeting me.

      If nerds/gamers want to find women who won't reject them, they need to stop being awful people to every girl playing games first. Once gamer girls feel safe actually admitting to being girls in games online, gamer guys won't be rejected en masse by them anymore.

    13. Re:nature will breed it out by synapse7 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      They have it backwards.

      The masculinity crisis leads to porn and video game addiction.

    14. Re:nature will breed it out by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      And the reply is stating that that is irrelevant since it isn't a hereditary trait in the first place.

    15. Re:nature will breed it out by SirGeek · · Score: 1

      Idk, my girlfriend of five years just spend all weekend (approx 30 hours of game time) playing Path of Exile with me, in the new 1 month challenge league.

      She's been having me teach her things so she can improve in League of Legends, and wants to get as good as I am so we can duoqueue together in ranked.

      There definitely are girls out there who are looking for nerds/gamers. The problem is most of them are subjected to so many supercreepy "oh there's a girl in voice chat in this raid I'm going to queue my mic and begin masturbating" and "white knight everything she says or does and follow her around like a puppy dog" type "gamer guys" that they're terrified of going anywhere near the rest of us nerds.

      I got lucky and found a girl who had been sheltered from online gaming, she had only played Nintendo games prior to meeting me.

      If nerds/gamers want to find women who won't reject them, they need to stop being awful people to every girl playing games first. Once gamer girls feel safe actually admitting to being girls in games online, gamer guys won't be rejected en masse by them anymore.

      My wife and I game too (Notice - I said WIFE). We've been married for almost 24 years.

      We love games like DAI/Skyrim - She plays as a thief, I as a Warrior. And we like watching how the other solves issues (with totally different techniques too ).

      And the gamer guys need to stop believeing that they're never going to find someone (Well.. if you don't LOOK for a person, you can't find them)

      And like you said, Instead of treating them like "noobs"/etc. Or making childish/gamergate type comments, and start offering advice "You keep doing YYYYY and that usually causes you to get killed. Try doing ZZZZZZ instead. It might help you keep from dying as quickly."

    16. Re:nature will breed it out by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

      Stop. Read the article then comment. You'll look less like a moron.

    17. Re:nature will breed it out by iONiUM · · Score: 1

      Nature finds a way.

    18. Re:nature will breed it out by itzly · · Score: 3, Interesting

      since it isn't a hereditary trait in the first place.

      You are saying there's no hereditary trait that influences brain development and addiction levels to games and porn ?

    19. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      They also won't address the other aspect of this - our society puts no value on men. Neither do most young women, especially these days.

      Young men don't want to be walking wallets for greedy self-indulgent shrews to bilk. But that's increasingly what the modern woman foists offers them. We have a culture that's put women's desire for higher and higher status males into overdrive. We over-validate and over-reward women massively, and constantly shame and criticise young men just for being men. Education is entirely centred around girls and the workplace overtly discriminates against men - all based on nonsense claims that women are somehow oppressed.

      Young men have no expectations of being treated fairly, either in their personal life or at work. So they retreat into things they do enjoy.

    20. Re:nature will breed it out by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      No I'm saying the study in question doesn't provide evidence for that. And that's the topic surely.

    21. Re:nature will breed it out by Dcnjoe60 · · Score: 1

      being that many of them won't pass on their genes, nature will take care of it

      No, it won't. Regardless of whether somebody addicted to porn or video passes on their genes, future young men can still develop the addiction. One's parents don't have to use heroin for their offspring to develop an addiction to it.

    22. Re:nature will breed it out by itzly · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The subtopic of the GP post was about nature breeding it out. It doesn't matter if the article mentions hereditary traits, it's still a correct observation. Some men are much more interested in games and porn than others.

    23. Re:nature will breed it out by dead_cthulhu · · Score: 2

      You're far from the only couple. When I still played Warcrack, I was in one guild where half the raiders were couples playing together. There even was a couple who let their daughter stay up a bit on raid nights to join in as a healer. Everybody also had lives out of game, since these were some of the nicest, best-adjusted people I have ever known.

    24. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      No one should be surprised.

      Millennial males have looked. They examined and considered the state of today's courtship, relationships, pertinent legal conditions/rulings/precedent, cost-effort, culture - even WITHOUT including the femmifrenzy of the last year or two...

      ...and no one should be surprised they said "Screw that noise."

      The female experience will overlap on some of the second paragraph's points, so some decrease of interest on the other side would also be unsurprising.

      Pr0n 'n gaemz are a symptom of the bullshit. They aren't a perfectly matching peg, but apparently the substitution is adequate.

    25. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      If nerds/gamers want to find women who won't reject them, they need to stop being awful people to every girl playing games first.

      I've brought this proposal before the council, and they agreed. All nerds/gamers will henceforth stop being awful people to every girl playing games. Of course I might have just imagined that, and in reality I can not control how other people behave, so if their behavior means I can't play games with girls, then that's probably how it's going to be, isn't it?

    26. Re: nature will breed it out by bill_mcgonigle · · Score: 1, Informative

      even ignoring epigenetics, behaviors are absolutely patterned and conditioned by parents.

      --
      My God, it's Full of Source!
      OUTSIDE_IP=$(dig +short my.ip @outsideip.net)
    27. Re:nature will breed it out by itzly · · Score: 1

      One's parents don't have to use heroin for their offspring to develop an addiction to it.

      No, but your parents still need to pass the genes that help you enjoy heroin and get addicted to it. Some of the people with those genes would try heroin, and if they got addicted and didn't have children they wouldn't pass those genes on. Over the long run, the population would genetically drift towards having less heroin-addictive genes.

    28. Re:nature will breed it out by narcc · · Score: 5, Insightful

      You sound addicted to video games and porn.

    29. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      They will never experience the pleasure of fathering children but they will also never experience the nightmare of life after divorce...becoming a 4 day a month visitor to their own children...having all their money above absolute minimum subsistence confiscated no matter how much they make. Addiction is never a good thing but based on my past and recent experience, this isn't all bad. If I am not being clear enough, if you are not already married and/or with children, don't do it. The laws in every state and really in all of the western world to screw you as a man once you sign a marriage license and especially after you have children. Once you are married with children your wife owns you. If she is unhappy with the marriage, she can walk away with the kids and be made whole at your expense leaving you to pick up the shattered remnants of your life with no hope of a future at least until the kids turn 18...think about working an additional part time job for at least a decade making one quarter of what I make at my regular job (web application development) for the next decade and then some. That's the reality of marriage and children for the majority of men in America as most marriages will desolve within 10 years and over 70% of divorces are initiated by women. Don't get me wrong when I say this...I love all three of my kids...but I wish I would have known what I know now before marriage and children. There is no doubt that I would have stayed single and had a vasectomy. It is the only option to insure that a man stays in control of his own life. For all you single guys out there, this is the absolute best advice you will receive for a very long time. Nothing has ever impacted my life and my future more than my divorce.

    30. Re:nature will breed it out by Boronx · · Score: 1

      Resistance to the effect may be inherited. Interest in games at all may be inherited.

    31. Re:nature will breed it out by cayenne8 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Young men don't want to be walking wallets for greedy self-indulgent shrews to bilk. But that's increasingly what the modern woman foists offers them. We have a culture that's put women's desire for higher and higher status males into overdrive. We over-validate and over-reward women massively, and constantly shame and criticise young men just for being men. Education is entirely centred around girls and the workplace overtly discriminates against men - all based on nonsense claims that women are somehow oppressed.

      What is needed, is to teach young men, how to get into the mindset of women, what they need to say, and how to 'project' themselves so they can get laid more.

      Young men need to be taught it is a numbers game, Don't get hung up on one chick. When out, dress decently, be clean, and above all else, project confidence in yourself. You don't have to be that confident, just look at act that way. Act like you really don't give a shit if she wants you or not...be a bit aloof.

      They always want what is a bit tough for them to have. Take control of the situation, decide where you're going. Nothing wrong with being polite, opening doors, etc....but take charge.

      When you do approach and start talking, just learn some simple tricks...get THEM to talk about themselves, about their family...what they want and what they do. That way you don't have to really do that much for the conversation. And trust me, NO woman ever left a date complaining that she talked too much about herself.

      Simple steps like that are what makes it easy to get into her pants. And don't just target ONE girl. There are tons of them out there. Rejection can and WILL happen, but shrug it off and start to hit on her friend...hahaha. But seriously, just hit on as many as possible. And meet and approach women whenever and wherever you can. Outside of the bar scene is really choice. Simple as asking for the time, just approach, approach, approach.

      And if you're shy, and everyone starts out that way. Just walk up to women during the day, ask for the time...just think of it as practice....just talk to them. It doesn't even have to be one you want for anything, just practice.

      It isn't that hard, especially if you get over that feeling of "oh no, if she rejects me, I'll not know what to do the rest of my life.". Get a new mindset, hit on one you like, if it sticks have fun with it....if not, water off your back, she didn't matter...who's next?

      I'm not saying be an ass...but don't be the overly willing to please guy that will do anything for her and lets her call the shots. If you do that, you may as well be her gay friend, 'cause she's not going to sleep with you. Women like a challenge....be a bit of a challenge.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    32. Re:nature will breed it out by Em+Adespoton · · Score: 1

      I think this feeds back into the article -- the reason the nerds/gamers are so awful people to every girl playing games is that their social training in how to interact with girls comes from video games and porn. It's a cycle, and you need to break it somewhere. TFA suggests that this should be in the Sex Ed classes in school, where acceptable social interaction techniques should be taught along with "really -- sex can lead to disease and pregnancy if not done in a responsible manner (and sometimes even then)."

    33. Re:nature will breed it out by lister+king+of+smeg · · Score: 1

      > nature will take care of it

      Basically the evolutionary biologists version of "the market will find an equilibrium".
      Question: If nature breeds this stuff out, why does it exist?

      Because it was never a selection factor before because video games and instant access to porn are new on a evolutionary time-scale.

      --
      ---Saying gnome 3 is better than windows 8 not so much a compliment as it is damning with light praise.
    34. Re:nature will breed it out by Austerity+Empowers · · Score: 3, Insightful

      being that many of them won't pass on their genes, nature will take care of it

      Unless of course this is horseshit. Video games aren't new, porn definitely isn't new. Both have been around and easy enough to get for your average middle aged man that we would have already witnessed this social breakdown. Yet our genes carry forth, my children's schools are over capacity and building out. The desire to play video games or look at porn as an alternative to genuine social interaction has *always* been there. At the same time, most of us realize it's synthetic, the potato chip of the interaction (not to mention sexual) world. If anything video games and the internet are recreating the social isolation that used to be far more common when there were few people scattered farther from each other, and the best choice you had was writing a letter. As far as I'm concerned, being able to retreat into our heads more is a positive step forward, allowing us to defeat the lock-step committee approach to thinking we have depended on more heavily in the past 50 years, and allowing individualism a chance to reign again.

      There is only the perception that these things are new, and that perception is useful to get funding.

    35. Re:nature will breed it out by GameboyRMH · · Score: 2, Funny

      A gay friend of mine gets way more interest from girls than I do - he says next time a girl tries to "turn" him, he'll tell her that I'm gay and she should try to "turn" me instead XD

      --
      "When information is power, privacy is freedom" - Jah-Wren Ryel
    36. Re:nature will breed it out by Ryanrule · · Score: 2

      I'm not saying be an ass, but it helps.

    37. Re:nature will breed it out by aynoknman · · Score: 1

      being that many of them won't pass on their genes, nature will take care of it

      The pertinent question is "Will nature breed it out before society collapses?" The burden of a generation of men who aren't fulfilling the role that society requires of them is probably too much to bear.

      Expecting evolutionary processes to solve societal problems is similar to saying that global warming will be solved by the heat death of the universe.

      --
      We need a "+1 -- nice sig" moderation.
    38. Re:nature will breed it out by kuzb · · Score: 1

      You're assuming the problem is genetic in nature instead of a learned behaviour. In cases like this it doesn't matter if the genes are passed on or not. They're not a factor.

      --
      BeauHD. Worst editor since kdawson.
    39. Re:nature will breed it out by nanoflower · · Score: 1

      Why wouldn't they just start by doing the normal thing and treating the women/girls they meet as people, no different from the guys they meet. If a romance develops then the relationship changes but otherwise I'm not sure why anyone would take their cue from porn, and I can't think of many games that give any sort of clue (bad or good) on how to treat women.

    40. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Wrong. Women would rather share a high-ranking male than lower their standards to a lower-ranking one. Which is why through human history the majority of men didn't reproduce.

      captcha: stroke, looool

    41. Re:nature will breed it out by penguinoid · · Score: 2

      It would take an incredibly long time for nature to breed out fundamental traits that go back millions of years. For example, monkeys will refuse to pull a lever and get food, if they observe that other monkeys pull a lever and get more food. What we have now is crappy jobs for crappy pay, and a bunch of the job "openings" are fake ones with impossible and unnecessary requirements written so that management can prove they looked for but couldn't find qualified workers. And while it's not absolutely necessary to have a job/money for dating, popular perception is that it makes a huge difference.

      So, quite naturally, a lot of young men opt out. And the response is that they should "quit being addicted" and they should "man up". Not that "young men aren't interested in the current job market and we should do something to make it more attractive to them" or "young men aren't interested in a relationship where they have almost all the risks and responsibilities and are expected to conform to some twisted ideal besides".

      I say, let the free market take care of it. If enough young men go "on strike" then employers will have to offer them better jobs, else let them compete for the "real men". And if women can't compete with a picture, maybe that's their problem.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
    42. Re:nature will breed it out by itzly · · Score: 1

      The desire to play video games or look at porn as an alternative to genuine social interaction has *always* been there

      Always ? Pong wasn't available until 1972, and that's not exactly a game you could get addicted too. Porn was available, but not easily, and certainly not in video format. So instead of always, let's make that "has been there for 1 generation, maybe 2".

    43. Re:nature will breed it out by itzly · · Score: 1

      Damn those parents teaching the kids how to get addicted to porn and video games. Seriously, it's genetic, and even if it was learned, genetics can still influence what you learn.

    44. Re: nature will breed it out by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 3, Informative

      They don't treat the guys they meet well either - ever played a MOBA game? You'll get constant accusations of being a noob, and have various curses thrown at you until your standard of play is what they demand. Of course, I've seldom seen actual advice on how to play better, which would be far more productive.

    45. Re:nature will breed it out by peragrin · · Score: 2

      You need to ditch the games part. If a group of just sima
      Iarly aged males are together the social etiquette gets tossed. Fraternities have the same issues for relationships.

      --
      i thought once I was found, but it was only a dream.
    46. Re:nature will breed it out by Dcnjoe60 · · Score: 1

      One's parents don't have to use heroin for their offspring to develop an addiction to it.

      No, but your parents still need to pass the genes that help you enjoy heroin and get addicted to it. Some of the people with those genes would try heroin, and if they got addicted and didn't have children they wouldn't pass those genes on. Over the long run, the population would genetically drift towards having less heroin-addictive genes.

      Except that many things are addictive without a genetic predisposition. So even if all of the people with some sort of addiction never bred again, there would still be addictions. Most addictions do not have a genetic trait as much as we want to be able to say it's not our fault.

    47. Re: nature will breed it out by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 1

      On the flip side, my divorce has been relatively painless. Initiated by my wife, we agreed the only financial responsibilities we share are the house and my daughter. I pay maintenance for my daughter and we're splitting the house. She earns about what I do, so why fuss?

      I imagine the ferocity of your wife's attack lawyer varies depending on the grounds for divorce. In my case, we were just neglecting each other emotionally. I imagine in cases where there has been adultery, things get much worse.

    48. Re:nature will breed it out by AnontheDestroyer · · Score: 4, Insightful

      No, they will not adjust their standards, which are set by societal norms and unlikely to shift. The half with a low libido will just stop screwing around altogether, and the half with a strong libido will all go to the same fewer dudes over and over again.

    49. Re: nature will breed it out by multimediavt · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, not entirely if you read some more modern research on behavioral science. Behaviors are patterned by multiple input sources and feedback mechanisms, including: genetics (inherited traits), religion, societal norms of their country of residence or their heritage, direct training (e.g., etiquette classes), trauma (e.g., car accident, sexual assault, physical abuse) and social interactions with people from different cultural and experiential backgrounds, among others.

      In essence it's our experiences along with inheritance that model our behavior, whether that be at home or not.

    50. Re: nature will breed it out by Oligonicella · · Score: 3, Informative

      No, the ferocity of the wife's divorce lawyer is much more dependent on the ferocity of the divorcing wife, be she the offending party or not.

    51. Re:nature will breed it out by itzly · · Score: 1

      Except that many things are addictive without a genetic predisposition

      Really ? Heroin is addictive because it attached to certain receptors in the brain. These receptors are made by proteins, encoded by DNA. If you change the right gene, heroin won't be able to attach, or will attach in a different way, and maybe just make you nauseous and dizzy instead.

      So even if all of the people with some sort of addiction never bred again, there would still be addictions

      There would be much less.

      Most addictions do not have a genetic trait as much as we want to be able to say it's not our fault.

      Most do, and acknowledging that has nothing to do with who's fault it is. For instance, I get motion sickness from playing 3D games, that's why I never do it, and that's why I don't get addicted to them. I doubt that my motion sickness was learned.

    52. Re:nature will breed it out by z80kid · · Score: 1

      That's not too far off the mark. I've known men to wear wedding rings to get laid. Just about any pick-up book (or player) will tell you the same thing. The drastically simplified version is that it's some sort of silly conquest thing - she wants what is not available.

    53. Re:nature will breed it out by Salgak1 · · Score: 1

      Indeed. Wife and I both game. Both of us did Old EQ together for 8 years, she moved to WoW, I followed. Now she wants to try her hand at State of Decay, which I've been playing for nearly a year now. Besides, it makes buying for her EASY. Better Video Card. More Memory. Latest Game. And I know quite a few other Gamer Geek couples, when we played WoW, our guild was nearly ALL couples and their kids. . .

    54. Re:nature will breed it out by Daetrin · · Score: 3, Insightful

      It's "funny". Almost all guys who try to hit on girls get rejected, either right off the bat or after a brief period of dating when things don't work out. This happens especially often when people are first starting out and don't have a lot of experience. (Yes, there are the exceptions who spend their entire lives happily married to their first high school sweetheart, but they are very rare.) And yet not all of them end up deciding that women in general are horrible.

      Some guys get rejected and blame it on fate or chance or some other random factor and try again. In essence they accept that some people just aren't right for each other.

      And some guys get rejected and blame it on themselves, then they either mope for awhile, or try to improve themselves, then try again. (This is the category i fall into, it's probably not as healthy as the first option, but it seems far preferable to...)

      But some of them get rejected and blame the women. Maybe they were unlucky and were hitting on/involved with a bad apple, or maybe they're just projecting the personal problems in their own life on others. I don't know. I'm also not sure if they actually give up at that point, or continue on in the "sure knowledge" that the women they're hitting on are actually horrible feminazi golddiggers. Because hey, having sex with a horrible feminazi goldigger is still better than masturbation, right? (Reality not usually being black and white, it's probably a bit of both.)

      (And of course these aren't strict categories. Individuals may have have a tendency towards one of the categories but have a different response in a particular situation, or drift into another category over time. The switch from "blaming oneself" to "blaming the womens" seems to be a particularly popular one unfortunately.)

      I can say as a male that i've never felt under-valued or discriminated against, either in society or in the workplace. And certainly not every individual woman has valued me as much as i would like her to, but then there have also been at least one or two who valued me more than i really wanted them to. And despite the mismatches i have persevered and have had what i consider to be a reasonable number of relationships in my life, a couple short-term but mostly long-term.

      All of the women i've dated have been feminists to a greater or lesser degree. They've also all been generally good people (one or two of them were more interested in quick lay and then moving on to another conquest than anything long term, which made me a bit sad at the time, but that doesn't make them bad people.) None of them seemed to disrespect me or under-value me, and none of them were looking for a "walking wallet" to bilk. Obviously most of the relationships didn't work out in the long run, but it was never because they wanted more money or that they didn't respect me.

      Most of the women i know as friends or coworkers also seem like equally good people. I've never actually encountered anyone who was clearly looking for a "walking wallet", but perhaps as someone making slightly above the average middle-class income who doesn't tend to flash what money i do have i'm just not attracting the attention of such people. I've certainly heard of some specific women who may fit that bill, but they seem relatively rare. Likewise "feminazis" who actually hate men seem to be a lot rarer on the ground than the critics of feminism would have you believe.

      So the common thread i see is that men who see difficulties in dating as being due to chance or their own personal failings generally end up finding a woman who's worth being with, possibly after a number of false starts, but eventually. While men who blame women for the problems they encounter only seem able to attract women who want something other than a positive emotional relationship.

      The women i know, the ones who in my experience seem like decent human being and seem to make up the majority of the female population, usually seem to be pretty good at sensing when a g

      --
      This Space Intentionally Left Blank
    55. Re:nature will breed it out by LoverOfJoy · · Score: 1

      And here I thought Slashdot posted poorly written headlines to troll Slashdot readers.

    56. Re:nature will breed it out by zlives · · Score: 2

      move along citizen, between my wow and porn windows i don't have time to RTFA

    57. Re:nature will breed it out by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What is needed, is to teach young men, how to get into the mindset of women, what they need to say, and how to 'project' themselves so they can get laid more.

      e.g. as a male, you have no right to any expression of yourself as you are. Your intended function is purely to be what others want you to be, even if that means a hellish life of total self-abnegation.

    58. Re:nature will breed it out by CaptainLard · · Score: 1

      They aren't a perfectly matching peg, but apparently the substitution is adequate.

      Don't worry, there are plenty of perfectly matching pegs on the market as well...

    59. Re:nature will breed it out by PPalmgren · · Score: 4, Insightful

      There comes a point where this get old. I went through my phase in my late teens with this, and realized I hated being in any kind of relationship like that. I don't find enjoyment in getting laid if there's no emotion in it.

      The games take everything I value out of a relationship, so I decided I'm unwilling to play them. Regrettably, this means my relationships are fewer, but the one that recently ended was more meaningful to me than the previous five combined.

    60. Re:nature will breed it out by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 1

      Heroin was an over the counter cough rememdy for most of this country's history. Most of the people who used it did not become addicted to it. Addiction is a biochemical disorder in the production or action of various hormones, not a physical property of chemicals.

    61. Re:nature will breed it out by Jax+Omen · · Score: 1

      It's not fair that I get modded +5 and you're sitting at 0. Wish I could apply these modpoints I have but I've posted so hopefully someone else upvotes you.

    62. Re:nature will breed it out by iamhassi · · Score: 1

      the problem will solve itself with modern technology. Kids these days don't get a $500 xstation and a tv and all that. They get a iPad and play everything on there. And no I'm not talking about the 16 yr old that still plays playbox because that's all there was 10 yrs ago before tablets, I mean the 6 year old that does not remember life before iPad. Ask any parent with a child under 8 that has a iPad, they're glued to that thing morning until night. They even watch youtube videos of other kids playing on their iPads. And iPads are far more social than a xstation, they're carrying that around everywhere.

      --
      my karma will be here long after I'm gone
    63. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Pull your head out of your ass and look at actual pay data and stop believing the pay gap myth. There's a difference in how much you're paid and how much you earn. You're paid x an hour. You earn y based on how many hours you work. Men work more hours therefore earn more money. Your promotions is also bullshit. And what companies gives men paternity leave? Very very few. But of course, the womens! Forget giving men time to be with their family! But then you'll later blame men for being absent from their children's lives.

    64. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      tl;dr. What I skimmed from your word vomit was enough evidence that you're a moron.

    65. Re: nature will breed it out by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      On the flip side, my divorce has been relatively painless. Initiated by my wife, we agreed the only financial responsibilities we share are the house and my daughter. I pay maintenance for my daughter and we're splitting the house.

      It starts off like that - after all you're not even divorced yet and you are claiming that your divorce will be pain-free. Just wait till you get a new woman (or two). Your wife will do everything she can to use your kids against you, up to and including stripping you of all your money so that other women won't be an influence to "her" children.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    66. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      (And as an aside, if men are so under-valued why are movies and TV, and the merchandise associated with them, targeted at men so frequently? Do we have more money then the women? (In which case we're certainly not under-valued.) Or are we being catered to despite not having more money? (In which case we're actually being over-valued.))

      Are you talking about that kick-ass universal soldier routine they got going on TV shows? Y'know, guys sacrificing themselves so others would live? Gee, man, if your idea of 'valuable' is 'meat-shield', then I fully agree, TV is certainly geared that way.

      I hope you realize that your tryhard-subtle attempt at white-knighting won't get you any hump-hump action? Who am I kidding though, you guys never learn.

    67. Re:nature will breed it out by umghhh · · Score: 1

      Two things.
      One is this: nature does not work like you guys think it does. Its power is in producing apparently senseless types like us mama's basement dwellers because they may at some point in time be important for survival of the species. As unlikely as it may sound to you. If that were not so we would not have gays among us because they would be die off. We still have them around.
      Second thing is this: I am a basement type (have my own by now), I dislike social environs because they confuse me and I see no point in casual conversations in such setups, most of the normalos do not enjoy conversations with me all that much either so all is well. Yet I managed to get involved 'romantically' anyway and to pass on my genes. Well to be true I did not run the test so I just think I did - still I had some warm body to play with and reproduce. I returned to my basement years ago and go out only for exercise, work, food acquisition and some such, I also give up my basement life style when kids are around. So both things happen - random deviation in how genetic makeup works produce all different sorts of beasts and even the least attractive beast (from the perspective of majority) can find another beast ready to cooperate in reproduction like activities that, even if only accidentally, may actually produce offspring.

    68. Re:nature will breed it out by Cederic · · Score: 1

      Porn was available, but not easily, and certainly not in video format.

      You shitting me? Every babysitting job I ever did, there was video porn in the house.

    69. Re:nature will breed it out by DNS-and-BIND · · Score: 1

      Blaming the victim. What are we, as a society, doing to help these men learn how to find women? All I see is abuse heaped on them by people who get squicked out to discover that these men have sexual desires, too. It's like a national sport, everyone does it and to express any sympathy with these unwillingly celibate males is social poison.

      --
      Shutting down free speech with violence isn't fighting fascism. It IS fascism!
    70. Re:nature will breed it out by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      That's a pretty good post, but it could use a few more parentheticals.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    71. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I don't see women concluding their are a shortage of men. Women on mass, but not all of them, gravitate to Alpha males. And the alphas are banging them. I don't think many women care all that much about relationships, at least not till their old and no man wants them. In their prime they want the alpha genes for their offspring.

      Women are liberated now, they don't need some porn watching, video game playing beta male to support them any more. So they live by themselves and fuck alphas. I've spoken to many women and you'd be surprised by how many sex partners they've had...some in the hundreds. They just ignore the betas. No sweat of their backs.

      I do agree nature will breed out the betas as this pattern continues but I don't see Adam Smith solving the problem. Many would rather be single than date or marry beta males as is suggested by the high divorce rate.

      The only force I can think of right now that negates that pattern of fucking alpha males is family pressure to find a "nice" guy.

    72. Re:nature will breed it out by SmaryJerry · · Score: 1

      Not to sound like I'm negating your advice, but the shotgun approach is only one strategy and it has the most collateral damage. Woman hate to be asked over and over by random people and men hate to be rejected over and over. As you said practice is valuable but without a teacher it is damn near useless. Someone can learn 100 times faster with a mentor, don't quote me on that statistic, but it's true. Someones needs to guide them, which should have been their father or even mother, but preferably at least someone in their family that loves them unconditional. It may not be the right advice all the time, but that's where trial and error come in. Practice on top of good advice, now that is a winning combination.

    73. Re:nature will breed it out by Daetrin · · Score: 2

      Actually my girlfriend doesn't read slashdot. She's got a lot of geeky hobbies but she's not a programmer or a technology professional and most of the content here doesn't appeal to her. So she doesn't see any of what i write here and what i'm saying has zero affect on how much sex i do or not get.

      From what i understand the reason i actually get "hump-hump action" is because A: the first time my girlfriend saw me she thought i looked attractive (looks certainly aren't everything, but they are something) B: when she got the chance to interact with me i seemed to be a geeky person, and C: when she tried to talk to me about our shared geeky interests i responded in a friendly fashion and treated her like a human being. Oh yeah, and the little matter of D: she actually likes sex too.

      But i suppose it's always possible she's lying to me about that. Maybe she's following all my online accounts in secret and only rewards me with sex when i say nice things about women? I guess i have no way to prove otherwise. But hey, treating both halves of the human race like human beings makes me feel good, and if it also gets me sex then that's just a win-win. So i wouldn't complain about her "nefarious" plan even if it was true.

      However the fact that you think people like me only say good things about women in order to get into their pants would seem to say a lot about your own worldview. Would that be because you're not getting sex yourself and therefore no one else is either? Or do you just think that those of us dating feminists aren't getting sex and we're all lying about it because we're part of a massive conspiracy?

      As for the TV show/movie thing, i'm confused, you don't think people in the military are valuable human beings? Most reasonable people i know think that it's unfortunate when you can't solve matter peacefully, but that fighting to protect someone else is honorable. To quote Heinlein, one of my favorite authors "The most noble fate a man can endure is to place his own mortal body between his loved home and the war's desolation." Most of the women i know would actually like to see a bit more of women being soldiers and, when necessary, sacrificing themselves so that others might live.

      The most prominent examples in the movies right now are Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers. Teams of heroes fighting bad guys, each consisting of a bunch of men and one woman. So women (or at least a lot of the women i know) already feel a little excluded, and then when they go to stores they can't find any merchandise featuring the female characters to buy. So if you consider yourself to be a manly man and you don't like all those guys being kick-ass soldiers, then who's buying all the tickets and giving those studios billions of dollars? And who exactly is it that's being undervalued when the people who make the merchandise refuse to put female characters on most of it?

      --
      This Space Intentionally Left Blank
    74. Re:nature will breed it out by X0563511 · · Score: 1

      If nerds/gamers want to find women who won't reject them, they need to stop being awful people to every girl playing games first.

      The best way to do this is to stop treating them differently from anyone else. They are another person - leave it at that.

      Of course, that depends on you not being a complete scrote to everyone you come across online. Fix that, first.

      --
      For large sets, this will be our guide even unto death, for the LORD will work for each type of data it is applied to...
    75. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's dangerous to date since due process has been removed and you have to prove you're not guilty in the face of rape allegations.

      Being guilty until proven innocent... Having your entire life destroyed due to one horrible lying person who can report you anonymously on most college campuses. Yeah, there's a reason that some men are more than just bitter. Avoiding women is the smart thing to do when it becomes so dangerous to be around them.

      You've railed on and on, but you're just a clueless simpleton who doesn't know the reality of the situation.

    76. Re:nature will breed it out by juanfgs · · Score: 1

      no different from the guys they meet

      I despise online gaming, but in the little experience I have with gaming online guys usually treat each other like shit. Also they usually use whatever insult they can throw at you based on your nick or their knowledge about you, so if your nick is GamerGurl434 they'll probably call you a cunt. You're actually asking a preferential treatment to girls based on their gender.

    77. Re:nature will breed it out by Dcnjoe60 · · Score: 1

      Heroin was an over the counter cough rememdy for most of this country's history. Most of the people who used it did not become addicted to it. Addiction is a biochemical disorder in the production or action of various hormones, not a physical property of chemicals.

      Heroin was "invented" in the late 1800s as a less addictive alternative to morphine. By 1920 it was strictly regulated as a response to the 200,000 heroin addicts in the US. As such, heroin was readily available for maybe 50 years in the US and it was indeed addictive, which is what caused congress to act with the Dangerous Drug Act.

      Addiction is not a biochemical disorder. It is a biochemical process. Opiates, by their very nature, trigger responses in the brain that lead to addiction. It does not matter that some people can become addicted more readily than others. Heroin was an attempt to alter the physical property of morphine to make it less addictive. It worked, heroin IS less addictive than morphine, but it is still easy to become addicted to it. This is not because of a biochemical disorder in the brain, but because of the very way our brains work.

    78. Re: nature will breed it out by TechyImmigrant · · Score: 1

      No, not entirely if you read some more modern research on behavioral science. Behaviors are patterned by multiple input sources and feedback mechanisms, including: genetics (inherited traits), religion, societal norms of their country of residence or their heritage, direct training (e.g., etiquette classes), trauma (e.g., car accident, sexual assault, physical abuse) and social interactions with people from different cultural and experiential backgrounds, among others.

      In essence it's our experiences along with inheritance that model our behavior, whether that be at home or not.

      He said 'ignoring epigenetics', then you went on to tell him all about epigenetics.

      --
      I should use this sig to advertise my book ISBN-13 : 978-1501515132.
    79. Re:nature will breed it out by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 1

      The relationship between opioids, the brain, and addiction is similar to the one between sugars, the pancreas, and diabetes: you have an organ whose function is to regulate hormone levels in a feedback system. There is a chemical which stresses these feedback system which, while not inherently dangerous, can over time lead to the organ losing it's ability to continue the regulation. How likely this is to occur varies from one person to another.

    80. Re:nature will breed it out by Wootery · · Score: 1

      The smart bet without further evidence is 50:50.

      That's stupid. If you don't know, you should accept that you don't know, not simply invent a midpoint and run with it.

    81. Re:nature will breed it out by suutar · · Score: 1

      There's some speculation that addiction is a reaction to social situations - essentially, addicts become/stay addicts because they don't have anything better to do. Studies on mice with (I believe it was) heroin showed that mice with a better social setup (ability to connect with other mice) had both a lower addiction rate and a higher stop-being-addicted rate than mice kept in isolation. Let's see... ah, here's the article I saw about it. Very interesting stuff.

    82. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-harsh-truths-that-will-make-you-better-person/

      This should be required reading for every man.

    83. Re:nature will breed it out by rainer_d · · Score: 1
      Also, apparently a wedding ring functions as a kind of seal of quality: "He's enough above the complete douchebag level for someone else to find him nice enough to marry. I could choose worse".

      I've read from women who confess they get drawn to married men (or those they know are obviously engaged) while at the same time being super-embarrased about it. Yet, they catch themselves doing it over and over again.

      --
      Windows 2000 - from the guys who brought us edlin
    84. Re:nature will breed it out by Hussman32 · · Score: 4, Interesting

      As a father of two young girls, I'm rather conflicted.

      Anyone has to admit that for most of recorded human history, women have been suppressed (as they continue to be in many parts of the world). At the moment, women are occasionally getting the upper-hand, and not always because of merit. What men are seeing now is how it feels to be the under-served, and men don't like it.

      Someday we can hope the world will become a true meritocracy where people are only judged on their actions and merits, and the pendulum will stop swinging. Until then men are going to be eating the shit sandwich we've been serving for quite a while. That may be great for my girls, but not necessarily for me.

      --
      "Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment."
    85. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      >Why wouldn't they just start by doing the normal thing and treating the women/girls they meet as people, no different from the guys they meet.

      Um, hello? Have you ever seen how guys treat each other?

    86. Re: nature will breed it out by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      The problem isn't a shortage of gamer girls but rather a shortage of those willing to actually take care of themselves (of course, the opposite certainly holds true, as well: a shortage of healthy, attractive females who are into cerebral activities such as gaming, and aren't dumb, superficial cunts).

    87. Re:nature will breed it out by BobSutan · · Score: 2

      You should have been highly moderated. There's even a term for what you describe: HYPERGAMY. It's a shame more people don't understand this and how it affects women's mating strategy.

      --
      "On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
    88. Re:nature will breed it out by MBGMorden · · Score: 1

      And how far back was that? Not likely more than 30 years. A far cry from "always".

      --
      "People who think they know everything are very annoying to those of us who do."-Mark Twain
    89. Re:nature will breed it out by BobSutan · · Score: 1

      You've just described why the pickup artist subculture came into being.

      --
      "On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
    90. Re:nature will breed it out by Ayanami_R · · Score: 2

      BINGO!! We have a winner.

      IT isn't that the porn and video games have a higher priority, I think, in these people's minds. It is that dealing with women does not seem logically worth it in the long run. Chances are you are going to lose half your stuff, have your wages garnished forever, or have to deal with a person tha tis constantly making no sense in saying one thing and thinking another, and then doing another.

      Obviously not all women act this way, but in my experience, FAR TOO MANY do.

      --
      "Science is the power of man"
    91. Re:nature will breed it out by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      Women need to be taught to say what they mean and stop playing fucking games. If that happened the entire landscape would change.

      Well, they really haven't changed much in that respect likely since the beginning of time....so....LEARN to give them what they seem to really want, not what the "say" they want as that in practice, it is rarely the same thing.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    92. Re:nature will breed it out by cayenne8 · · Score: 1

      There comes a point where this get old. I went through my phase in my late teens with this, and realized I hated being in any kind of relationship like that. I don't find enjoyment in getting laid if there's no emotion in it.

      Well, you pretty much have to play the game to attract them in the first place...we're speaking in generalities here of course, but you have to come off a certain way for the majority of women to notice and be interested in you.

      Once you get past this barrier....and decide you want an emotional relationship with this woman, you can let down the guards a little and be more of yourself.

      But still...in the end, women, even in long term emotional relationships, in general, want a strong, assertive male presence. It seems to be in the DNA really.

      If you become all wishy washy and can be walked over, often times a good long term relationship can start to fail from her end, if she see's you as less of a decisive male.

      I'm just saying the two things are not mutually competitive. It takes a bit of playing the game to land one....and if it is a keeper, sure, have a deeper emotional relationship, be more of yourself and all....but don't quit being the man in the basic ways that attracted her to you in the first place.

      And sure...be equal in the relationship, but as a male...you need to pretty much always be just at least a tad more of the equal than her.

      I think, personally (and again generalities here) that it is mighty hard to undo centuries of evolution and things burned into male/female DNA even though society has tried to make these recent (historically speaking) changes.

      --
      Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
    93. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      For me, I have realized that I am not particularly attractive. I have a boyish face. I am a skinny dude with boney wrists, small hands. I have a boyish face, making me look 10 years younger than I am. I have a 14" neck and 28" waist, and I have no butt, it is simply flat. Also, no amount of working out has every produced those six pack abs. I am now approaching 50 and the only woman that I have dated used me as a wallet. At the end of our relationship, when I finally realized I needed to stop being abused, she told me the reason she dated me was for the money and I treated her well, but she was not attracted to me and never committed.

      I have gone through online dating with zero hits. I have had friends try to hook me up, but nobody was interested. I should have been gay because lots of men have hit on me. I don't blame women as a whole. They are attracted to certain body types and I don't have it. Personality doesn't trump perceived beauty; If there is no physical chemistry, it ain't happening. Therefore, I am done. On the plus side, I now lots of money to spend on myself.

    94. Re:nature will breed it out by Livius · · Score: 1

      I don't have a masculinity crisis. I'm not very masculine

      Perhaps we need a better word than 'crisis'.

    95. Re:nature will breed it out by Livius · · Score: 1

      project confidence in yourself. You don't have to be that confident, just look at act that way.

      Not everyone wants to be dishonest about who they are.

    96. Re:nature will breed it out by Livius · · Score: 1

      I can say as a male that i've never felt under-valued

      You might not have as much insight into rejection as you think.

    97. Re:nature will breed it out by Hussman32 · · Score: 1

      I'm not an SJW, but I know that you are an AC.

      --
      "Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment."
    98. Re:nature will breed it out by Fire_Wraith · · Score: 1

      One bit of advice I've heard is that all men have roughly the same rejection rates - the successful ones just try more often than not, because there's really no opportunity cost for asking other than what you yourself assign to it, and the rather minor amount of time it took to ask (which is even less now with the advent of the internet).

    99. Re:nature will breed it out by Pfhorrest · · Score: 1

      You speak as though "societal norms" are something that comes from beyond the people in society.

      "Their standards" in aggregate, and the societal norms, are the same thing. If enough individuals shift their standards, the societal norm for standards shifts in aggregate.

      --
      -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
      "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
    100. Re: nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Still doesn't help those of us men who are between the generations. Most of the millenial girls in their 20s will not date older men because they don't seem to care about income or stability, and their peers have full view of situation on social media, and the few who think it is weird for a 27 year old to date a 30-something have a disproportionate voice in the matter. Meanwhile the oldest millenial girls and older purposefully date way older men and avoid younger ones, and social media doesn't really factor in.

      I'd get out more if I had a partner but I really don't enjoy going stag to anything. And why bother looking, when all what is out there is garbage...single moms, pill addicts, morbidly obese...basically women who are social outcasts due to poor decision making.

      You'd think an athletic guy with an engineer's income would be a hot commodity! Nope. Millenial women only seem to get interested in that when they've shit out a few love children and are desperate to move out of their parents' house. Or need money for Oxys. Or someone who has let themselves go so far I'd only think about them to stave off an unexpected boner at the office...sigh.

      Maybe my standards are too high but I've dated all of the above and gave it my best, but all in all I'd rather play video games in my spare time than pretend I'm attracted to someone just to have an event partner and to avoid the guilt of masturbation.

    101. Re: nature will breed it out by Richard+Dick+Head · · Score: 1

      Still doesn't help those of us men who are between the generations. Most of the millenial girls in their 20s will not date older men because they don't seem to care about income or stability, and their peers have full view of situation on social media, and the few who think it is weird for a 27 year old to date a 30-something have a disproportionate voice in the matter. Meanwhile the oldest millenial girls and older purposefully date way older men and avoid younger ones, and social media doesn't really factor in.

      I'd get out more if I had a partner but I really don't enjoy going stag to anything. And why bother looking, when all what is out there is garbage...single moms, pill addicts, morbidly obese...basically women who are social outcasts due to poor decision making.

      You'd think an athletic guy with an engineer's income would be a hot commodity! Nope. Millenial women only seem to get interested in that when they've shit out a few love children and are desperate to move out of their parents' house. Or need money for Oxys. Or someone who has let themselves go so far I'd only think about them to stave off an unexpected boner at the office...sigh.

      Maybe my standards are too high but I've dated all of the above and gave it my best, but all in all I'd rather play video games in my spare time than pretend I'm attracted to someone just to have an event partner and to avoid the guilt of masturbation.

    102. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Seriously? All women are great forever and it is always the men who suck/are scary/are evil/are messed up? Do you self-flagellate as restitution for being an oppressor of women due to having a penis?

      I've dated a number of girls in my life. I'm confident, decent looking, fit, intelligent. I can almost immediately break the ice and loosen tensions, get a girl laughing within seconds of meeting her. I truly and deeply respect women and I've always been a total gentleman to women I've dated. I don't get jealous because I'm trusting, I don't get clingy because I'm secure in myself and my value, I'm completely honest, easy to talk to, I don't have even a hint of a temper, I'm very patient, and I'm genuinely interested in listening to what just about anybody, including women, has to say, and I'm interesting, adventurous, open minded, and do/have done some wild things adding to mystery. By most measures, I'm a pretty damn good catch and I work on improving myself for myself as well as for others like it is a damn compulsion.

      I've had 2 separate 3 year relationships, as well as several short relationships. The first long relationship the girl cheated on me every couple months, was financially abusive, using me for living expenses and to cover her cost of living while doing nothing in return to help, she was insulting and hurt my self esteem in extreme and unhealthy ways. She bullied me and left me for one of the men she was cheating on me with. After she got into an argument with her new BF one night when we still lived together, she came into my room, mounted me without asking when I was half-passed out, and fucked me. When I told her new boyfriend she claimed it was rape, and luckily nobody called her bluff and took her to the cops or my life would have been ruined for something she did to me and boys she met before me.

      The second long term relationship lied about birth control and poked holes in my condoms, immediately getting pregnant and lying to me about how. At first she seemed really sweet and made all kinds of promises about keeping me in my daughters life, planned a future with me, told me all kinds of wonderful things. Then she started cheating on me with my best friend, insulting me constantly, started pushing me around, even going so far as to break my arm on one occassion, and then ran off, stole all my copies of my daughters paperwork, and hides her address so that I can't take legal action to get back into my daughters life without considerable expense that she knows I can't afford (partly because she also stole money and used me for money).

      Out of the minor relationships, 3 cheated on me, one was setting me up for a false rape allegation but I refused to have sex with her even though she kept trying to force me (I would have been her 12th false accusation, she made a lifestyle of going after men and then accusing them of rape to ruin their lives).

      So I would, from personal experience, contest your claim that all men are evil shitbags ruling over society and that all women are wonderful little angels sent from above.

      Women do have more economic and social power and fully equal legal rights. Women's products cost more than men's products for the same thing because they have more to spend and are more willing to spend it, look up the "pink tax" it is not true that men are more targeted by advertisers than women, women are in fact the dominant consumer market and have been for decades, even in the 50s and 60s, a paradise for misogynist assholes, most consumer products were targeted towards women because they had the power of the family's money, not the men, even though the men earned it.

      I believe in equality and empowerment for ALL genders, male, female, trans, bigendered, genderqueer, you name it, even agenders even though I find them creepy. I don't support feminism, because the core principles of modern feminism are not good. Standpoint theory, the dominant academic principle behind virtually all modern feminist research, is completely anti-empirical and anti-scientif

    103. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      What men are seeing now is how it feels to be the under-served

      The undertone being "turnabout is fair play", right? First of all, that women have been suppressed for most of recorded human history would not justify doing the same to men, if that were the case. The boys you're turning the tables on had nothing to do with that. That said, I don't think it's a matter of "feeling under-served", not liking their "new role". It looks more like they don't want to try and fill an impossible mixture of roles ("provider for the feminist wife") and particularly aren't attracted to women who (seem to) demand this role mix of them. And these women are getting pickier: Women traditionally seek "upward" relationships. Independent, educated women, even though they're self-sufficient and don't need a provider, don't go for men who couldn't provide for their upscale desires.

      Secondly, what you're seeing isn't defiance. These young men don't secretly want relationships, but withhold themselves to make a point or to coerce women into renouncing feminism. No, it's at best indifference, if not outright rejection. They literally don't want girlfriends. In their mind, a relationship "costs" more than it's worth. It's not just the cost side either: Consider that they see divorces not just as statistics but as live examples in their daily experience of what to expect from a relationship.

      And finally, that is not great for your daughters. Men are growing particularly wary of women in their mid to late thirties. They seem to have exceptionally bad luck with contraceptives and get pregnant just by looking at babies. In generations past, few women that age were single anymore. But today, young women want to have their own careers first. By the time they decide to have kids after all, they are in a bit of a rush to find Mr. Right. Now consider a dating pool where an increasing number of men simply don't want a relationship, especially not with a woman who wants kids, quickly. But the clock is ticking so someone has to be it, and almost inevitably, given her status and expectations, she "settles". This has failed marriage with kids written all over it, and even though women usually have the upper hand in that situation, it's not really something you can want for your daughters. And who would blame men for not wanting any part of that.

    104. Re: nature will breed it out by cyber-vandal · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Are you saying men haven't suffered any pain at any point? Forced conscription for one. I recommend The Myth of Male Power for the other side of the feminist "men as oppressors" narrative.

    105. Re:nature will breed it out by Hussman32 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      You're making interesting points. I'm not saying it's fair play, but it is what is happening.

      It drives me nuts that in the eyes of extremists all men are assumed to be a potential child molesters if they were to hug a child that's not their own, we are all assumed potential rapists, and we are all evil oppressors of women.

      What got us this way is that some very few men were, and now all of us are paying the price for it.

      Re your second point. What I wonder is how much of it is related to parenting. Are the parents of the disinterested young men letting the games babysit for them instead of them interacting with them? I know kids are stubborn, but if you take away the game and force them to play, they will eventually do it. Parents need to show them the media stories are exaggerated, life is not inherently stacked against them, and that having meaningful relationships is healthy.

      A lot of what you mentioned in your last paragraph is spot on, and I worry about that. I'd love for my girls to have a career and family too, my wife and I started in our mid-30s and while I don't think either of us settled, waiting could have led us to do so. The problems now and in the future will be different than what they were then, hopefully they won't be getting fondled at work for a chance at a promotion.

      --
      "Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment."
    106. Re:nature will breed it out by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      As a father of two young girls, I'm rather conflicted.

      Anyone has to admit that for most of recorded human history, women have been suppressed (as they continue to be in many parts of the world).

      This is a tremendous time to be a woman in America.

      The problem as I see it is that as men are being turned off in droves because everything in the world is our fault, we make dongle jokes and have mortally offensive playboy models from 1972 disgracing our computer classes, which somehow causes young women to avoid STEM careers, I suspect that tremendous time will not be a long lived one.

      I would guess that more and more males will just decide that with all the conflicting feedback - but always with th etheme that the male is always wrong, they will decide that relationships with women are simply not worth the hassle or danger.

      Ironically, I believe we are spending too much time listening to women who want that exact situation.

      But the problem is, since many males have just given up on the idea of a real relationship with a real woman, there might be a sort of "baby crisis" that envelops. Women and men are both subject to the same drives, but since we haven't succeded in universal parthenogenisis, and men can get the extent of their sexual gratification more easily, that women's drive to produce children might be running into some problems.

      I know if I were in that group, I'd probably just stay single.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    107. Re: nature will breed it out by Hussman32 · · Score: 1

      Not at all, men have been the mules of our society. My point is that things will change, not that men have had it easy. and I see the intricacies (men have always gone to battle and got maimed, for instance).

      I'll check out your reference.

      --
      "Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment."
    108. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Adam Smith... the Adam Smith who lived from 1723 to 1790? He narrowed down Charles Darwin's tautology? The Charles Darwin who lived from 1809 to 1882?

      He truly was prescient.

    109. Re:nature will breed it out by Ol+Olsoc · · Score: 1

      Really ? Heroin is addictive because it attached to certain receptors in the brain. These receptors are made by proteins, encoded by DNA. If you change the right gene, heroin won't be able to attach, or will attach in a different way, and maybe just make you nauseous and dizzy instead.

      Addiction tends toward people with addictive personalities, or those without a terribly meaniful life, upset or depressed.

      A person who say, uses morphine for pain, isn't necessarily going to become an addict. But for the depressed, or addictive, the rush of euphoria is hard to hate.

      As an example, I was put on a morphine type pain killer for a time around 15 yeas ago for a hockey accident that mangled my ankle and associated ligaments. Seriously painful stuff. I think it was two weeks of some pretty heavy duty pain killer. And yes, I did get the euphoric rush. But as soon as the pain was manageable by NSAIDS, I stopped cold. There was a short term shakiness, but I had no intention of taking any of that shit again. No addiction, didn't even think about taking any more.

      --
      The shepherds did so well protecting the flock that the sheep no longer believed that wolves existed.
    110. Re:nature will breed it out by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Your intended function is purely to be what others want you to be, even if that means a hellish life of total self-abnegation.

      You don't get to escape the consequences of your decisions - reality doesn't work that way.

      If "expressing yourself" means "eating nothing but junk food every day, all day, in diabetes-inducing volumes," then you will of course end up an obese, diabetic, malnourished train wreck.

      If "expressing yourself" means "doing nothing but playing video games all day," then you will of course end up a pale, introverted person who doesn't know how to talk to people who don't play video games all day.

      If "expressing yourself" means "jerking off to porn constantly and avoiding all entanglements with real human beings," then you will of course end up without a real human being in your life to have sex with (unless you pay money, I suppose - but then that's just porn you're paying to produce, in a way.)

      The world was ever this way, and the world will always be this way. If you don't play an instrument - can you legitimately call yourself a musician? If you haven't actually written anything more than posting a dumb comment on reddit, can you legitimately call yourself a writer? If you've never had an actual relationship with another human being, can you legitimately claim that you've got a lot to offer someone? If you've never put down the video game controller to engage in some other activity, can you legitimately claim you have a lot of interesting things to talk about with someone who doesn't spend their days in front of a console?

      Sorry friend - coffee's for closers, and real artists ship. What is the essential "you" if your "expression" of yourself is someone who's so afraid of women that they retreat behind a wall of misogyny, and spend all their free time playing video games? Because that doesn't suggest that there's some stellar, stunning, amazing butterfly just waiting to burst forth from his cocoon - it suggests to me that you want people to love you even though you make no effort to be the sort of person people might love.

      Your hellish life of total self-abnegation is self-inflicted, friend. Your pain is self-chosen.

    111. Re: nature will breed it out by just+another+AC · · Score: 1

      or TLDR: Nature vs Nurture - both play a role

    112. Re:nature will breed it out by rtb61 · · Score: 1

      Either that or more women will be into playing computer games and watching porn and thus compatibility is re-achieved. So what is the real problem here, is it because playing computer games and watching free 'pron' is way, way cheaper then the older mass consumer demanded methods of male female social interactions. Expensive restaurant, theatre, suitable clothing, suitable jewellery, suitable car, suitable make-up and proof of interests by spending a suitably large amount of money on the relationship and of course the individual involved all pretending to be the marketable image of what a person should be. So wanted, gamer porn watching pal to share relationship or wanted mass consumerism victim of marketing pal to share relationship (you can guess which relationship will end up with a bigger bank balance and enjoy early retirement to spend more time playing games and watching free 'pron' together).

      Is just that males have stopped buying into mass consumerism designed relationship before females, simply because males tend to be less socially conformist than females (hunter versus gatherer) and are women catching up https://www.youtube.com/watch?....

      --
      Chaos - everything, everywhere, everywhen
    113. Re:nature will breed it out by just+another+AC · · Score: 1

      Someday we can hope the world will become a true meritocracy where people are only judged on their actions and merits

      If we go to a meritocracy where sex is ignored, society will have to accept men and women will not be equal. So we are in a catch 22.

      The clearest example here is sport (which is probably the closest to a meritocracy too). It is safe to say that for most sports men are biologically superior on average due to our body chemistry. A pure meritocracy means women must be treated identical to men and compete against them. This will wipe out sporting opportunities for all but a handful of the worlds female athletes.

      Do we give women equal numbers of opportunities regardless of their relative ability by segregating them into their own league? Or do we treat them the same as men and acknowledge that this field will be 99.9% male dominated. ... Now please re-read the above and:
      Substitute "sport" for a type of job (and "men" for "women" if you wish) - we are back in present day society where people scream discrimination because numbers aren't 50/50.

      We are moving away from a meritocracy not towards in the name of equality. I find this strangely ironic in a way.

    114. Re:nature will breed it out by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1

      If nerds/gamers want to find women who won't reject them, they need to stop being awful people to every girl playing games first. Once gamer girls feel safe actually admitting to being girls in games online, gamer guys won't be rejected en masse by them anymore.

      The lack of self-awareness in your post is astounding. Women have been online forever. What's driving them away is is the very same bullshit meme you're spreading right now. The people most awful to women online are the SJWs screaming racial slurs like "House Ni***er" at them and convincing women that the entire universe is out to get them.

      Stop spreading this bullshit, you're just another self-aggrandizing toxic loser trying to control women through fear while talking up how you're not "like other guys".

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    115. Re:nature will breed it out by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 2

      Most of them aren't "woe-is-me"-ing. They're say "society offered a choice between X and Y, and after weighing the relative benefits, we decided we prefer Y". We're not the ones going "OMG, they didn't choose X! MASCULINITY CRISIS!!"

      The problem with the article is people like you are failing to realize the harsh truths run both ways:
      1. The world only cares about what it can get from me / I only care about what I can get from the world.
      2. What I Produce Does Not Have to Make Money, But It Does Have to Benefit People / People don't have to pay me to cooperate, but I do expect to benefit from doing so.
      3. I Hate Yourself Because I Don't Do Anything / I hate you because you don't do anything for me.
      4. What I Am Inside Only Matters Because of What It Makes Me Do / Society only matters because of what it does for me.
      5. Everything Inside Me Will Fight Improvement / Society will also fight improvement.

    116. Re:nature will breed it out by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 2

      And like you said, Instead of treating them like "noobs"/etc. Or making childish/gamergate type comments, and start offering advice "You keep doing YYYYY and that usually causes you to get killed. Try doing ZZZZZZ instead. It might help you keep from dying as quickly."

      Right. Sure. Whatever you say. You're TOTALLY on the right side of this one buddy. "Oh look at all these horrible evil no good men.. but I'm not like that! Honest!"

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    117. Re:nature will breed it out by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 2

      Or maybe, here's a thought, that's actually just a shitty meme invented by the same people who spent their entire lives bullying nerds/gamers and who now spend their days trying to manipulate and control women through fear.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    118. Re:nature will breed it out by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      You are blaming the wrong group. It's not women who are the problem, or feminism. It's the lack of men's liberation.

      Back in the 50s many women tried to live up to an ideal that men wanted, much as you describe women wanting now. Thin, beautiful, a good housewife, doesn't speak too much, dedicates herself to her man and her family while he goes out to work and then the bar with his friends.

      Then in the 60s women were liberated. They rejected the old ideal and did what they wanted to do. They had careers, dressed how they pleased, didn't get married so early etc. It worked out well for them, and didn't result in the end of civilisation or marriage and families or anything like that.

      Interestingly many of the problems men not have are mirrored by women in the 50s and 60s. They feel exploited by the opposite sex, and develop psychological problems.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    119. Re:nature will breed it out by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Forget all that, the best advice has always been and still is to be yourself. I mean your real self, not some macho bullshit version or overly nice. Just act normal and things will fall into place, because you both feel at ease.

      All these games and schemes are pointless. You might get laid once or twice but forget about real relationships.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    120. Re:nature will breed it out by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      If you change "male" to "female" then that's exactly what feminists were saying back in the 60s. You can fix the problem by adopting feminist ideals. Feminists want the same liberation for men, always have.

      This is what they mean by the patriarchy. Not men in charge or dominating, but a society where both men and women feel that they have to be something they are not. Something that existed as an ideal historically, and which needs to be abandoned.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    121. Re:nature will breed it out by russotto · · Score: 1

      If you change "male" to "female" then that's exactly what feminists were saying back in the 60s. You can fix the problem by adopting feminist ideals. Feminists want the same liberation for men, always have.

      Meanwhile your fellow SJW PopeRatzo is busy razzing men for being unmasculine "pissbabies"; the masculine idea, of course, is to never complain.

    122. Re:nature will breed it out by ultranova · · Score: 1

      It's a shame more people don't understand this and how it affects women's mating strategy.

      I understand it means there's no problem: some people get their kicks out of video games and pornography and the rest get them from either having or being part of a harem. Everybody wins.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    123. Re:nature will breed it out by Beck_Neard · · Score: 1

      I think a good question to ask is: "WHY is it important that young men sit in classes and approach real women?"

      (Btw, I'm not defending these men at all; hear me out)

      An unsatisfactory answer would be: "Because that's the normal thing to do." But why is it normal? "Because everyone else is doing it."

      A more satisfactory answer would be: "Because long-term, doing those activities will result in more personal growth and more life satisfaction than watching porn and playing video games." But then you have to ask if that is actually true. Certainly for some people it is better to have a higher education and to get married. But realistically, for a lot of people nowadays, education means nothing but crushing student debt and approaching women means nothing but the depressing reality of having to deal with obnoxious women who are entitled and pampered and think the universe owes them everything.

      Faced with this reality, I can empathize with men who choose not to live the 'normal' path. But at the same time, sitting at home all day watching porn isn't a good life path. There is a third way: Following your passions, taking up challenges, making up your own rules and living life your own way.

      --
      A fool and his hard drive are soon parted.
    124. Re:nature will breed it out by khallow · · Score: 1

      That which survives: survives.

      It's not a tautology because "survive" is being used here in two different senses and referring to different things.

      The only insight of Darwinian evolution is that the process of speciation will demonstrate statistical bias through the law of large numbers.

      Speciation is one consequence of Darwinian evolution - there are others. And it is a pretty deep insight which doesn't deserve your derisive tone.

    125. Re:nature will breed it out by ultranova · · Score: 1

      "Their standards" in aggregate, and the societal norms, are the same thing. If enough individuals shift their standards, the societal norm for standards shifts in aggregate.

      No, because people have no magical way of knowing that aggregate, but must observe other members of the group to learn it. And, being social animals, people tend to hide any action that goes against the perceived norms of the group. Thus you can easily end up in a situation where the societal norms of the group, as perceived by group members, are very different from the standards of any particular individual within it.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    126. Re:nature will breed it out by khallow · · Score: 1

      No, because people have no magical way of knowing that aggregate

      You don't need to know it to be part of it.

    127. Re:nature will breed it out by Stoutlimb · · Score: 1

      "Anyone has to admit"

      No, they don't. Men and women have and had different gender roles, but suppression I disagree with. You are repeating a feminist lie that has led our society to our current problems. Even in Afghanistan, women aren't nearly as oppressed as western media would have us believe. Here's a discussion about the subject by a highly esteemed person who is much smarter than me.

      https://youtu.be/5eqYEVYZgdo

    128. Re:nature will breed it out by Macgrrl · · Score: 1

      What, treat women as a person, rather than an opponent to be conquered - but they might get friendzoned if they do that. :(

      --
      Sara
      Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
    129. Re:nature will breed it out by meta-monkey · · Score: 1

      I have a son and a daughter and that's basically how I feel. It looks like society is rolling out a red carpet for my daughter, and that's awesome. I want her to have every opportunity!

      My son, however, is going to have an uphill battle his whole life.

      --
      We don't have a state-run media we have a media-run state.
    130. Re:nature will breed it out by Crazy+Taco · · Score: 1

      Don't be absurd. There's no evidence that it's inherited, and he's arguing that it is a result of events in the person's life. It's entirely nurture.

      I don't know if it's entirely nurture, but I do think that's a big part of it. My wife and I are Millennials, and when we grew up all these technologies like the Internet and video games were coming in and I don't think anyone thought too much about it. I know I've played a lot of video games in my time and wasted absolutely copious hours online, though I don't look at porn both for the sake of my wife and because I'm a Christian and it isn't right. But Internet and video games seem to be enough to cause problems even without porn... I'd actually wondered if they weren't rewiring my brain several years ago as I began to notice how hard a time I had putting down my smart phone and just being able to sit quietly without technology in my hand.

      My wife and I have three children, and we've realized phones, iPads, etc have become so ubiquitous they're interfering with our ability to spend time with our kids and raise them well. It's just way too easy to grab one of those and not talk at the dinner table, or to completely numb out in the evenings. We are lucky that we are old enough to remember a time before the technology when we were different, because we can see that changes have happened and we've realized we don't like the changes. We're actually turning things off as a result. We've deactivated our facebook accounts, the iPad stays pretty much just at work where I use it only to read work related research materials, and my wife is going back to a flip phone with no real Internet browser (and I may follow her shortly). Oh, and my giant flight simulator hookup is up for sale too. Our oldest child will be six this summer, and I'm just hoping we haven't lost too much time, and that the rewiring can work the other way.

      While a lot of people would say I'm pretty successful, as I've gotten a lot of promotions at work and make a good income and have an intact family, still I don't think I'm really reaching my potential as a Dad, husband, Christian, or even engineer because of all these distractions. So here's to turning it back off and partying like it's 1995 again, with an isolated, inconvenient to access desktop being the primary way to get online and discouraging access.

      --
      Beware of bugs in the above code; I have only proved it correct, not tried it.
    131. Re:nature will breed it out by Macgrrl · · Score: 2

      Blaming the victim. What are we, as a society, doing to help these men learn how to find women?

      There are women everywhere - have you tried looking down the back of the sofa? Maybe if 'finding a woman' is important to them they should work on developing traits/behaviours that are attractive to women. If it's not as important as perfecting the headshot in COD - well, we know what they are more likely to achieve.

      All I see is abuse heaped on them by people who get squicked out to discover that these men have sexual desires, too.

      As opposed to all the abuse heaped on women who acknowledge that they might have sexual desires of their own. Slut-shaming sexually active women is probably not the fastest way into their pants.

      Stop treating women (or men) as the enemy. Relationships are largely about common ground, that goes for friends or lovers. If the only people you have anything in common with is a bunch of misogynistic haters who treat 50% of the population with disdain it's going to be difficult to form a meaningful bond with people that don't share your worldview.

      "Blaming the victim" is telling a rape victim they shouldn't have been wearing a mini-skirt - they were asking for it. Telling guys to get out from behind the computer screen and talk to women as if they were people isn't victim blaming. It's telling them to take responsibility for their choices in how they interact with the world at large.

      PUAs aren't helping - they aren't trying to teach guys how to form a relationship, they are teaching guys to treat women as disposable conquests. You're not going to find a life partner that way. To spend 40+ years with someone, you'd want to actually like them.

      --
      Sara
      Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
    132. Re:nature will breed it out by Macgrrl · · Score: 1, Interesting

      From the studies I've seen, most men are financially as well off within 2 years of divorce as they were before, whereas most women at significantly behind where they were for a decade or more after divorce - and that's after getting the house and the kids.

      Most 'stay-at-home-moms' have no retirement savings, they aren't qualified for well paying jobs, they still have the upkeep on the house and kids to cover, the support payments men complain about so often generally don't cover 100% of those costs (I'm not saying it should).

      People don't get divorced for the fun of it and it is extremely rarely for financial gain. Sure, we see the odd story of some super wealthy guy who marries a gold digger who takes him for millions - but that's not the norm.

      That's like people who think teenagers get pregnant for the increase in benefit payments - the costs generally exceed any increase in welfare payment - it's not a profit making option.

      Marriage should be like a tattoo - don't get one unless you plan to keep it forever. But if you really need to, there should be an option for getting rid of it. It's better than going through the rest of your days miserable.

      --
      Sara
      Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
    133. Re:nature will breed it out by Macgrrl · · Score: 1

      This should be required reading for everyone.

      FTFY

      --
      Sara
      Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
    134. Re: nature will breed it out by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      Unless by 'look after themselves' you mean you don't find them physically attractive and think you deserve a 8/10 or better

      My exact words were "take care of themselves" and yes, that's what I meant... but the issue is why:

      When people (regardless of gender) respect themselves enough to take responsibility for their decisions (particularly where those decisions pertain to health, diet, hygiene, exercise, etc), it's impressive, and those people aren't just likely to be more physically attractive (i.e. "superficially"), they're likely to be more attractive period (i.e. psychologically, emotionally, hell biologically).

    135. Re: nature will breed it out by WRX+Gav · · Score: 1

      Somewhat ironic given mules are all female.

      Say what now? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M...

    136. Re: nature will breed it out by Type44Q · · Score: 1

      The fact that I'm having to explain something [so obvious] simply proves my point: there's a real disconnect with a lot of techie-types; they're utterly unable (even unwilling) to correlate their lifestyles with their utter inability to get laid...

    137. Re:nature will breed it out by NostalgiaForInfinity · · Score: 1

      Of course it is known to be hereditary, in the sense that there are already thousands of common mutations that can prevent porn and/or video game addiction. Extreme examples are blindness to attention deficits and problems with motor control, but there are likely much more subtle ones that aren't otherwise very harmful. If such "addictions" are harmful to reproductive success, then one or more of these mutations will be selected for, balancing out the harm caused by the mutation against the benefit from not suffering from those "addictions".

      So, yes, nature will breed these behaviors out fairly quickly if, in fact, they are harmful, even if there is no obvious gene associated with them right now.

    138. Re:nature will breed it out by NostalgiaForInfinity · · Score: 1

      Humans are a fairly diverse species and you can't make such blanket statements. Some women may prefer sharing a high-ranking male, others may prefer a stable pair bond. Which they prefer is determined by a mix of circumstance, genetics, and culture. And, of course, often, polygamy wasn't the result of choice on the part of women, it was the result of force or environment.

    139. Re:nature will breed it out by NostalgiaForInfinity · · Score: 2

      Anyone has to admit that for most of recorded human history, women have been suppressed

      Not at all. In many societies, women have wielded enormous power, just power that's different from the kind of power men have. It's quite ironic that in the US, feminism has actually served to diminish this power greatly.

      What men are seeing now is how it feels to be the under-served, and men don't like it.

      As a man, I don't speak out against people like you out of fear of losing privileges or "eating shit sandwiches", it's simply because I object to your sexism and bigotry. And make no mistake: what passes for feminists these days isn't hurting men, they are hurting women.

    140. Re:nature will breed it out by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      Now please re-read the above and:
      Substitute "sport" for a type of job (and "men" for "women" if you wish) - we are back in present day society where people scream discrimination because numbers aren't 50/50.

      The assumption here is that 100% of the cause for every notable gender imbalance today is due to inherent differences. I think that's pretty naive. Can you name the year when equality happened? Because what I observe is consistent change from 200 years ago, which basically agrees was non-equal. On what basis do we say that today, or 10 years ago, or whatever was the time when we hit equality?

      Frequently on slashdot even the suggestion that we formally study the reasons instantly triggers huge comment threads about inherent differences, bringing up red herrings like conscription or circumcision -- things that are generally agreed to be unfairly anti-male as if it disproved that there was anything unfairly anti-female. If you can flip it around and have somebody say they won't support ending conscription for men only until there is pay equity for women, it makes exactly as much sense.

      When you see a persistent difference, there's two possibilities. There's an inherent difference, or there's a cultural difference (or some combination). The instantaneous assumption that all observed differences are inherent is extremely convenient. Even if true, it's worthy of testing.

      So yes, a true meritocracy will end up with differences due to various natural factors*. But we haven't seen a true meritocracy so we don't know what it would actually look like.

      *Actually, there's reason to fear that a true meritocracy is an unstable system, almost inevitably devolving into a less globally efficient one due to the local efficiencies of stereotyping. After all, it's not like you can rationally say that our 6 million year ago ape ancestors had an unnatural society. But there's clearly been weird cultural biases in many times and places. Any unreasonable cultural biases came about sometime.

    141. Re:nature will breed it out by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      Seriously? All women are great forever and it is always the men who suck/are scary/are evil/are messed up?

      What the fuck. Seriously, the guy you're responding to had more weasel words than genus Mustelidae. How can you possibly read that and then act like he said all women are great forever and all men suck?

      So I would, from personal experience, contest your claim that all men are evil shitbags ruling over society and that all women are wonderful little angels sent from above.

      This is beyond a strawman. It's a whole straw village. And frankly, such an obviously warped of interpretation makes me struggle to give you the benefit of the doubt for the rest of your story, but I'm going to try not to dismiss it out of hand because I know that attitude is a problem for both men and women -- especially men. So: I agree that you shouldn't have been raped or falsely accused of being a rapist, that's shitty.

      This said...

      anti-humanist

      That term means something different from how you're using it. You're using it to mean "feminist" really, but not using the word feminist because you want to exclude radical feminists and academic feminists. I have little patience for semantic political correctness arguments like this. You can't use "humanist" is a politically correct way of saying "feminist". It's taken.

    142. Re:nature will breed it out by Your.Master · · Score: 1

      "It's disgusting that everybody doesn't immediately hail a poorly formatted near-unreadable mess of a post as among greatest. Also everybody who doesn't agree with it is literally evil and has rabies."

    143. Re:nature will breed it out by x0ra · · Score: 1, Insightful

      I'm more and more starting to think that women have been suppressed for a very valid reason; their eagerness to feed on men is limitless.

    144. Re:nature will breed it out by khallow · · Score: 2

      The assumption here is that 100% of the cause for every notable gender imbalance today is due to inherent differences. I think that's pretty naive. Can you name the year when equality happened? Because what I observe is consistent change from 200 years ago, which basically agrees was non-equal. On what basis do we say that today, or 10 years ago, or whatever was the time when we hit equality?

      So because it is hard to figure out what equality means, then equality never happens. Sounds like a non-problem I shouldn't care about then.

    145. Re:nature will breed it out by Jax+Omen · · Score: 1

      Okay gamergater.

      Meanwhile those of us who are able to comprehend the english language understand that my whole post is stating that women OUR AGE are online, and the problem is the experiences they have when they meet the kinds of people TFA is about online.

      3 of the 4 women in my WoW guild (the 4th is my girlfriend) didn't talk in mumble, have "girly" character names, or give any outward indication that they were female, until they realized that my guild is deliberately mostly married guys around age 30, and they heard people *not* being awful to my girlfriend. Then they felt safe enough to actually talk. Because they were TERRIFIED of gaining new stalkers and being abused in voice chat.

      One of them is a stay-at-home mom, one's an accountant, I don't know the third's profession. All three have told me the reason they like being in my guild is that I will actively remove people from the guild if they are creeping on the women or otherwise acting like a tool towards them. I've had to do this twice in the past 6 months.

      You call it a "bullshit meme", the women in online games call it "reality".

    146. Re:nature will breed it out by Slashdot+Parent · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Until then men are going to be eating the shit sandwich we've been serving for quite a while.

      Why must I pay for the sins of my ancestors?

      --
      They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
    147. Re:nature will breed it out by Slashdot+Parent · · Score: 1

      (And as an aside, if men are so under-valued why are movies and TV, and the merchandise associated with them, targeted at men so frequently? Do we have more money then the women? (In which case we're certainly not under-valued.)

      I'm not really sure what you mean here. There are plenty of action shows and there are plenty of romantic comedies. Do you have any evidence that TV and movies are targeted more toward men? One thing that I have noticed is that if any character in a commercial is supposed to be stupid or dense, that character will always be male because it's not PC to have that character be female.

      If men are so highly-prized by the US, how come in the last war where there was a draft, 58,156 of those killed were men while only 8 were female? You can't really say that those 58,156 men really wanted to go die in Vietnam since they were forced by the government.

      Men are always the ones who are asked to sacrifice. We even have a phrase for it: "Man up!" If you were imploring a woman to do something for you that was the opposite of what is in her self-interest, would you tell her to "Woman up!"? Would anyone even know what that meant?

      --
      They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
    148. Re: nature will breed it out by Ororo · · Score: 1

      I would like to buy you a totally platonic drink. That was massively well-said.

    149. Re:nature will breed it out by Marxist+Hacker+42 · · Score: 1

      You forget rape. And, I sadly suspect, Catholic Priests were and are affected by this. Both in recruitment and retention, as well as ending up in jail.

      --
      SJW: a person who perceives an injustice, and while correcting it, commits a greater injustice.
    150. Re: nature will breed it out by cthulhu11 · · Score: 1

      Men being cavemen is reinforced by women -- regressive / aggressive behavior is rewarded by them. They like to bitch about knuckledragger behavior, yet men who don't exhibit it are ignored in the dating / mating arena.

    151. Re: nature will breed it out by russotto · · Score: 1

      Men being cavemen is reinforced by women -- regressive / aggressive behavior is rewarded by them. They like to bitch about knuckledragger behavior, yet men who don't exhibit it are ignored in the dating / mating arena.

      Well, if that's what you believe, the logical thing to do is to behave that way and succeed.

      And in that way, a pickup artist is born.

      As someone else pointed out upthread, the problem with PUAs isn't so much them; they're insignificant compared to the larger population of men who act that way naturally. The problem with PUAs is they succeed... and that's not really a problem they've created.

    152. Re:nature will breed it out by tigersha · · Score: 1

      > through human history the majority of men didn't reproduce.

      Out of scientific interest, do you have any references for that ?

      --
      The dangers of excessive individualism are nothing compared to the oppressiveness of excessive collectivism
    153. Re:nature will breed it out by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1

      No, they don't. You do not speak for women, nor do you get to override the facts with your toxic and misogynist fearmongering. Reality is that men experience more and more severe harassment online than women by far but people like you use your toxic attempts to convince everyone otherwise as a means to degrade and control women through fear, literally terrorizing them when they don't meet up to your standards.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    154. Re:nature will breed it out by Some_Llama · · Score: 1

      ""Blaming the victim" is telling a rape victim they shouldn't have been wearing a mini-skirt - they were asking for it. Telling guys to get out from behind the computer screen and talk to women as if they were people isn't victim blaming. It's telling them to take responsibility for their choices in how they interact with the world at large."

      HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA omg are you serious... this has to be tongue in cheek no?

      you don't see any similarity in telling a woman to be aware of her surroundings and how she presents herself to the world and telling me to take responsibility for their choices in how they interact with the world at large is the same exact thing?

    155. Re:nature will breed it out by Some_Llama · · Score: 1

      like homosexuality?

    156. Re:nature will breed it out by Jax+Omen · · Score: 1

      Spoken like someone who doesn't actually play WoW.

      WoW is a very old game by today's standards, the dudebros quit it years ago.

    157. Re:nature will breed it out by Macgrrl · · Score: 1

      Rape prevention is a really difficult topic - most advice revolves around telling women what they can't do; don't dress provocatively in case you inflame someone's desire, don't engage in eye contact or conversation with strangers, don't walk alone after dark, basically don't live as an independent human being in case someone who doesn't respect the rule of society decides that against your wishes they are going to assault you.

      The closest analog is telling a guy not to carry his wallet around with him, having money on his person was just asking for it when it comes to being mugged.

      There are certainly actions you can take to minimise the risk of being targeted by a sociopath - plan on traveling in well lit areas, travel with friends, etc.. Of course this ignores the fact that for women most assaults are by people they know in familiar environments; stranger rape is the exception not the rule. But either way - victim blaming an assault victim, whether it be rape or a mugging, is blaming someone for the anti-social behaviours of someone else.

      The 'victim-blaming' of the guys up thread is telling these guys to change their own anti-social behaviour. Sitting behind a computer screen screaming vitriol at people over XBOX live or posting hate on /r/redpill is not going to get you a date let alone laid (if that's your total end goal). Getting out into the world and treating other people with some level of respect might.

      --
      Sara
      Designer, Gamer, Macgrrl in an XP World
    158. Re:nature will breed it out by ultranova · · Score: 1

      If you change "male" to "female" then that's exactly what feminists were saying back in the 60s. You can fix the problem by adopting feminist ideals. Feminists want the same liberation for men, always have.

      No, you can't, because grandparent isn't talking about oppression, he's talking about sexual attraction. I have no idea if he's right, but if he is, you can't (or at least shouldn't) fix being unattractive by changing others. You can change yourself, but you could also use pornography to relieve your urges and go play Distant Worlds or something. And it seems a lot of people are taking the latter option.

      This is what they mean by the patriarchy. Not men in charge or dominating, but a society where both men and women feel that they have to be something they are not. Something that existed as an ideal historically, and which needs to be abandoned.

      And this is another thing: every society has a limited number of predefined roles people can adapt. "The Patriarchy" might be associated with particularly onerous ones, but getting rid of it won't free people to be themselves, because othe people still expect them to be conservatists, liberals, rock stars, peons, soldiers, or whatever, all of which have their associated stereotypes and official and/or unofficial punishments for violating them. Feminism is promising something it can't possibly deliver here.

      --

      Forget magic. Any technology distinguishable from divine power is insufficiently advanced.

    159. Re: nature will breed it out by Holladon · · Score: 1

      33-year-old woman here (i.e., also between generations). If I had to hazard a guess based on your comment, I would say that the problem is your attitude. Women my age have zero problem dating an actually mature, positive, thoughtful, emotionally stable guy within around 5-7 years (+/-) of their age. My single girlfriends regularly bemoan the lack of guys who manage to be stable and mature without being sexist assholes. It would seem that they're exceedingly rare.

      I imagine you could counter that, no, it's their attitude that is the problem. I don't know. Pointing fingers is always easiest, I suppose. Certainly beats risking rejection and growth by dating an actual human being instead of holding out for perfection.

    160. Re:nature will breed it out by MisterToad · · Score: 1

      Where is the science behind this? I suspect both statements are hogwash

      --
      Dick
    161. Re:nature will breed it out by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Because while it's fun to bag gamer nerds, the elephant in the room is that at the same time as we're evolving into game and porn addicts, girls are evolving into Kardashians and Real Housewives and rewiring their brains into being complete bitches. There's tipping point here where social interaction will simply stall and society will breakdown as a result.

    162. Re:nature will breed it out by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      As a father of two young girls, I'm rather conflicted.

      Anyone has to admit that for most of recorded human history, women have been suppressed (as they continue to be in many parts of the world).

      So were/are lots of men. I know it's fashionable to blame men for everything these days, but most men were also oppressed.

    163. Re:nature will breed it out by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      The problems now and in the future will be different than what they were then, hopefully they won't be getting fondled at work for a chance at a promotion.

      I cringe at comments like this, it perpetuates the stereotype. Maybe I grew up in a different place than you, but where I'm from women are treated equally. I've had plenty of women manager's, CEO's, mayors, MPs, attorney general, governor general, head of state and yes even the Queen is a woman. In fact not so long ago, every major government position in the country was held by a woman. So it's hard to claim woman are treated any differently from men, and by that I mean I've seen woman treated like shit, but men equally so. One of the main difference however is when a man misses out of a promotion, or gets bullied, he won't use his sex as an excuse, whereas I've heard plenty of women make that have. Everyone gets picked on, let's not play along with the stereotype that woman are somehow special cases purely because they have a vagina.

    164. Re:nature will breed it out by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      You don't. If you stand up for yourself then it won't be a problem

    165. Re:nature will breed it out by Jack+Griffin · · Score: 1

      Slashdotter offers dating tips. Now I've heard it all.

    166. Re: nature will breed it out by Dr_Barnowl · · Score: 1

      Already have a new woman! The mother in law quite likes her, I think. My daughter is already very fond of her.

      No recriminations, no adverse effects.

      I guess it helps that my ex-wife is a nice person. There was a reason I married her, after all.

    167. Re:nature will breed it out by Hussman32 · · Score: 1

      My workplace treats women very well. This comment is more geared towards the 70's-90's. I knew a few women in a tech company I worked for that were subjected to pressures they shouldn't have been.

      --
      "Who are you?" "No one of consequence." "I must know." "Get used to disappointment."
    168. Re: nature will breed it out by multimediavt · · Score: 1

      I think you need to read what epigenetics is, and then re-read the post I replied to where he used the word "absolutely patterned and conditioned by parents." It's not absolutely patterned nor conditioned by any one thing at all, and genetics only plays a bit part in the whole production. Are you a carbon copy of your parents? If so, you have lead a very sheltered and uneducated life and I weep for you.

    169. Re: nature will breed it out by multimediavt · · Score: 1

      Men being cavemen is reinforced by women -- regressive / aggressive behavior is rewarded by them. They like to bitch about knuckledragger behavior, yet men who don't exhibit it are ignored in the dating / mating arena.

      Or, you're trying to date/mate in the wrong pool. You'll have to figure that out on your own. A number of us already have and have dated and mated just fine.

    170. Re: nature will breed it out by multimediavt · · Score: 1

      TLDR? It was three sentences!!!

    171. Re:nature will breed it out by Daetrin · · Score: 1

      "I am slightly confused as well, though. As a self-defined feminist dater, I'd assume you are somewhat left-leaning, and I swear I have never met (Note that word, I don't care about philosophers or authors, those are XX age relics) a Westerner who was left-leaning and had ANYTHING good to say about military."

      I'm sorry to have damaged your stark black and white view of the world. But what's really going to bake your noodle is that i have multiple left-leaning friends who used to be or currently are in the military. One of them is even a female feminist! WHOA!

      Not that this should really surprise you. There was a big deal awhile about about whether or not gays and lesbians could openly be in the military. Although certainly not all gays and lesbians are left-leaning, did you really thing every single gay and lesbian soldier was a conservative?

      "Why don't they join the army then? As always, girly mentality - it's so cool, but I don't wanna cuz iffy."

      Oh right, because every single guy who enjoys action movies signs up for the military. No civilians ever go to see movies like that. As mentioned above, some of them do. But most girls, like most guys, don't feel the need to actually participate in military action in order to enjoy a good fight in the cinemas. Is that a failing of human nature? Perhaps. But it's far from unique to the females of the species.

      "You have her, you're happy - great, gl, keep on truckin'! Not my business tho."

      If you didn't want to hear about my sex life then why did you not so subtly bring the subject up? (And i'm still not sure why you think that not having sex is such a big insult. In the past i have gone for years without having sex at times. I wasn't ashamed to admit it either then or now.) I was honestly confused as to why you want to stereotype an entire group of people, and i proposed two possible, although not definitive reasons.

      You say you definitely have sex with people. That's great, good for you! I don't see any reason not to believe you, even though i obviously disagree with you on some issues. See? That wasn't hard!

      But you are opting for the second option, while declaring that you don't wear a tinfoil hat. You're already admitted surprise that people who disagree with you don't all subscribe to some kind of monolithic groupthink, yet still maintain that all the guys who are dating feminists aren't getting any sex, to the extent that you're nonchalantly calling me a liar to my (virtual) face. I'll just leave that here and let everyone else decide what to think about that kind of... extreme viewpoint.

      --
      This Space Intentionally Left Blank
  2. Feminist bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    Claiming normal male behaviour is a disease.

    1. Re:Feminist bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      Yes. Being male is a pathology. We need medicating to stop us engaging in these detestable, quite normal male behaviours.

    2. Re:Feminist bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Well, Zimbardo's a guy, so....

      .

    3. Re:Feminist bullshit by slashmydots · · Score: 4, Insightful

      The golden rule: If you are attracted to an attractive woman's body, you are a pervert and a pig.
      Golden rule part B: if you are not attracted to an unattractive woman's body, you're a shallow pig.

    4. Re:Feminist bullshit by serviscope_minor · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Claiming normal male behaviour is a disease.

      Da fuq?

      How did *that* get modded insightful. Being completely addicted to anything, no matter how harmless in moderation (games, porn, alcohol, other drugs) etc is generally considered to be a bad thing.

      It's certainly not "normal male behaviour".

      I think the only reason this post got modded informative is because anything that takes a dig at feminists on slashdot gets modded up no matter how batshit crazy.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    5. Re:Feminist bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

      SHE SOUNDS HIDEOUS

    6. Re:Feminist bullshit by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 2

      "..young men who play video games to excess, and do it in social isolation..." Normal if you mean pathological. That was the point the researcher was making. It's an addiction. He did not say playing video games was bad.

    7. Re:Feminist bullshit by QilessQi · · Score: 1

      I honestly can't tell if you are serious, or doing an excellent parody of an insecure adolescent who is scared of strong women because a woman turned him down once. Please advise.

    8. Re:Feminist bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Zimbardo isn't a feminist, and I wouldn't put my money on him being taken in by feminist propaganda.

      However, I think his study is missing some significant elements. He is too quick to postulate the cause-and-effect relationship. Other psychologists have shown that overcrowding also causes voluntary social isolation. Bullying and other such environmental factors also drive people to prefer solitary entertainment. I think the addiction to video games is as much an effect as it is a cause in a whole cluster of social events.

      I will point out that a common belief among men in America, be it true or false, is that women:

      1) are very demanding in romantic relationships.
      2) are not very giving in romantic relationships.
      3) are fickle and will leave you as soon as they get bored (with no concern over how much of an emotional attachment you have to them).
      4) are not interested in much of anything that men find engaging, and won't join men in men's lives so much as pull men out into the woman's lives.

      Maybe this is different for millennials or younger. I don't know. But I do know plenty of geeks who feel this way about women and all have stories to back it up. They don't even bother trying to seek romance because they see it as an uphill battle with no prize at the end. The games and porn are an easy way to fill the time instead.

    9. Re:Feminist bullshit by TheDarkener · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Actually, the golden rule is, 'Treat others the way you would want to be treated yourself'.

      Think about that in context.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    10. Re:Feminist bullshit by Yunzil · · Score: 5, Insightful

      The golden rule: If you are attracted to an attractive woman's body, you are a pervert and a pig.

      Uh, no. If you are attracted to an attractive woman's body, and then you make an ass of yourself over it, whistling at her, making crude remarks to your friends, or making unwanted physical advances, then you are a pervert and a pig.

      It's really not complicated.

    11. Re:Feminist bullshit by Bengie · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Help your GF get off to?

    12. Re:Feminist bullshit by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1, Insightful

      Of do shut up, the pair of you.

      This is clearly damaging behaviour. Like many addictions it screws up your life. It's not normal or healthy to be that obsessed with something. Most guys don't think about porn when they are with their girlfriends. Most people don't spend thousands of hours on a game, to the detriment of the rest of their lives.

      This masculinist bullshit where everything men do must automatically be fine and dandy is stopping people who need help from getting it. It's as bad as the people who promote anorexia as being a good thing. Maybe you just really hate feminists and see conspiracies everywhere, or maybe you are just trying to justify your own self destructive behaviour, but either way it's wrong.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    13. Re:Feminist bullshit by davydagger · · Score: 1
      no, this is typical psychology industry creating problems to solve.

      notably absent from the studies are frat boys, pop stars, pro-athletes, or anyone who has objectively worse behavior but makes more money to the system.

      I mean we could have said athletics have a rape and violence problem, but the media tends to blur it into "all men do this".

    14. Re:Feminist bullshit by Stormwatch · · Score: 5, Informative

      No, the golden rule is: if you have the gold, you make the rules.

    15. Re:Feminist bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Actually, the golden rule is, 'Treat others the way you would want to be treated yourself'.

      Think about that in context.

      Who doesn't want to feel physically attractive when they are? Who won't feel the shame, disappointment, and betrayal when they are built up as physically attractive only to later find out it was a lie?

      And don't get me started on the outcome of what happens when a masochist abides by the golden rule. [shudder]

    16. Re:Feminist bullshit by Ryanrule · · Score: 1

      Ide like attractive women to jump me in the street.

    17. Re:Feminist bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Being completely addicted to anything, no matter how harmless in moderation (games, porn, alcohol, other drugs) etc is generally considered to be a bad thing.

      Which is exactly why the OP got modded up. Games and porn, especially porn, have been around for a long time. People have been getting addicted to them for a long time. This is not news.

      Drumming this up now as some sort of "masculinity crisis" is just peddling to society's obsession, or should I say addiction to feminism.

      It's certainly not "normal male behaviour".

      Evidence suggest otherwise. Throughout history, men who are addicted to something other than women are often celebrated, for they are the ones who make the scientific breakthroughs, engineer new inventions, lead armies to success, etc. Males are encouraged, as one rap lyrics go to ignore females and acquire currency.

      This prevalent attitude is one reason why women have been objectified. A man only needs to be passionate or addicted to his craft, be it science or mathematics or the arts or battle. Women were seen merely as the reward, the trophy, for a man's material success. Hence the term trophy wife.

      I think the only reason this post got modded informative is because anything that takes a dig at feminists on slashdot gets modded up no matter how batshit crazy.

      As of this writing, the OP is modded back down. So I would say the opposite: there's a strong contingent of feminists patrolling the mod system.

    18. Re:Feminist bullshit by LWATCDR · · Score: 4, Informative

      It got modded up because the readers on Slashdot do not want to hear that porn and or video games have any downside.

      Of course they forget that free access to addictive substances has been shown in study after study to cause problems.

      --
      See my blog http://ilovecookes.blogspot.com/ for light hearted technical information.
    19. Re:Feminist bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Uh no. If you're attracted to an attractive woman and she's not attracted to you you're a pervert, a pig, and probably creepy - no matter how nice a person you are.

    20. Re:Feminist bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      >Actually, the golden rule is, 'Treat others the way you would want to be treated yourself'.

      If you think the average hormonal teenager would have any problem with a horde of women drooling all over him, you are completely out of your mind. What the hell is your point?

      In fact, the asymmetry in reproductive drive is the core of the whole goddamned problem.

    21. Re:Feminist bullshit by Hevel-Varik · · Score: 1

      it got modded up because anybody who says watching porn is normal will get tons of Slashdot love. It's normal because *everybody* does it except for those that don't.

    22. Re:Feminist bullshit by TheDarkener · · Score: 1

      Ide like attractive women to jump me in the street.

      Fair enough. Now just make sure you are as "attractive" in her eyes as she is in yours.

      --
      It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
    23. Re:Feminist bullshit by rhazz · · Score: 1

      Same thing happened to me after 3 years, and it wasn't until after that I realized how little that person invested in the relationship, even though it was quite clear to outside observers. My wife of 15 years is 100% the opposite despite having many things in common as the other relationship. At the outset of both relationships I don't think there were any indicators either way. And I too still think about that first relationship, though the bitterness has mostly faded :)

    24. Re:Feminist bullshit by phorm · · Score: 1

      So in other words, I expect neither Xena the warrior princess, nor a supermodel, but can expect decent hygiene and fitness/bodily-upkeep.
      Decent intelligence, and an interest in further learning.
      Good employability, with a good job and willingness to help foot the bills.
      Some interest in games, electronics, etc would be a plus, but otherwise just a willingness to put up with my odd hobbies.

      Now... good luck finding it. Yes, there are those that fit said profile, but the reality is that most women are just as shallow as the guys, just in different ways. For some reason, it's been found to be more socially acceptable... and expectations of men have gone up (just look at the body-types of male actors).

      There's a huge backlash against female body-image, but frankly few people want a partner with a body like a dumpling and acne, and that applies to both genders. At the same time, somebody with an average build and decent attitude - who cleans up nicely - will do fine in most cases. Yeah, the guys with 6-packs and the women shaped like a bottle with double-D's get noticed, and they're probably going to be more visible in movies and pr0n, but that's all fantasy stuff.

      The ones that are pushing the generally unrealistic body image? Well other than magazines/hollywood it's actually NOT the opposite sex. WOMEN are more likely to get catty and demean other women who don't manicure bi-weekly, dress in $100 clothes, and/or spend an hour putting on makeup. Similarly, MEN are more likely to harass other men for being too big, too small, or otherwise not spending 3 hours a day hitting the gym.

      Seriously. Yes, women will notice a "hot" guy. Guys will notice a "hot" girl. But for 90% of us that's not what makes a perfect match, it's just something that attracts the eye might like any other form of window-dressing.

      My wife is pretty good looking. Neither of us will be on a magazine but we both try to take care of ourselves. She doesn't make as much as me - though she has a high "level" of paper education it's not a great field - but she does have drive to improve. She has zero interest in games/electronics, but for the most part she leaves me my time so long as I do the same for her and we still have time together as well as keeping the house in order. She still notices hot guys (Chris Hemsworth seems to be a favorite), and I still notice hot girls, but we both recognise that it's just eye-candy.

      Looking back historically though for both genders, I'd say that the rule runs both ways. Women tend to get treated like toys, and men tend to get treated like walking wallets. If you can, avoid those types of relationships but frankly it's still pretty common and rather painful to go through.

    25. Re:Feminist bullshit by kevmeister · · Score: 1

      While I agree with the concept, that is often unwise. It makes the assumption that everyone wants to be treated the same way when this is often not true. It is especially likely to be untrue where psychological characteristics are as different as they are between genders.

      It is also unwise to assume that they are always different or the same just because of a difference in gender. These facts make human interactions very tricky and leads to lots of confusion and stereotyping. It also does make life interesting.

      --
      Kevin Oberman, Network Engineer, Retired
    26. Re:Feminist bullshit by ArhcAngel · · Score: 1

      Being completely addicted to anything, no matter how harmless in moderation (games, porn, alcohol, other drugs) etc is generally considered to be a bad thing.

      I'm addicted to breathing air and I also think I would die if I stopped eating...PLEASE HELP ME!!!!

      While it might not be normal his conclusions are dubious. correlation != causation and all that.

      --
      "A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky dangerous animals and you know it." - K
    27. Re:Feminist bullshit by MAXOMENOS · · Score: 1

      No. Really, no.

      If you're attracted to someone and they are not attracted to you, and you act like an idiot about it, that's being creepy.

      If you're attracted to someone and they are not attracted to you, and you continue to act appropriately around them, that's fine.

      In particular, if you want to succeed in the modern work environment, you're going to need to learn how to be professional with people who you find attractive and who don't find you attractive. This really isn't a hard skill to pick up, it just requires a change in attitude around your co-workers.

    28. Re:Feminist bullshit by Bengie · · Score: 2

      Anita Sarkeesian has done many speeches where she talks negatively about making women "masculine", but if you look at her "research" papers, she defines masculine traits as "self confident", "control of themselves", "objective", "independent", "objective", and "rational". She describes listed under "values for a more feminist television landscape". Then promptly turns around and complains that video game designers are giving female characters "masculine" traits. Ohh lordy lordy, we can't have self confident, objective, independent, rational female characters!

      Not to mention she seems to love wearing low cut shirts that show a lot of cleavage, and puts a lot of time into makeup and other superficial things. Don't you just love it when people fit they stereotype they're trying to attack? She's just making things worse for real feminists, but these are the kinds of people who get media attention. Ignoring her logic issues, she'd be much easier to listen to if she didn't dress like a 19 year old college girl going to a party. If you want to fight stereotypes, don't look like the one you're trying to fight.

    29. Re:Feminist bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      In fact, the asymmetry in reproductive drive is the core of the whole goddamned problem.

      What is this "asymmetry in reproductive drive" that you speak of? Men and women like to fuck. Yes, they really do. Now, the women in your life may not like to fuck you, but that is a different problem. This is most likely the true root of the "asymmetry" that you have noticed.

    30. Re:Feminist bullshit by QilessQi · · Score: 1

      Ah; I'll have to take a look at her writing. As I understand it, she's focused on the "gaming" subculture, which I have very little contact with.

    31. Re:Feminist bullshit by goose-incarnated · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Maybe you just really hate feminists and see conspiracies everywhere, or maybe you are just trying to justify your own self destructive behaviour, but either way it's wrong.

      Or maybe it's just a standard human response to the environment? Just about any organism would retreat from a toxic environment, why would young men be any different? Society tells them in no uncertain terms that they get less rights in relationships, less reproductive options and once they reproduce they are merely to be used for income. Why the hell would they now want to go ahead and have what *you* and the rest of the attackers call "normal"?

      They are getting pleasure from something that harms no one, except for that one little fact that society can no longer use them. As long as they continue getting more pleasure from porn than from real women I see no problem here. when they want real women they will go out and find them, and if they find the demands too great then they will retreat back into their porn/VG world.

      The only losers are the women, who will now have to share the few men that *are* available. Like I pointed in a post to *you* many months ago, treating men badly simply to further what you think women want only results in the women who are the losers. Maybe you should suggest a mens-only school, or special bursaries for men only to make more men available for relationships? After all, you suggested similar for women multiple times on this forum.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    32. Re:Feminist bullshit by citylivin · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "This is clearly damaging behaviour."

      Bullshit. I spent my 20s playing video games after work every day and weekend, watched tonnes of porn, same as the people in this article. My 30s are full of children and well adjusted family life. Its like anything, some people grow out of it, and some let it take over their lives.

      You should say, TO SOME PEOPLE this is clearly damaging behaviour. I would submit that those are the same people that would easily find something else to damage themselves with if not for porn and video games.

      In summary, its just a bunch of hot air. In past ages these young men would go to war, join a cult, or bury themselves in their work.
      Obviously you want your kids to have limits on their computer time, but once they are in their 20s they are enough of an adult to realize what they want, make their own decisions. Drinking, drugs and video games is as good of a way to spend your life as any other when you have no real obligations.

      Society doesn't really make many productive things for young men to do in the evenings. The two I can think of that are the most popular when i was a 20 something were waste money on clubs/bars or exercise. You cant exercise more than a few hours a day, and most 20 something are dead broke because of all the income inequality in our lovely world. A 20 year old with no family has very few time sinks. What is the alternative? what should these kids be doing? buying $7 beers at the club trying to impress whores? Volunteering at a church? get real! Video games are cheap, porn is free. That's why they are successful and people are into them as hobbies. Not because peoples brains are changing or some such bullshit. Im pretty sure guys always liked playing games and naked ladies.

      --
      As a potential lottery winner, I totally support tax cuts for the wealthy
    33. Re:Feminist bullshit by sribe · · Score: 2

      Of course they forget that free access to addictive substances has been shown in study after study to cause problems.

      Uhm, not, it has not.

    34. Re:Feminist bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      > Ctrl+F Amimojo
      > "Video games are a terrible addiction"

      What a surprise. Come out as Evangelical/Opus-Dei/Orthodox When?

    35. Re:Feminist bullshit by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Do you ever get tired of trying to run other people's lives? It's bad enough that you're racially prejudiced on here all the time, but what's wrong with people doing what they enjoy? Is it somehow harming you if I want to play games? Are you telling me that I shouldn't be able to live as I want, harming no one, because you think it's wrong? Are you trying to add 'fascist' to your repertoire now or what?

    36. Re:Feminist bullshit by epyT-R · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Sorry but it's not that simple. Men's behavior is an adaptation to changes in social structure. In the past, rejection was about the only thing a guy had to face. Today, it's fraudulent, career destroying sexual abuse/rape charges, financial ruin from extremist 'family' court judges in divorce, and, really, indifference from the now hyper gynocentric/effeminate culture. Hell, even coming on to a woman in what most would consider appropriate circumstances (at a bar/club lets say) carries a real risk of being carted off to jail because she 'felt uncomfortable'. A lot of guys are doing the math and realizing the dwindling rewards of pursuing women no longer offset the increasing risks. These threats are not simply anxiety that can be willed away. They are very real and increasing with every socjus type law that is passed.

      The bottom line is that feminism removed almost all the incentives for men to marry and commit, leaving only the responsibilities for cleaning up any 'mess' that might occur for choosing to interact with women at any level, from casual/professional interaction to sex/marriage (why did she choose to have the baby? because she knew she could get the state to bilk it out of him). You can thank affirmative action for that. Women are now a privileged caste, and in caste societies, the lowers often avoided interaction with the uppers just to minimize the probability of trouble. Thus, the only guys left at the table are the desperate sorts who will take any beating for any sort of female attention, even if negative, and the player sorts you mentioned. The whole situation is degenerate.

    37. Re:Feminist bullshit by Livius · · Score: 1

      If... you make an ass of yourself over it, whistling at her, making crude remarks to your friends, or making unwanted physical advances, then you are a pervert and a pig.

      And men would stop in an instant except that some of the time it works.

    38. Re:Feminist bullshit by epyT-R · · Score: 3

      Second, if the girl is pretty great but the relationships are all going wrong, look at your behavior. Yes, the girl may be doing things wrong too, but remember YOU CANNOT CHANGE OTHERS. Are YOU behaving the same way as listed above? You may be. You may be expecting the perfect girl to accommodate you.

      If you said this to a feminist in reference to women, you'd be labeled a 'victim blamer.' The issue isn't how close to perfection (whatever that means) the guy's or girl's behavior is, it' the double standards imposed by the social engineers. Blaming women? not ok. Blaming men? Hell yeah! Fuck those shitlords! They need to step it up and accept their new second class status! That is the combined message men receive from society today. It's no wonder that the smarter ones (the nerds/geeks you refer to) are seeing the numbers for what they are and dropping out. About the only true component of your statement is that it is true that you can only alter your own behavior. Unfortunately for men, it almost doesn't matter what they alter. They're damned if they do and damned if they don't since she's got the legal and social trump card.

      "All women are like that" to some degree, just like "all men are like that." That's the definition of stereotypes. All men and all women are partially defined by biological imperatives that don't just go away due to insecurity about them or political inconvenience. If you set a particular stage for interaction (like what current socjus laws and policies do), you will see a majority of women behave in certain ways, and a majority of men behave in others. This is especially apparent on college campuses.

      Basically, your post blames men for the whole situation, which is a typical refrain these days. The irony is that by doing so you're implying that women have zero agency in relationships. All you're really doing is pointing the finger and shaming instead of looking at both sides of the interaction.

    39. Re:Feminist bullshit by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 2

      Or alternatively as a massively popular viral video proved: if you say "Hello" or "Have a nice day god bless" while having the audacity to actually be black, and worse still, poor and black at the same time.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    40. Re:Feminist bullshit by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1

      And what about those people who insist that everything women do must automatically be fine and dandy, and actively promote the idea that obesity isn't even medically harmful? What did we call those people again...

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    41. Re:Feminist bullshit by dddux · · Score: 1

      For some people normal is shitting in a hole in a ground, then others can only shit in a john. I really think author's perspective on this is quite subjective and a bit conservative. Times change.

      --
      "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - Jiddu Krishnamurti
    42. Re:Feminist bullshit by TimboJones · · Score: 1

      Basically, your post blames men for the whole situation, which is a typical refrain these days.

      I hear it a lot from people who want to blame women instead. I don't hear it a lot from places like the post you're responding to, which talked a lot about treating people kindly and thinking about your relationship with the world, and taking responsibility for your own actions. It sounds like you heard in that "it's your fault."
      I heard "it's your choice."

    43. Re:Feminist bullshit by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      If you gave it up so easily you were not addicted. That's not what TFA is taking about.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  3. Sexist! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    I demand we digitally rewire womens brains.

  4. OMG this is ridiculous by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    To say that video games and porn affect my masculinity, reading that i was like, omg just get out of here!

  5. Lieberman 2.0 by rodrigoandrade · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I've read a lot of stories lately about VG and porn doing this and that to our youth. Which game will be blamed for the next school shooting?

    I've been saying forever that the keyword is moderation. Anything in excess will screw you up, be it porn, exercise, or board games.

    1. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by funwithBSD · · Score: 2

      More like Gore 3.0.

      Politicians have been peddling this crap forever, even Socrates complained about "Kids these days!"

      --
      Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
    2. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by alen · · Score: 2

      a lot of these games are similar to slot machines in that they space small rewards on a regular basis to keep you playing for hours. Civilization and Sim City are perfect examples

    3. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by AmiMoJo · · Score: 2, Interesting

      It has to be said though, WoW is addictive. People moan when someone tries to help women with their problems, and here is one that mainly affects men do let's try and deal with it.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    4. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by Ryanrule · · Score: 1

      no, lieberman.

    5. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by funwithBSD · · Score: 1

      You aren't old enough to remember Tipper Gore getting warning labels on music in 1985, apparently.

      In August 1985, 19 record companies agreed to put "Parental Guidance: Explicit Lyrics" labels on albums to warn of explicit lyrical content. Before the labels could be put into place, the Senate agreed to hold a hearing on so-called "porn rock".

      --
      Never answer an anonymous letter. - Yogi Berra
    6. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by misexistentialist · · Score: 1

      If you frame something as "addiction" you are blaming not helping, see what happens if you propose helping women with their addiction to eating and shopping.

    7. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by T.E.D. · · Score: 2

      I've read a lot of stories lately about VG and porn doing this and that to our youth. Which game will be blamed for the next school shooting?

      I'm old enough to remember when television, Arcade Games, and stickers were the new moral outrages that were grotesquely warping the impressionable minds of America's youth. I also remember when it was supposedly a huge problem that telephones were killing letter writing. Now that more interactive media is killing TV, Ma Bell is dead and people are writing to each other again, you think they'd be happy. But no. Clearly its just always pretty much whatever is new that older folks don't understand.

      Actually, taking a look at the congressmen that those late boomers and Gen-Xers grew into, perhaps they had a point back then....

    8. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by itzly · · Score: 1

      If you frame something as "addiction" you are blaming not helping

      Or maybe you're just explaining it, not blaming or helping.

    9. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by gtall · · Score: 1

      Like advertisements, right? Those one or two ads you see don't make you buy the gizmo because you are a sophisticated consumer who doesn't pay attention to ads.

      And yet, there are entire marketing departments who can show you precisely what their ad dollars bring in. Why should you assume VGs have no effect until they reach some unspecified saturation level far above any ads you'll be subjected to in the course of a day?

    10. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by phorm · · Score: 1

      "here is one that mainly affects men do let's try and deal with it"

      What's the gender-split on this? I've heard a few more cases of men living-like-pigs surround by pizza and big gulps but there are still lots of women who sink unhealthy amounts of time into WoW (also farmville) etc

    11. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by mwehle · · Score: 1

      I'm old enough to remember when television, Arcade Games, and stickers were the new moral outrages that were grotesquely warping the impressionable minds of America's youth. I also remember when it was supposedly a huge problem that telephones were killing letter writing. Now that more interactive media is killing TV, Ma Bell is dead and people are writing to each other again, you think they'd be happy. But no. Clearly its just always pretty much whatever is new that older folks don't understand.

      Can you furnish a link to research which supports your contention that people are writing letters to each other once again? I'm assuming you don't claim that tweets and Facebook posts are the equivalent of letters?

      --
      Wir sind geboren, um frei zu sein - Rio Reiser
    12. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by Zaelath · · Score: 1

      And as Hitler said, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."

    13. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by JonStewartMill · · Score: 1

      ... which was immortalized in this album title: Frank Zappa Meets the Mothers of Prevention

    14. Re:Lieberman 2.0 by RyoShin · · Score: 1

      Personally, I'm wondering what will be the thing that my generation uses as a scapegoat, rather than accepting the blame for failing in their parenting or realization that they might not have been able to improve it. We've grown up with video games and rock and roll, so those are out. What's on the horizon that we might find hard to understand? Wearable tech (far beyond watches)? Internet of Things? Virtual Reality? Bionic augmentation? Self-driving vehicles? Amazon delivery drones? ISIS? Legal marijuana?

      "Kids these days are corrupted by their talking refrigerators and Amazon scheduled deliveries of pot and Doritos!"

  6. What a load of utter shite. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Insightful

    This research is a load of unmitigated bollocks.

    The real problem is that society, "social justice warriors", schools and so on are making being male a kind-of pathology, expecting boys to behave like girls. No wonder so many of them prefer to sit in their bedrooms playing video games and watching porn.

    1. Re:What a load of utter shite. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Boys behaving like boys is a "problem", apparently.

    2. Re:What a load of utter shite. by ZankerH · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Why should there be an expectation for the two to behave the same?

    3. Re:What a load of utter shite. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

      How is treating women with respect and not like fuck toys acting less masculine? Sounds like your ideas were screwed up BEFORE you played video games.

    4. Re:What a load of utter shite. by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1, Troll

      Anytime someone uses the SJW phrase I immediately discount them as being neck beards. SJW needs to be the new Godwin rule. The first person to use it loses the argument by default. You can't debate anyone logically who uses that phrase.

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    5. Re:What a load of utter shite. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

      I don't think that's what he said. I reread it several times and still didn't see that. So I'll tell you what is considered a problem since you want to engage in argumentum ad absurdum.

      Boys hit things. Boys fight and get back up and are friends again. Boys throw things. Boys are dirty and messy. Boys are loud. Boys are disruptive. They're clumsy. They have scraped knees and elbows. Mostly, they're different from the quiet, engaged, neat, clean, tidy, and wonderfully behaved girls. And they are different, because they're programmed to be different. It's not a problem if a boy, or a group of boys, or even a whole lot of boys are more like girls. The problem comes when you try to force those that aren't into being like that, the same way there's a problem when you try to force a tomboy into being a girly girl or vice versa. If you disagree, then we can certainly start forcing all girls to be huge tomboys and punish any little girl who likes to play with dolls or wear frilly dresses. We can make sure no one is who they are biologically programmed to be and punish them all equally for any violations.

    6. Re:What a load of utter shite. by butchersong · · Score: 4, Insightful

      One might argue that structuring a boy's entire life in a such a way that every approved activity is completely at odds with their natural inclinations would have a predictable result of creating compulsive behavior around the few available activities that provide a release.

    7. Re:What a load of utter shite. by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      Yes. Because boys are not girls.

    8. Re:What a load of utter shite. by epyT-R · · Score: 1

      It isn't, but that's not what's actually being discussed here.

    9. Re:What a load of utter shite. by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1

      Cute reference to Futrelle's blog. You realise he's a completely deplorable person right?

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    10. Re:What a load of utter shite. by Shadow+of+Eternity · · Score: 1

      Ironic you bring up Godwin's Law while using a slur that copycats neonazi caricatures.

      --
      A bullet may have your name on it but splash damage is addressed "To whom it may concern."
    11. Re:What a load of utter shite. by htomc42 · · Score: 1

      Tyler Durden agrees.

  7. Opting out of society by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    As much as people laugh at the Men Going Their Own Way movement, there is a growing number of men who feel that it is not worth the effort to put up with today's rapidly-changing standards of manhood.

    1. Re:Opting out of society by BobSutan · · Score: 1

      A good number of people at http://www.reddit.com/r/thered... are exactly that. There's a bunch of other subs that are more focused on MGTOW, but TRP is one of the most well rounded manosphere subs out there.

      --
      "On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
    2. Re:Opting out of society by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      Opting out of society's standards for your gender is feminism. I wish guys would see that and just adopt feminism, because a lot of the work has been done already and we could all move forward a lot faster together instead of blaming each other.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    3. Re:Opting out of society by x0ra · · Score: 1

      MGTOW aren't opting out the "rapidly-changing standards of manhood", they're opting out the carpet bombing of thereof...

  8. Missing The Point! by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He also called for better sex education in schools

    When I'm with a girl, I'll wish I was watching pornography, because I'll never get rejected.

    Sex education does nothing to solve the real issues these Peter Pans are suffering. I'm pretty sure that the guy in the quote knows all about how "sex" works, probably in more detail than is actually needed.

    --
    Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    1. Re:Missing The Point! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      Did you read the rest of the sentence about what should be *added* to sex education?

      Full quote: "He also called for better sex education in schools — which should focus not only on biology and safety, but also on emotions, physical contact and romantic relationships."

    2. Re:Missing The Point! by pla · · Score: 1

      which should focus not only on biology and safety, but also on emotions, physical contact and romantic relationships.

      Yeah, that will certainly encourage boys to turn down what they perceive as a superior good (porn). Let's make them directly confront aspects of sexuality that even adult males try to minimize, in a context with the highest potential to lead to embarrassment in front of their peer group, at an age when they still haven't even figured out the basic logic of "to date a girl, ask her out".

    3. Re:Missing The Point! by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      emotions, physical contact and romantic relationships

      Those aren't "Sexual Education" materials, those are Psychology Materials. And do you want your average 4-6 grade teacher teaching these things to 9-12 year old kids?

      I don't want my kids (or grandkids) to get this information from poorly equipped teachers who have 30 new kids to raise every year. These things require Nurturing, something one cannot get from Institutional Factory Education models.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    4. Re:Missing The Point! by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

      I guess we now have to teach kids that men have feeling too.

      This would actually help a lot. Right now society teaches everyone men are emotionless robot monsters that oppress and abuse women at every step of life.

    5. Re:Missing The Point! by number17 · · Score: 1

      I don't want my kids (or grandkids) to get this information from poorly equipped teachers who have 30 new kids to raise every year.

      We hare having this debate and protests in Ontario since the government came out with their updated curriculum.

      There are some against it for many different reasons. I don't really worry about them because they'll probably teach their kid someday or wake up really fast when their kid says their pregnant. It's the vocal minority i'm worried about which seem to be Muslims and other religious groups. They will never teach their kids these things and perpetuate the idea that women are belongings. These are the ones who come up with pure FUD such as

      "In Grade 1 they will learn to reveal their private parts (not just name), they will see posters and flash cards of private parts, they will learn to touch the private area and identify it on themselves and others."

    6. Re:Missing The Point! by jandrese · · Score: 1

      Wow, I can't wait until the Congressional hearings on the "hook up classes" held by the first school district that tries this. Teaching "children" about healthy sexual attitudes is a major taboo in the US. It undermines the message they were getting from their church and parents about sex being evil and dirty.

      --

      I read the internet for the articles.
    7. Re:Missing The Point! by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      I've noticed this is a new trend on Slashdot. Don't read the whole sentence, just the first few works and they knee-jerk out a response.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    8. Re:Missing The Point! by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      It is worse than that. Now a days, the poor liberal women on college campus' think that words are rape.

      http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03...

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    9. Re:Missing The Point! by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      I think you're missing the point, because you're thinking like an adult, not a 60 month old child. When children say "the teacher said to touch mine/hers/his private parts" because the teacher was following prescribed terminology in teaching "sexual education", then what the child learned isn't what was being taught.

      Thinking like an adult, and thinking little kids think like adults are two different things. The sad thing is, we're using cookie cutter techniques on individuals, and ridiculing anyone that see things differently. Good job, you've become exactly what you hate in others.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
    10. Re:Missing The Point! by Archangel+Michael · · Score: 1

      Explain to me how "emotions, physical contact and romantic relationships" will work out by your view of what should be taught in Sex Ed? After all, you seem to think I didn't read the whole sentance (which I did) or even the article (Which I did).

      In short, what you failed to see, is exactly the problem I was pointing out. Yet you failed to see it still.

      --
      Agent K: A *person* is smart. People are dumb, stupid, panicky animals, and you know it.
  9. Rewards by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    It begins to change the reward center of the brain, and produces a kind of excitement and addiction. What I'm saying is — boys' brains are becoming digitally rewired...."When I'm in class, I'll wish I was playing World of Warcraft. When I'm with a girl, I'll wish I was watching pornography, because I'll never get rejected."

    Ok, I'll bite. It seems to me that the brain is just doing what it is supposed to do - adapt to the environment it is confronted with.

    The changes in rewards go far beyond the brain. As a society in the US at least we've greatly limited the options kids have when they graduate from college, so there is little true reward for spending time studying. Likewise, there is little benefit from having kids - they're a huge expense, and a major legal entanglement when that girl decides to reject you after you have the kid.

    If you want kids to study and get married, then you need to reward them from doing so - and not just in their brains.

    Or, we need to question why we want kids to do those things in the first place. Why is it so important that boys and girls get happily married? If the boys are just as happy alone, why not let them be happy alone? The obvious answer is so that we can have lots of babies running around, but I'm not really sure why it is so important that we have lots of babies running around either. We used to have them out of self-interest so that they could care for us in old age. With increases in productivity it is more likely that we'll end up caring for them in old age.

    1. Re:Rewards by tool462 · · Score: 1

      We used to have them out of self-interest so that they could care for us in old age. With increases in productivity it is more likely that we'll end up caring for them in old age.

      This is still the case, but through a middle-man. Social Security, Medicare, and the like depend on a monotonically increasing workforce. We either need the chronic masturbaters to start doing it with real girls or we have to relax our stance on immigration...

    2. Re:Rewards by Ryanrule · · Score: 1

      or start trimming down the population of olds.

  10. Seriously? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    >When I'm in class, I'll wish I was playing World of Warcraft.
    Well, no shit. Most people would rather be doing something they like than something they don't like. And is it really a revelation that socially awkward nerds feel socially awkward around women?

    1. Re:Seriously? by AmiMoJo · · Score: 3, Interesting

      This isn't insightful, it's the opposite in fact. That's one selected quote from summary. I know it's not fashionable to RTFA or the study itself but trying to criticise it based on that one line is beyond ridiculous.

      Obviously it's part of a wider pattern of behaviour, selected (badly) to illustrate it.

      Slashdot used to provide insight. Now people who knee-jerk react to one line in the summary get modded up. I think the lower readership now has made the race to comment first worse as the period where stuff gets modded much is shorter.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
  11. I say this to Zimbardo by Chrisq · · Score: 2, Funny

    Porn and Video Game Addiction Are Leading To 'Masculinity Crisis'

    Speak for yourself mate.

  12. Ridiculous! by frederick.armstrong · · Score: 1

    Shades of Dr Wertham! More horse manure intended to scare the populace!

  13. When at work. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    When I'm in class, I'll wish I was playing World of Warcraft. When I'm with a girl, I'll wish I was watching pornography, because I'll never get rejected.

    And when I'm at work I wish that I was home watching TV with a beer in my hand.

    Also, rock'n'roll causes people to act immoral!

    1. Re:When at work. by notonthegrid · · Score: 1

      Zimbardo is just doing more market research to find out if he is going to
      make more money writing a book that exploits young men with Asperger's
      Syndrome. He knows these clinical subjects probably won't sue him because
      they are too busy with their Pr0n and Geamze.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A...

      Let's prove him wrong!

      Also, when I'm at work, I'm thinking about how I can make a potion using
      Bear Claws + Giant's Toe + Hanging Moss to Damage Magicka Regen + Fortify
      Health + *Fortify One-Handed*.

      I might give Zimbardo more credence if he also looked at porn that occurs as a
      natural story line inside the video game, making them dependent and linked
      to one another in inexplicable ways. Using a shotgun approach and blaming
      this one behavior on two possible motivations without making a distinction
      that one activity might be leading to another is being lazy as a
      researcher. Maybe he should publish a book on how to make money selling
      snake oil. That's probably too much to ask...

  14. So like Japan? by smooth+wombat · · Score: 4, Insightful

    The comments from the article sound eerily similar to those coming from Japanese men. More and more they are playing video games and watching porn rather than interacting with other people, most especially women.

    It might have something to do with control. When you're playing a game, you are in control of your character. You are still at the whim of your surroundings and other players, but you are in control of "yourself".

    Not so when approaching others and most especially women. With the decline of civility, asking a woman out and being rejected is no longer, "I'm sorry. I appreciate you asking but I'm just not interested" to, "Fucking loser! Why would you talk to me? Get the fuck out of here."

    It's easier to not bother than deal with asshats.

    --
    We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    1. Re:So like Japan? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      It is more about fear and lack of control over their life, two things young men will have in excess.

    2. Re:So like Japan? by trparky · · Score: 2

      Some say that guys can be nasty when letting someone else down but they have nothing on women. Women will reach into your chest (figuratively speaking), rip your heart out, throw it to the ground, stomp all over it, and then she'll proceed to get nasty.

    3. Re:So like Japan? by Translation+Error · · Score: 3, Insightful

      With the decline of civility, asking a woman out and being rejected is no longer, "I'm sorry. I appreciate you asking but I'm just not interested" to, "Fucking loser! Why would you talk to me? Get the fuck out of here."

      It is?

      --
      When someone says, "Any fool can see ..." they're usually exactly right.
    4. Re:So like Japan? by smooth+wombat · · Score: 1

      So it's like what happened to Bart Simpson:

      Link

      --
      We will bankrupt ourselves in the vain search for absolute security. -- Dwight D. Eisenhower
    5. Re:So like Japan? by Shakrai · · Score: 2

      With the decline of civility, asking a woman out and being rejected is no longer, "I'm sorry. I appreciate you asking but I'm just not interested" to, "Fucking loser! Why would you talk to me? Get the fuck out of here."

      That would actually be a refreshing change of pace. In the United States, amongst the current generation, the response is usually, "Sure, that sounds awesome!" followed by being stood up and radio silence. They can't deal with anything that's hard, so they go the "easy" route and just lie to your face about it. Other cultures have a more evolved attitude than ours, hence the "US" qualifier; YMMV but I've never been stood up in Europe. I have been rejected, but that's life, and as I said was a refreshing change of pace....

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    6. Re:So like Japan? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It is a prisoner's dilemma. American women will be as nasty as they can get away while still being able to receive their required narcissistic supply. If they blow some guy the fuck out, it doesn't matter, there's always many more waiting in the wings. If everyone just ignored them their attitudes would change, but there will always be thirsty guys who think that they're going to draw the winning number and be the one she gloms onto. Prisoner's dilemma.

    7. Re:So like Japan? by Bob9113 · · Score: 1

      An additional problem -- or perhaps simply another facet of incivility / intolerance -- is that following the same behavior standards with two different women can get you rejected for being too passive by one, and accused of being a little rapey by the other.

    8. Re:So like Japan? by PitaBred · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Smaller families, more invested in each child, less social interaction because of the child-abducting boogeymen (even though they are statistically insignificant and getting more so with each year). We've got a generation of kids that are growing up inside and not learning how to interact with people in non-sterile environments. When forced to deal with people that they can't just hit block on or ignore, they freeze up. Socialization is very much downplayed in our current culture, and it's apparently sorely needed by many.

      Don't take this as me saying they have to like everyone they meet. But you do have to learn some basic "get along with each other" skills that I'm finding many kids lack any more.

    9. Re:So like Japan? by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      American women will be as nasty as they can get away while still being able to receive their required narcissistic supply.

      Misogynist much?

      It's not an indictment of American women, it's an indictment of American culture. You can see it everywhere, not just dating. Most people of our generation can't deal with anything that might be perceived as confrontation, lying is the easier route for them.

      Americans also tend to make commitments of all shapes that they fail to keep. "We should have lunch sometime." In most cultures that's a commitment; in America it's just a way of being polite. We say a lot of shit we don't mean to grease our social wheels.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    10. Re:So like Japan? by trparky · · Score: 2

      Yeah, that's why you don't ever ask someone at work. It's a guaranteed trip to the HR Office. Either you get fired right on the spot or you get sent to "Sensitivity Training".

    11. Re:So like Japan? by ArchieBunker · · Score: 1

      If you keep running into crazy women the problem might just be with you...

      --
      Only the State obtains its revenue by coercion. - Murray Rothbard
    12. Re:So like Japan? by trparky · · Score: 1

      Japan is also so horribly overcrowded. Getting an apartment is expensive as hell, so much so that people in Japan dream of getting what barely passes as living space in New York.

    13. Re:So like Japan? by squiggleslash · · Score: 4, Insightful

      I don't fit into the category of men that today's women want; you know the type. All muscle no brain, the kind that will only screw her for one night and leave her with a child and no child support. Oh, I'm sorry... I let my cynicism show through there.

      Not your cynicism so much as your lack of interaction with women, forcing you rely upon media stereotypes as your primary source of information about this apparently inscrutable species.

      If you really feel that way and can't understand why, make some women friends. Friends friends, I mean, not girlfriends. Real friends, not cynical "I need to know more about this strange creature so I shall befriend it and learn its secrets" friends. It'll be worth your while.

      --
      You are not alone. This is not normal. None of this is normal.
    14. Re:So like Japan? by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2

      I don't fit into the category of men that today's women want

      I think a good part of your problem is that you are considering women as some sort of hive minded monolithic whole. This also serves to depersonalise them and make them appear as the "inscrutable other".

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    15. Re:So like Japan? by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I watch Vice too. They have some interesting stories, but then, that's the goal of the hipster-cum-SMEs. Not everything on their show should be taken as a full picture of reality, let alone retold as gospel without citation in a Slashdot post.

      In some amazing leaps of logic, the [NSFW] "documentary" cites low birth rates and then, taking this to be self-evidently a problem, finds a couple of people who say they're basically afraid of women, and then goes on to paint an entire culture in broad strokes. But here's the thing: Industrialized nations have the lowest birth rates in the world, so one might as well conclude else that Japan is the most advanced nation on earth, which is a distinct possibility. Indeed, overpopulation is perhaps best viewed as a problem, not a goal.

      I'm hardly a Japanese fanboi. I lived there for six months, for work, and I wouldn't go back if I had the choice. There's some stuff there that certainly seems weird by western standards, but I didn't see any indication that it's a culture in decline. Their GDP growth rate might not be off the charts, but that's hardly the most important indicator. India, for example, has both an amazing GDP growth rate AND population growth rate. If you want to know what it's like to live there, well, there's another Vice story about that.

    16. Re:So like Japan? by z80kid · · Score: 1

      "Misogynist much?"

      Yes, I undeniably am. Which is pretty strange when you consider that I was raised by a single mother and graduated school believing most of the "society is unfair to women" stuff that I was taught. What happened in the decades since then is called "life experience".

    17. Re:So like Japan? by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

      False equivalence.

    18. Re:So like Japan? by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

      American culture has affected American women. It's not misogyny to point out the obvious.

    19. Re:So like Japan? by Hevel-Varik · · Score: 1

      on of the few actually insightful comments here, I come for the interesting, insight I get elsewhere. But you will stay at zero cause mod systems say more about the modders than the content though they say something about the content too, and I've no mod points.

    20. Re:So like Japan? by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

      their fashion and sentiment is dangerously lesbian and the ubiquitous anime style projects a world view where menfolk are completely redundant

      This is a really bizarre fear I've only ever encountered in Caucasians. Let's put it this way. In Singapore there's a law that says women can do stuff together and even make out but men can't. It's an old law that no one really follows anymore. The point is that Asian society doesn't look down on and even encourages girls to be extremely close. They believe women are beautiful and their closeness doesn't somehow interfere or detract from relationships with men (and certainly it hasn't historically). In media such as anime or movies you'll often see love triangles involving 2 girls and 1 guy.

      In Western society it's literally the opposite. Dating back to Ancient Greeks there's a deep trend of male homosexuality, where males are considered "beautiful" and girls are secondary. Every form of media for example depicts love triangles as 2 males 1 female. It's okay for guys to bond ("man crush" is an oft used term) but females can't be too close. In modern politics gay marriage is a huge social issue, but if you poll various ethnic groups the only ones who care about it are caucasians, and media depictions are inevitably about 2 males. It's like a Greek descended undercurrent of sentiment is attempting to rise to the surface.

    21. Re:So like Japan? by Lilith's+Heart-shape · · Score: 1

      Tokyo is horribily overcrowded. Once you get out of there, you'll find villages inhabited mainly by cats.

    22. Re:So like Japan? by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      Women feel the same way about men.

      According to this story, it doesn't matter how they feel - the men are apparently happier without them. I don't see the women say that.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    23. Re:So like Japan? by amicusNYCL · · Score: 1

      Not so when approaching others and most especially women. With the decline of civility, asking a woman out and being rejected is no longer, "I'm sorry. I appreciate you asking but I'm just not interested" to, "Fucking loser! Why would you talk to me? Get the fuck out of here."

      That's nonsense. They either respond to questions with a 1-word answer in a quiet voice while staring at their phone, or they just claim to be a lesbian until the asshole that they're looking for shows up.

      I haven't seen much blatant hostility, it's usually just outright avoidance.

      --
      "Our two-party system is like a bowl of shit looking at itself in a mirror." - Lewis Black
    24. Re:So like Japan? by Ayanami_R · · Score: 1

      I really think the "problem" is the modern woman. They expect a man to be a mind reader, and are unbelievably entitled and selfish. They can never state clearly what they want, and even those few that can that changes it seems like every week.

      Then there are the divorce stories. Who wants to lose half, or more of their stuff? Why bother?

      --
      "Science is the power of man"
    25. Re:So like Japan? by Shakrai · · Score: 1

      Lying is indefensible in most contexts, IMHO, and if you had noted the rest of the thread you would have observed that I did not limit my indictment to women or dating. It seems to be a problem with everybody these days in the States, people would rather lie than run even the slightest risk of dealing with something unpleasant.

      --
      I want peace on earth and goodwill toward man.
      We are the United States Government! We don't do that sort of thing.
    26. Re:So like Japan? by BobSutan · · Score: 1

      It's a good comparison, but I'm surprised people don't know why this is happening. All of this is nicely documented in the book Men On Strike by Dr Helen Smith from about 2 years ago. MGTOW is the west's answer to the herbivore movement. Men aren't opting out of relationships willy-nilly, but as a market response to the status quo male gender role of provider and protector no longer being a safe investment for them thanks in large part to draconian family courts.

      tl;dr - Women have priced themselves out of the market, so men are latching onto the available alternatives (i.e. video games and porn). For those who do still want women, many have gotten involved in the pickup artist subculture.

      --
      "On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
    27. Re:So like Japan? by maple_shaft · · Score: 1

      Get a thicker skin. If you were walking in the park and saw a guy playing a guitar, maybe the song is something you remember from a while ago but you can't quite remember. You strike up a conversation by complementing his playing ability, to which he thanks you and continues playing. You then ask what song he is playing and the guy tells you to fuck yourself and gets nasty.

      Your initial reaction is probably to scoff and get indignant at the guy for being so rude suddenly and just walk away. You might even try to understand what would possess the guy to act in such a ridiculous way and wonder if you might have come off as offensive by accident, maybe give them the benefit of the doubt.

      Regardless you can look at this is the same way as trying to get to know a woman you just met and have her react this way. Maybe she got the wrong impression because she deals with a lot of jerks constantly. You can give her the benefit of the doubt and move on. Or perhaps she is just a shitty person then fuck her,she isn't good enough to hang with you anyway. If you feel like your heart is getting ripped out of your chest it is because you are projecting not who she clearly demonstrates to be from what little you can gather but you really really REALLY hope and want her to be. You aren't looking at her or the situation clearly.

    28. Re:So like Japan? by davesque · · Score: 1

      Yeah, I'd call that an exaggeration.

    29. Re:So like Japan? by painandgreed · · Score: 1

      With the decline of civility, asking a woman out and being rejected is no longer, "I'm sorry. I appreciate you asking but I'm just not interested" to, "Fucking loser! Why would you talk to me? Get the fuck out of here."

      It is?

      It is when you really are a loser who can't tell that your attentions have been unwanted and you have been given subtle and possibly not so subtle clues to leave her alone for quit some time.

  15. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    pr0n costs much less than a girlfriend or a divorce.

  16. comic books by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Just like comic books and television screwed up a generation of kids, right? You could also use the same argument to say that kids in the 1800s just spent their time reading novels instead of having real life adventures.

    1. Re:comic books by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Funny

      Just like comic books and television screwed up a generation of kids, right? You could also use the same argument to say that kids in the 1800s just spent their time reading novels instead of having real life adventures.

      To be fair, it's possible that TV did screw up a generation of kids, for example......

      I've been watching your posts for a while, and I can say you are seriously schizophrenic, Mr AC.

      --
      "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  17. How about teach about love by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And stop promoting promiscuity, which causes all sorts of emotional damage in the long term. Instead, let's promote loving relationships, sexual or otherwise.

    I'm not saying people shouldn't have premarital sex. I'm just saying that people shouldn't hook up with someone they met in a club or give it up on the first date.

    Same with porn. A little from time to time is fine. Watching really kinky stuff or watching it multiple times a day is not healthy.

    If there was more love in the world, there would be fewer problems, like single mothers, high divorce rates, and teenage pregnancies. But our school systems promote "sexual freedom", codewords for promiscuous behaviour. Let's change that by finding a middle ground between the conservative abstinence only bullshit and this liberal sex everywhere bullshit.

    Amen.

    1. Re:How about teach about love by ClayDowling · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Wish I could mod this up. But it's falling on fallow ground here. Most of the commenters will reject it because they approach interactions with the opposite gender with a negative bias. The notion of a loving relationship with another person is just beyond their ability to comprehend.

    2. Re:How about teach about love by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I totally agree. And by 'love' I mean 'physical love with a huge strapon dildo'.

    3. Re:How about teach about love by penguinoid · · Score: 1

      And money too! If people had more money, there'd be less poverty and stuff.

      --
      Don't waste your vote! Vote for whoever you want, unless you live in a swing state it won't matter anyways
  18. crisis? by jythie · · Score: 1

    It is really hard to take research seriously when it is being described as a 'masculinity crisis'. Esp when his own research contradicts the scary stuff he uses in 'talks'.

  19. Lingering effects of our puritanical past by Rigel47 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't think there are many guys out there, video game addicts or otherwise, who would prefer masturbation to porn over sex with someone they like, trust, and feel comfortable with. The problem is, as Mr. Zimbardo alludes, we don't demystify sex for kids so that it becomes a regular life experience. If you never get anything more than an awkward biological overview of sex from school it will, at least for many boys, remain this mysterious, anxiety-provoking, forbidden fruit. Some magic experience that women zealously keep locked up in the castle. Porn is nothing more than a safe, artificial side-channel outlet for temporary relief of sexual frustration. It's lame but it is also understandable.

    tl;dr - Our society sucks when it comes to preparing kids for sexual maturity.

    1. Re:Lingering effects of our puritanical past by cdrudge · · Score: 3, Funny

      I don't think there are many guys out there, video game addicts or otherwise, who would prefer masturbation to porn over sex with someone they like, trust, and feel comfortable with.

      I see you aren't married...

    2. Re:Lingering effects of our puritanical past by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

      Not when it becomes a replacement.

    3. Re:Lingering effects of our puritanical past by itzly · · Score: 1

      I don't think there are many guys out there, video game addicts or otherwise, who would prefer masturbation to porn over sex with someone they like, trust, and feel comfortable with.

      I do both. Real sex is nice, but it also takes time to do it properly, and you both need to be in the mood for that. Masturbation is quick and easy, and only requires one person to be in the mood.

    4. Re:Lingering effects of our puritanical past by Bob+the+Super+Hamste · · Score: 1

      Porn is nothing more than a safe, artificial side-channel outlet for temporary relief of sexual frustration.

      I see you aren't married...

      I would disagree with that assessment.

      --
      Time to offend someone
    5. Re:Lingering effects of our puritanical past by Bengie · · Score: 2

      Even more fun when the wife still helps out even though she's not in the mood. Help with a quickly, then back to playing World of Warcraft together.

    6. Re:Lingering effects of our puritanical past by rhazz · · Score: 2

      So true. And there is still resistance to fixing it. In Ontario we currently have parents pulling their kids out of schools because of a sweeping modernization of our sex-ed curriculum. 5 years ago the reaction was so bad that the idea was shelved only 3 days after announcing it, but our current government is finally pushing it again. The reasons for the protests vary, from "How dare you teach my kid that homosexuality is normal" to "School should be about math and science and nothing else". Part of the problem is likely that the publicly funded Catholic school board is also being forced to provide this curriculum, which is really stirring up the deeply conservative. I can only hope the government sticks to their guns.

      On a side note, I also see a lot of people in these protests saying sex-ed is for high school. There was a pregnant girl in my class in grade 6, she was 11 and it was from consensual sex with a 13 year old. Most of my friends were sexually active to some degree prior to high school.

  20. Agreed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Ive dated a lot of women who it turns out are looking for the "cowboy" type or the "biker" type or the "go chiefs" type. And are unhappy with me because i havent subscribed to any of these store-bought personality templates.

    I prefer to just be who i am. A multifaceted individual with a wide variety of interests and hobbies.

    Women HATE that.

    1. Re:Agreed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      you will have to wait until a chick is in her late 20's to mid 30s for that. but then you will fail the interview based on prior experience in relationships

    2. Re:Agreed by The+Grim+Reefer · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Ive dated a lot of women who it turns out are looking for the "cowboy" type or the "biker" type or the "go chiefs" type. And are unhappy with me because i havent subscribed to any of these store-bought personality templates.

      I prefer to just be who i am. A multifaceted individual with a wide variety of interests and hobbies.

      Women HATE that.

      Here's the thing. Women are just as screwed up as men. However, in a slightly different way.

      Most women are initially attracted to 'the "cowboy" type or the "biker" type or the "go chiefs" type'. Though I'm not sure if it's an inherent thing, or learned. But they almost never want you to actually be that way long term. They want to turn you into that "multifaceted individual", not actually be that way from the start.

      Don't get me wrong, as men, we're just as screwed up as to what we're attracted to and what we want too.

    3. Re:Agreed by itzly · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Most women are initially attracted to 'the "cowboy" type or the "biker" type or the "go chiefs" type'. Though I'm not sure if it's an inherent thing, or learned. But they almost never want you to actually be that way long term.

      They are facing a wicked dilemma. She wants the cowboy/biker type with a unfaithful streak, because she want his genes for her sons and grandsons. On the other hand, she wants him to be nice and faithful to help raise their kids. So, the intended solution is to hook up with a rebel, and try to change him.

    4. Re:Agreed by ClayDowling · · Score: 1

      Have you considered not dating these women? Dating women based on shared interests, rather than predefined stereotypes, will probably yield better results.

    5. Re:Agreed by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      They are facing a wicked dilemma. She wants the cowboy/biker type with a unfaithful streak, because she want his genes for her sons and grandsons. On the other hand, she wants him to be nice and faithful to help raise their kids. So, the intended solution is to hook up with a rebel, and try to change him.

      No, the intended solution is to hook up with him, have one or more of his kids, and then find some sucker to support her and her bastard offspring.

    6. Re:Agreed by Ryanrule · · Score: 4, Insightful

      no, what they REALLY want (and studies confirm) is to FUCK the bad boy, and MARRY the good guy. The good guy gets to raise the bad boys children. The good guys are opting out.

    7. Re:Agreed by Ryanrule · · Score: 1

      i am just not going to change. she can deal, or fuck off.

    8. Re:Agreed by phorm · · Score: 1

      Being attracted to conditions similar to your parents, perhaps?

    9. Re:Agreed by pscottdv · · Score: 1

      In my experience, what women *want* and what gets women *hot* are two different things.

      They want a nice guy. They get hot for a bad boy.

      The trick is to show your bad boy side when you meet them (and periodically throughout your relationship) but show your nice guy side most of the time.

      Here's the thing, most guys misunderstand the bad boy concept. They seem to think being being a bad boy means mistreating when what it really means is a) being willing to break the rules *for her*, and b) be willing to stand up to her when she needs it.

      Now, one girls "bad boy" might be another girls, "too nice" (i.e. boring) so you need to find a girl whose idea of bad and nice fits with yours.

      It's not really all that hard.

      --

      this signature has been removed due to a DMCA takedown notice

    10. Re:Agreed by fallen1 · · Score: 1

      Amen!

      There is a toast I've made a few times:
      Here's to them that love us and
      Here's to them that don't.
      But if them that love us, don't... Fuck them and here's to us!

      --

      Dream as if you'll live forever.
      Live as if you'll die tomorrow.
      ~Anonymous~

    11. Re:Agreed by BobSutan · · Score: 1

      Yup, a lot of women aren't interested in the "beta bucks" personality type who would be good dads until well after these women have had their fill of who knows how many partners, and their fertility is coming to an end. Funny how that works. Then they have the gall to ask "where have all the good men gone?" My only response is, "In your 20s where you ignored them."

      --
      "On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
    12. Re:Agreed by BobSutan · · Score: 1

      Women's mating strategy that you're describing is colloquially referred to as "Alpha Fucks, Beta Bucks". This starts at the macro level in the types of men they tend to go for when they're younger and the world in their oyster giving sexual access to "alpha" men of society. Then as the age they change it up to going for more "beta" men who would be better dads.

      This phenomenon also expresses itself at smaller level during women's menstrual cycle. When they ovulate women prefer more dominant male traits such as the chiseled jawline and big muscles, but when they are in menses they desire men with softer features and more feminine traits.

      --
      "On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
    13. Re:Agreed by BobSutan · · Score: 1

      Alpha fucks, beta bucks.

      --
      "On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
    14. Re:Agreed by BobSutan · · Score: 1

      Q. Where have all the good men gone???!!!

      A. In your 20's where you ignored them.

      --
      "On a scale from 1 to 10, people are stupid"
    15. Re:Agreed by jafiwam · · Score: 1

      You are right. Of course when the man does change, his genetic superiority (in the eyes of his mate) as a "rebel" is negated and so goes with it passion, attraction, commitment, and eventually the relationship.

      Couples therapists have spoken on this in that when men actually do change, generally to be more communicative of their feelings, women don't see them as being masculine anymore and lose interest.

      As usual the only winning strategy is to be yourself and avoid close relationships with anyone who doesn't respect that.

      I was going to say, getting pregnant by the rebel and having the sucker raise the children doesn't always happen in that order.

      There's always another rebel out there.

    16. Re:Agreed by dw0rd4 · · Score: 1

      Yep, it works out to be like 3 or 4 different types that encompass what most women want. The person who provides the genetic material generally isn't going to be well suited to building a home, and the home builder will often work so much that he doesn't cover the emotional needs.

    17. Re:Agreed by AmiMoJo · · Score: 1

      So you are saying they are basically the same as guys. Men want the big boobed freak in bed and the lady at home getting dinner ready.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    18. Re:Agreed by Any+Web+Loco · · Score: 1

      Women HATE that.

      Oh, the irony.

    19. Re:Agreed by dddux · · Score: 1

      Hell, how many of you guys want that, too? I fucked a lot of bad girls but married a good girl. ;) It's not just a women's trait.

      --
      "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - Jiddu Krishnamurti
  21. neoconservative dreck. by nimbius · · Score: 5, Insightful
    Philip Zimbardo isnt doing science on this, hes regurgitating talking points from evangelical american christian leadership. porn addiction, insufficient masculinity, and "the vidja games" are all bitchcraft perfected by the likes of James Dobson and focus on the family as surrogates for their collective concern that america is "changing" and they dont like it.

    the excessive use of video games and online pornography is pushing young men into a crisis of masculinity that leaves them bored at school, disinterested in human contact, and opting out of society.

    Bullshit. Kids are bored at school because schools have been redesigned into standardized testing mills that cater to the lowest common denominator through inadequate funding and overzealous administrators. Theyre 'disinterested in human contact' because every single friend and acquaintence is manifest immediately in this neat new tool called the internet, and its generally only a pocket away. Theyre not opting out of society, theyre opting out of your idea of society. two failed wars have left them with limbless parents and friends that sit in the basement and eat cold canned raviolis. An entire generation has been shunned from the labour market because the adults they trust squandered through greed and hubris the future of society. And things they dont care about like abortion, gay marriage bans, and contraception have suddenly and inexplicably become the only thing in the last decade theyre forced to care about. theyre opting out because your pepperidge farm andy roony wank fest does not exist while a world of perpetual debt under minimum wage absolutely does.

    --
    Good people go to bed earlier.
    1. Re:neoconservative dreck. by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

      Here's a thought do some research to refute his research, otherwise what you've posted is utter bullshit.

    2. Re:neoconservative dreck. by Ryanrule · · Score: 1

      ie, vote democrat.

    3. Re:neoconservative dreck. by Mr.+McGibby · · Score: 1

      It doesn't seem to me that Zimbardo did any real "research". He just talked to a lot of people that were hand picked. How is that science?

      --
      Mad Software: Rantings on Developing So
    4. Re:neoconservative dreck. by Hevel-Varik · · Score: 1

      the Psychology department and Standford trends Neocon, who knew?

    5. Re:neoconservative dreck. by butchersong · · Score: 2

      The consensus then from slashdot is that this is neoconservative / feminist / liberal bullshit.

    6. Re:neoconservative dreck. by Slashdot+Parent · · Score: 1

      Could you please take a moment and familiarize yourself with what neoconservatism even is? I feel like it just represents "that which I hate" in your mind. Neocons don't give a shit about porn or video games, and James Dobson sure as shit is not a neocon.

      All that being said, I think that there is some room for studying the effects of modern pornography on the human brain. Never in the history of humans has there been access to unlimited HD visual sexual stimuli. Unlimited in the sense that porn is always available, it never gets tired, and never gets stale. You could watch new porn every time you watch porn.

      And don't think that I'm anti-porn. I love porn! And why shouldn't I? Humans are evolved to feel reward for sex and sexual stimulation. Porn makes me feel great! But like I said before, it's an all-you-can-eat smorgasbord that we aren't really evolved to deal with yet.

      It's like how now that we have unlimited high-carb food, we're getting super fat. Obesity rates are through the roof! Perhaps there are also some consequences of the great porn buffet, but it's not so visible because porn doesn't make you fat? I have no idea, but intuitively it feels like there might be, and that we ought to be studying this.

      And if anyone wants me to participate in a study by watching some porn, sign me the fuck up!

      --
      They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
  22. OkCupid and iPhones killing dating life for men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    On OkCupid, every woman of even average looks under 40 is a rock star receiving dozens of solicitations a day, and subtle and not so subtle offers of cock come through her text messaging apps at all hours of the day and night. It's a new game out there, and for some men who have physical or social difficulties, relationships will now be an endless uphill struggle for limited reward. It may be better for them just to not compete.

  23. it's not a masculinity crisis by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Interesting

    It's pussification of society. The feminist movements and PC movements have gone too far and young guys don't know any better.

    We need more, real, male role models who openly don't give a fuck about social acceptance. Not faggy pussy role models.

    Society needs to go back to how things were in the 1950s.

    Bullying is a part of life.

    We can drop all these "shaming" terms. You look like a fat fuck and it is your problem, not mine.

    Haters can suck it because you know I'm right.

    1. Re:it's not a masculinity crisis by MightyMartian · · Score: 1

      No, you're just a troll, the kind of person who is so intimidated by the real world that he has to go on the Internet to prove he's a real man.

      --
      The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
    2. Re:it's not a masculinity crisis by oh_my_080980980 · · Score: 1

      Somebody needs a swirly.

    3. Re:it's not a masculinity crisis by myowntrueself · · Score: 1

      No, you're just a troll, the kind of person who is so intimidated by the real world that he has to go on the Internet to prove he's a real man.

      No, there really *is* pussification of society going on in the Western world.

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L...

      this is what is actually happening in the West. All the 'will to power' is being bled out of life, participation in 'the power process' is being relegated to the top 1%. Ordinary people are being taken so far out of just participation in their own lives that they are feeling increasingly helpless and having to create artificial ways to feel like they have some kind of control and participation.

      --
      In the free world the media isn't government run; the government is media run.
    4. Re:it's not a masculinity crisis by x0ra · · Score: 1

      Not intimidated, but unfairly treated. I don't want to deal with such a gynocentric society... I'll choose my own way to die.

  24. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by TWX · · Score: 3, Insightful

    It's also far less rewarding.

    For those that want to claim that there are too many problems with the people they've dated, perhaps they need to take the time to evaluate the type of people they've been with, to figure out if there are any common traits that define them. They might discover that they're attracted to crazy people because of some interesting characteristic that unfortunately comes bundled with a whole slew of negative traits.

    At least that was my experience. Once I figured out the kind of woman that I shouldn't date and avoided dating them it was a lot easier.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  25. Porn Solves a Problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Porn doesn't invent tests to see if you really love them. Porn doesn't create drama. Porn doesn't leave dirty dishes in the sink. Porn is whatever you want it to be. You want a blonde with big tits today and a redhead with little tits tomorrow? No problem.

    The birth control pill created the sexual revolution by liberating women from the need to hitch themselves to a man to care for them and their child. Now instant access to vast libraries or pornography is liberating men from the need to hitch themselves to a woman for sexual satisfaction. The main difference is that when women were "liberated" from men it was called progress, but when men are liberated from women it is labeled a mental defect.

    1. Re: Porn Solves a Problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Until you find your woman in a porno. Like this.

      http://thecoupleconnection.net/posts/found-a-porn-video-of-my-gf

    2. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Porn doesn't leave dirty dishes in the sink. Porn is whatever you want it to be.

      But that's my fetish you insensitive clod.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    3. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by itzly · · Score: 1

      You want a blonde with big tits today and a redhead with little tits tomorrow?

      Or, for the hard core addicts, Japanese girls puking in mouth today and Brazilian fart porn tomorrow.

    4. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      but it cuts both ways, and that's the part of the sexual revolution that was anticipated.

      Both men and women no longer need each other as much as they used to. In light of that, a new understanding of societal and gender roles ought to occur.

      instead, it's just been about not making more babies, when really it should be a deeper cultural question like,"Is the Christian 'ideal' of monogamy in a relationship broken? Should marriage even be as strict as it is anymore? Are we building a culture around these new paradigms or are we condemning what we create and push to our children (easy sex, infinite choice)?
      or... shoudl we be moving the other direction and encouraging people to be closer and hew to a more traditional family type?

      i dunno... i lost a fiancee over it and life is in total disarray the last year, so it's something I question. Don't know I'll find an answer, but it seems like a larger cultural question, though maybe that's because I'm living on the West coast now.

    5. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by StikyPad · · Score: 3, Insightful

      instant access to vast libraries or pornography is liberating men from the need to hitch themselves to a woman for sexual satisfaction

      That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. In the first place, how many people would rather watch porn than have sex? I'm not saying there's none, but in most cases it's probably rooted in anxiety as opposed to an actual preference, all else being equal. A choice made out of fear is not the same as a preference made out of desire.

      In the second place, porn wasn't a prerequisite for masturbation the last time I checked. And I checked pretty recently.

    6. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by rhazz · · Score: 1

      You want a blonde with big tits today and a redhead with little tits tomorrow?

      When I read this the first thing that popped into my head was "Why not Zoidberg?" I think something is wrong with me.

    7. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by z80kid · · Score: 1

      The birth control pill created the sexual revolution by liberating women from the need to hitch themselves to a man to care for them and their child.

      s/birth control pill/welfare and child support/

    8. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by hey! · · Score: 2

      Porn doesn't invent tests to see if you really love them. Porn doesn't create drama.

      Clearly we are living in a post-irony world.

      I was reading an essay the other day by a woman who was against Mother's Day. She raised her kids not to observe Mother's Day because she didn't want to be one of those Moms dragging screaming toddlers into restaurants to have dinner with Grandma. My reaction to her was the same as my reaction to you, which is get a grip, for chrissakes.

      Let me give you some genuine old-fart perspective. Everyone thinks they're more special than they really are, especially when they're young. This extends to having troubles. Everyone thinks they got a raw break; that their generation got a raw break. Hell, my generation thought so; I went to college in an era after The Pill and when there were no STDs that couldn't be cured with penicillin; the minimal standard of "do-ability" was at a historic low. And still people were miserable. And the funny thing was our parents had to pull themselves out of the Great Depression then go over the Europe to kick Hitler's ass and they thought of themselves as lucky.

      Not getting goodies handed you you gratis does not make you special. Life costs you, just like it has costed every generation of humans since Olduvai Gorge.

      --
      Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
    9. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by deek · · Score: 1

      Whatever works for you. I'm a fan of headache porn. The phrase "I have a headache tonight" gets me going every time.

    10. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by x0ra · · Score: 1

      Sure... why not ?

    11. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by htomc42 · · Score: 1

      >That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. In the first place, how many people would rather watch porn than have sex?

      As has been said several times and in different ways, there is most definitely a cost-benefit analysis going on, even if subconsciously.

      You are right in that actual sex would probably be preferred by most people over porn. But when doing that analysis- seeing the relatively negligible costs for an inferior choice, over the quite significant potential costs for the alternative, can only serve to make that inferior choice more appealing. As the costs- emotional, social, legal, and financial- increase above a certain point, it will naturally cause a reaction toward porn. What is interesting is that people not part of the MGTOW crowd are actually starting to notice it.

    12. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by Slashdot+Parent · · Score: 1

      You want a blonde with big tits today and a redhead with little tits tomorrow?

      No, I want them both at the same time, duh!

      --
      They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
    13. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by Ketorin · · Score: 1

      Well to be fair, our parents also experienced the economical boom with no match. Yes, when they were kids, they saw the hardships of war-reconstruction, but there were jobs and the wages got better, they could move to a bigger house, buy a refrigerator and maybe some other appliances, even a sensible-sized European car which they then could take to an extended weekend across the border to the nearest country on the same side of the iron curtain.

      When they were coming to age, the job market was still good, the message of free love was coming from the America but the old courting system was still intact, so they could experiment with ease and then settle down. Everyone, not just the "alphas".

      Have you noticed, at our father's generation such a rule: "older the male is compared to their wife, less popular they were". I think that's the old way how the wold used to work: being older would mean having stabler finances, so one could attract maybe some of the less-popular girls as they were coming to age. The world doesn't really work like that anymore.

    14. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by Slashdot+Parent · · Score: 2

      In the first place, how many people would rather watch porn than have sex? I'm not saying there's none, but in most cases it's probably rooted in anxiety as opposed to an actual preference, all else being equal.

      I would prefer the porn, personally, and it has nothing to do with anxiety. It's just easier, it's novel, I can get precisely the stimulus that I want for maximum pleasure. It's really just pretty awesome.

      Don't get me wrong; I still have sex with my wife and I still enjoy the feelings of connection. I wouldn't want to stop. But at any given time.... I'd probably choose the porn if I could be guaranteed that my wife wouldn't find out that I chose porn over her, because who wants to deal with the fallout of that little gem?

      --
      They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock
    15. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by dddux · · Score: 1

      "how many people would rather watch porn than have sex?" Well, it depends on the situation and people involved. Like, I'm more promiscuous than my wife, which is often the case. So I have to relieve myself at times, to make it easier or her, and for me, actually. It's also far better than going to the whorehouse, which I'd never do, having porn or not.

      --
      "It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society." - Jiddu Krishnamurti
    16. Re:Porn Solves a Problem by RyoShin · · Score: 1

      how many people would rather watch porn than have sex

      I doubt that any would rather; I know I wouldn't. But it's about risk/investment/reward outcomes.
      Porn:
      - Risk: None (unless your fetish happens to be illegal)
      - Investment: very minor (typing "boobies" into Google)
      - Reward: minor-to-moderate reward (depending on how good you are at "solo" and your mood)

      Interacting with the gender of choice:
      - Risk: moderate to high, depending on how emotional you are
      - Investment: moderate to extremely-high, depending on how willing the other side is to have sex and how attracted you are to them
      - Reward: minor to high, depending on how well the other party performs

      So I can just go home, turn on my computer, load some good material and have a go, or I can spend time searching for women who interest me physically and mentally, court them, convince them to have sex with me, and at any point along that I could be devastated if a woman turns me down or breaks up if I become too emotionally invested in her. (This is not even including other personal complications, like anxiety, self-image, and depression.)

      Now, let's throw a new option in the mix: Legalized prostitution
      - Risk: Low, assuming you go through a reputable, authorized service that does regular STD checks; moderate otherwise
      - Investment: Whatever the cost is, and the time to set up/arrive (the rarer the kink, the higher the cost)
      - Reward: Moderate to high; you're dealing with a "professional" who will cater to any whims agreed upon ahead of time

      porn wasn't a prerequisite for masturbation the last time I checked

      Correct, but after time you get desensitized to it so you need a new "high", so to speak. If you have a great imagination you might be able to run with that for a while, but for most they'll need new material.

  26. Yeah by Ryanrule · · Score: 5, Interesting

    I think the masculinity crisis might be in this guys pants. I mean shit, insert replace WoW with golf, and porn with expensive prostitute, and you have the macho alpha bro shark that is supposed to be the goal of the man.

    1. Re:Yeah by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I think the masculinity crisis might be in this guys pants.

      I mean shit, insert replace WoW with golf, and porn with expensive prostitute, and you have the macho alpha bro shark that is supposed to be the goal of the man.

      I cannot imagine any normal human being who would not think that a person who played golf 15 hours a day and did nothing but frequent prostitutes (i.e. has to pay to get laid) was extremely fucked up.

    2. Re:Yeah by Nidi62 · · Score: 4, Funny

      I cannot imagine any normal human being who would not think that a person who played golf 15 hours a day and did nothing but frequent prostitutes (i.e. has to pay to get laid) was extremely fucked up.

      That's being rather unfair to Tiger Woods.

      --
      The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
    3. Re:Yeah by Ryanrule · · Score: 1

      expensive prostitute refers to the girls one meets in a club.

    4. Re:Yeah by x0ra · · Score: 1

      otherwise known as "wives".

  27. Merely scratches the surface by grasshoppa · · Score: 5, Insightful

    He's looking at the symptoms and declaring them to be the problem without any real understanding of the underlying causes.

    Guys focusing on video games and porn are a natural result in a society which is heavily biased in favor of women. Hell, I'd rather avoid dealing with women romantically too, given all the risks involved. All it takes is the mere accusation of rape, and a man's life can be torn to shreds. But even beyond that, we see a legal system completely set against men; custody, domestic violence, divorce? All stacked against men.

    So more men are choosing porn and forgoing women. Seems like a perfectly rational response to me.

    --
    Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
    1. Re:Merely scratches the surface by grasshoppa · · Score: 3, Insightful

      A valid point as well; young women's ability is overvalued while young men's abilities are undervalued.

      However, I suspect how society has been treating men for the past several decades plays into the VG and porn "addiction". We're told any sexual advances we ( men ) make are wrong, and they objectify women, but we're still expected to make them or we're "not men". Well, guess what? A lot of us are tired of the doublespeak and the games where we're always at a disadvantage ( one way or another, we're "wrong" ), so instead we choose to check out.

      Why bother? Why waste all that time and energy for a potential reward? Video games and porn are a guaranteed rate of return and thus, a better value.

      --
      Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
    2. Re:Merely scratches the surface by grasshoppa · · Score: 1

      Fun story; prostitution is likely cheaper than marriage. When you factor in all the crap that comes along with marriage, paying a high end prostitute 4 times a month is usually a cheaper route to take.

      --
      Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
    3. Re:Merely scratches the surface by zlives · · Score: 1

      variety is the spice of life!!

    4. Re:Merely scratches the surface by x0ra · · Score: 1

      On a per-encounter basis, it is not. But as a sum of all the relationship crap ones put again and again, sure.

  28. Many girls are batshit crazy by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And really, why would young men take the risks? Not only is there an easy way out (that you lament), but there's also very little in the risk-benefit department. The demands on boys are insane: Treat women as equals, but provide for the family, but share responsibility for the kids and don't forget quality time with the wife, but forget about seeing the kids when the wife gets a divorce, but keep paying for the kids. Check your privilege, you're the reason why women clutch their purses and switch to the other side of the road, but be masculine and decisive, but ask for explicit consent, but make sure she really means it and won't change her mind, but don't be whipped. Fact is, a very large percentage of women are best avoided, not made sacrifices for, and I mean because they're bad for anyone, not just you. Yes, dating is a numbers game, but it looks like it has a big Russian roulette component lately.

    1. Re:Many girls are batshit crazy by MitchDev · · Score: 1

      Sadly true...

  29. Never talk about feminity crisis. by gurps_npc · · Score: 5, Insightful
    I overheard a conversation recently. There were a girl upset that a guys at a party totally missed the fact that she wanted to be asked out. She flirted shamelessly, but the guy ignored her and instead asked out her friend - who promptly turned him down.

    They then both called the guy "an idiot".

    They missed the fact that SHE could have asked him out. It's the 21st century, not the 18th century.

    The reason guys spend all their time playing video games instead of out is that the video games are better than real life. Women expect men to be the 50's guy - bring flowers, etc. But they don't want to be the 50's girl.

    The crisis in Masculinity is concurrent with a crisis of femininity. They feed off each other like a viscous cycle. As long our culture continues to complain about men not acting like it thinks men should act - all the while encouraging women to do what they want, we will have no progress on this issue.

    Please note, I am not saying that women should act like a 50's girl. They are free to act like a modern woman. But don't complain about what men do and ignore what women do. (In fact, I think women should act like a modern women - and includes asking men out and buying them dinner for a first date. You want equality, you have to actually act equal, not insist on special treatment).

    --
    excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
    1. Re:Never talk about feminity crisis. by nedlohs · · Score: 3, Insightful

      They also seem to have missed the fact that maybe he isn't attracted to her in the slightest but is to her friend.

      How often do they call themselves idiots for not hooking up with the loser who was hitting on them all night and obviously interested?

    2. Re:Never talk about feminity crisis. by StikyPad · · Score: 1

      Honestly, it's parenting. Parents pamper their daughters and cater to their every desire like princesses, and then that's the model for love that they learn.

      Once someone becomes an adult, they either have to face the reality that their model is unrealistic, or not. Since there are men who will cater to this model, the model is validated and the cycle continues.

      I can't honestly say whether one model is better than another, or whether one is "right," and another is "wrong." I can say that, if you want fewer entitled women in the world, don't spoil your daughters before turning them loose on the world. Most people want their daughters' life experience to be zero risk and high reward though, so I don't expect this to change.

    3. Re:Never talk about feminity crisis. by Rigel47 · · Score: 1

      What you saw was girls being silly little girls. It's curious, immature pack behaviour ridiculing the guy because one didn't get what she wanted and the other didn't want to be asked out. He's better off not having ended up going out with either of them.

      But yes, to your point, I agree there is every bit as much of a confusion of femininity as is there is masculinity.

    4. Re:Never talk about feminity crisis. by dargaud · · Score: 1

      I overheard a conversation recently. There were a girl upset that a guys at a party totally missed the fact that she wanted to be asked out. She flirted shamelessly, but the guy ignored her and instead asked out her friend - who promptly turned him down. They then both called the guy "an idiot".

      Reminds me of something that happened when I was a kid (of 16). While on a trip I asked a girl out. She said no. Fine. Then at the end of the trip she asked me why I didn't ask a second time... Turns out she wanted another guy, but when that one went out with another girl she would have settled for me fine.

      Relationship are complicated. Events like this make you grow up. After something like that you may be bitter for a while but then you start to understand people better... and economics too !!! If you spend your time doing video games, you won't grow up.

      --
      Non-Linux Penguins ?
    5. Re:Never talk about feminity crisis. by Rockoon · · Score: 1

      She flirted shamelessly, but the guy ignored her and instead asked out her friend - who promptly turned him down.
      They then both called the guy "an idiot".

      Or more straight to the point - he liked her friend, not her. Her friend tells her what she wants to hear ("well then hes an idiot because you are a great catch.")

      What a guy wants isnt important. Our society is skewed heavily against mens natures right from the start. We now pour pharmaceuticals down young boys throats, labeling their behaviors as "acting up" and/or an "attention deficit disorder."

      Just listened to an NPR segment a few weeks back about the negative stigma attached to "being an old maid" -- single middle-aged females.. They were dispelling the myth that "there must be something wrong with her" yet here we are not two weeks later and instead of dispelling any myths that there must be something wrong with a single middle-aged man, its bad "because psychology science!"

      The problem with psychology as a science is that the fundamental axioms that its based on arent actually anything fundamental. They are arbitrarily selected "expectations."

      In this case their fundamental axioms also mean that its bad to be introverted. The idea that something is clearly wrong with someone that minimizes socialization is baked right in. If the statement "Introverted people are mentally ill" doesnt sound right to you, then nothing this study has come up with should sound right to you either.

      --
      "His name was James Damore."
    6. Re:Never talk about feminity crisis. by manwargi · · Score: 1

      It's good to know I'm not alone about thoughts like these. Being traditional is fine, being independent is fine too. The people who want to have it both ways as they find convenient are a huge part of many current problems.

  30. A rebuke...from a real-live, non-crazy feminist by Guy+From+V · · Score: 4, Informative

    Read this story a day ago, and also this solid criticism on its bullshittiness.

    https://medium.com/@cainejw/th...

  31. Doing It Wrong by ClayDowling · · Score: 1

    When I'm watching pr0n, I wish I was with a woman. When I'm playing video games, I wish I was outside doing something.

    1. Re:Doing It Wrong by nedlohs · · Score: 1

      Why would you ever be playing a video game then? Well I suppose when there's a hurricane....

    2. Re:Doing It Wrong by ClayDowling · · Score: 1

      It's pretty rare any more that I'm playing a video game. But it would usually mean that it was too late at night or the weather sucked.

    3. Re:Doing It Wrong by Pfhorrest · · Score: 1

      Because going outside and doing interesting things costs a lot more than a video game, has a more limited selection, and in many cases is not available during the hours one has free, given the long hours or multiple jobs a lot of people have to work to make ends meet.

      Like most "crises", this one is really economic at its root. For most people life is hopeless and the best thing you can do it just alleviate the mental anguish and wait to die. The rich nerds with comfortable lives who don't have to work their asses off just to barely make ends meet don't have to deal with that crippling hopelessness, and are out there doing awesome amazing things and having a great time. The rest of them are in their dumpy rented bedroom (or mom's basement) playing video games because it's the only thing that makes life hurt a little bit less for a little while.

      --
      -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
      "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
    4. Re:Doing It Wrong by ClayDowling · · Score: 1

      It literally costs me nothing to walk out my front door, walk a couple miles into town, and then walk along the river. I can stop for a cup of coffee or a beer on the way. Or the local library, where I can find a book to read that costs me nothing. I have never taken that walk without finding something new on the route to fascinate me.

      Can't go outside during the day because of work? That's cool. Go outside when you get home and sit perfectly still, listening carefully for the sounds around you. Your ears will reveal all kinds of things going on that you never knew. The first time I did it I found three rodents in the grass within five feet of me. One was literally at the base of the rock I was sitting on.

      But seriously, if you view life as hopeless, you should seek professional help. If you can't afford it, find a church or church like structure. The social interaction will help you. Try the going outside options I mentioned. You're not in a healthy mental space, so you need to change the reality of the world around you.

    5. Re:Doing It Wrong by ClayDowling · · Score: 1

      Glad to see you're so adept at finding reasons to stay in your cage. Don't complain when your love life takes a hit.

    6. Re:Doing It Wrong by Pfhorrest · · Score: 1

      I'm not one of the people who stays indoors all the time. I don't even play video games. I spend most of my daylight free time hiking, and if I can ever manage to get rid of the constant barrage of stressors leaving me too mentally exhausted and paralyzed, I'd like to spend my nighttime free time writing again like I used to.

      I am about twice as well off as the median American, which coincidentally is also about as well off as the mean American. (Which says something right there about the terrible distribution of prosperity even in this country). I have a glimmer of hope that keeps me trying. (And a motto that literally translates as "it may be hopeless but I'm trying anyway"). But it's still just a glimmer of hope, and a terrible uphill battle to actually attain the peace and security I have hope of.

      And then I look down at the majority of Americans who don't even have that, and I can understand why they would stay in playing video games all day, especially if they weren't within walking distance of mountains or rivers or something nice outside like you and I are.

      --
      -Forrest Cameranesi, Geek of all Trades
      "I am Sam. Sam I am. I do not like trolls, flames, or spam."
    7. Re:Doing It Wrong by x0ra · · Score: 1

      Because the stuff you do in video games is generally illegal in real life... Theft, speeding, shooting, trespassing / exploration...

  32. Conflicting research by shuz · · Score: 1

    Video games also stimulate the flight or fight response flight or fight response. This has been showed to improve the emotional state of the brain.

    It would be conceivable that the right kind of educational pornography may help young men to be better lovers. Communication has been shown to be the number one issue with sex and emotional responses to sex. Some couples even find pornography as a stimulus or template for their own sex lives.

    Enough research has been shown that video games help young men and women as they have hurting. My personal opinion is that the dangers vary from person to person and can not be generalized across a wide audience. As far as addiction? I am addicted to water, I love the stuff and it helps me to live! However even to much water can be deadly.

    --
    There is or can be built a machine that can simulate any physical object. -Church-Turing principle
    1. Re:Conflicting research by PPH · · Score: 1

      Video games also stimulate the flight or fight response flight or fight response.

      But note the effect on self control:

      They also display a decrease of activity in "self-control" areas of the brain typical of the primal "fight or flight" response.

      Yes, video games can give you a thrilling adrenaline rush*. But in a more advanced society, self control is at least as important as the ability to react and club an agressor to death.

      *And then there's the issue of what the physical effects of such an adrenaline rush are on a 300 pound sperglord living in mom's basement with zero actual physical conditioning.

      --
      Have gnu, will travel.
  33. Hardly news... by freak0fnature · · Score: 1

    Christian psychologist have been saying this for years...but no one listens because they are "Christians". Go listen to some archived podcasts of Focus On The Family, or Family Life Today on the subject.

    1. Re:Hardly news... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      The flaw in their argument, though, is that they want to replace the current problem with a much older and bigger one. Their approach is a bit like the doctor saying "We found a small melanoma on your left leg. We're going to perform a full hemipelvectomy and also a lobotomy."

      The real solution here is to damp down the fear. Someone, I know not who, is playing the two sexes off one another; people are frightened to death. I am very very glad to be a lesbian sometimes, because I see the hetero mating game and my heart breaks for both the men and the women. Everyone's scared, everyone's adversarial, everyone's thinking it's a zero-sum game. It's not. Not that everything's peaches and roses here on Team Dyke either, but still.

      Become the best person you can, and to hell with what society tells you. Find a like-minded partner. I would say plenty of women are just as much to blame here.

  34. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    It sounds like you're investing a considerable amount of time in dating and discovering what sort of partner would be suitable to you. People these days don't want to invest a lot of time in an activity in exchange for very little gratification. People want instant amusement that they can turn on and off at their convenience:

    Working on personal programming project.
    Need a porn break.
    Porn break finished, back to programming.
    Need a gaming break.
    Gaming finished, back to programming.

    It's a fun lifestyle. I don't have time for some woman who needs constant attention, wants to do things I have no interest in, needs things buying for her so she can feel loved. The reward simply isn't worth the time and money you have to invest.

    There's a reason many first word countries are developing an ageing population - it's because these days people have much better things to do. Fewer people want to lock themselves into decades of marital hell. They're rather spend their time playing games, watching porn or pursuing their other interests.

  35. not sure this really makes much sense by argStyopa · · Score: 5, Interesting

    "When I'm in class, I'll wish I was playing World of Warcraft."
    So would it be better if he said "When I'm in class, I wish I was playing baseball" or "fishing" or "out working on my car"?
    Being a 47-year old man myself, I'm not so old that I can't remember that wishing I wasn't doing whatever crappy thing I had to be doing isn't pretty much the ground-state of any adolescent.

    "When I'm with a girl, I'll wish I was watching pornography, because I'll never get rejected."
    Meh, I think porn is a symptom, not the cause. I'd say what he's observing is a thing, but is a transient result of a (historically) momentary discontinuity between sexualism and sexual availability.
    We live in a society where womens' sexualization is complete: it's a (pardon the term) naked commodity, and in which its use as a lever for commercial exploitation is constant. The primal urge for sex in young men is, I suspect, unchanged from history, yet now they're like starving men walking down a street of bakeries, candy shops, and restaurants all taunting them with what they want. At the same time, REAL women (as opposed to the ones flaunting themselves for commercial gain - you don't think those girls in the Axe commercial are doing that because they really feel that way, do you?) are more empowered than ever to demand a level of respect and consideration in the relationship making the sexual negotiation ever more complex for a stupid, single-minded, priapistically-driven young man. Porn and masturbation are the only sexuality he can control, is it any wonder that sometimes he wishes it was as simple as the movies make it seem?

    It's the old conundrum between offense and defense. At this time, one side has all the advantages, is it any wonder that sometimes the other side doesn't want to play as much?

    --
    -Styopa
    1. Re:not sure this really makes much sense by xdor · · Score: 1

      It's the same with pornography; it becomes a replacement, a preference to a real relationship.

      No intelligent man wants a relationship with any modern woman: they're not worth the trouble.

      But no worries. Society will go on (See Idiocracy).

      So until they have open up that new frontier on Mars, I think I'll play some video-games.

    2. Re:not sure this really makes much sense by misexistentialist · · Score: 1

      It is true that video games don't cultivate as many skills as other activities. But of course this guy isn't recommending improving access to more enriching activities or making school more engaging

    3. Re:not sure this really makes much sense by Chordonblue · · Score: 2

      Nothing at all fucked up about thinking of dating as some sort of battle.

      Isn't it though? It is a competition. The symbolism of millions of sperm/one egg directly carries through to the way dating works. Women are ultimately the arbiters of choice. The distribution may change as age sets in, but that's a whole other topic.

      --
      "...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
    4. Re:not sure this really makes much sense by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

      Isn't it though?

      Nope.

      It is a competition.

      Nope.

      The symbolism of millions of sperm/one egg directly carries through to the way dating works.

      Oh hell nope. Look: the animal kingdom has a mind bogglingly vast array of mating and rearing behaviours, even though for the most part eggs are more scarse than sperm. And I mean truly hugely insanely vast and certainly beyond your imagination to conceive of. Fortunatley there are many articles written about the subject for your perusal. If glib generalisations summed up the situation well, then there wouldn't be such a range.

      Women are ultimately the arbiters of choice.

      Again, no. Every guy who has ever shrugged off the advances of a woman disproves your point.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
    5. Re:not sure this really makes much sense by argStyopa · · Score: 1

      I'm pretty sure your categorical assertions are simply wrong.

      The equivalent of plugging your ears and shouting "nah nah I'm right you're wrong!" isn't any more convincing here than it was in kindergarten.

      Of COURSE human mating is a competition by a simple comparison of energy-investment. Men benefit from impregnating as many females as possible.
      Women benefit from being impregnated by the fittest possible male, and then ensuring he doesn't mate with others (to prevent competition with her offspring).
      Everything devolves pretty neatly from those two initial, incompatible, goals.

      And, for every guy who shrugged off the advances of a woman, I would imagine there are thousands, if not HUNDREDS of thousands, of women filtering/discarding male advances 24/7. As the old saying goes, a woman doesn't have trouble ever getting laid, she has trouble with standards that are too high.

      --
      -Styopa
  36. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by MightyMartian · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Translation: Girls don't like me, so it must be their fault.

    --
    The world's burning. Moped Jesus spotted on I50. Details at 11.
  37. Some people are different, get over it by rtkluttz · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I'm not anti-science, but I do believe that too many times scientists draw conclusions based on biases. This is one of those. The bias seems to be that isolation is bad and that people should be around other people. He mentions that it changes brain function but names no specific trending to bad behavior because of those brain changes. Many people like to be alone, I am one of those. There is no better image of hell to me than living in a big city or doing the club thing. I would be perfectly content snowed into a swiss mountain cabin alone for 8 months as long as I had internet.

    --
    Digital is, by definition, imperfect. Analog is the way to go.
    1. Re:Some people are different, get over it by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

      He is not a scientist, he is a psychologist.

  38. Uhm... Porn better than the real thing? by ememisya · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...When I'm with a girl, I'll wish I was watching pornography...

    I think you should have learned something by now.

  39. reality sucks for most men by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    And it has since the beginning of "civilization".

    The top 10% of men in genetics or wealth get all of the benefits. The bottom 90% get to die in wars and in mines and in workplace accidents, supporting the harems and lifestyles of their "betters". If they don't die they go home to a woman who wishes she were still young and pretty enough to bag one of the alphas and she takes it out on him daily. His kids, coworkers and relatives don't respect him because for the last 50 years the western advertising machine has been propagating the message that the average man is boring, tedious, and disposable.

    Unlike reality videogames generally give you guaranteed reward for the amount of time you put into them. And competition is fundamentally fair since everyone starts at the same place. As opposed to reality where your ending status is very much determined by your starting status.

    Some men just aren't born to compete, and don't have the innate resilience to keep trying despite repeated failures. That doesn't mean those men are less deserving of happiness and satisfaction and peace, they just have to find their own and ignore the bullshit that "society" keeps heaping on them.

    1. Re:reality sucks for most men by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

      Why AC? Is a very, very good comment.

      --
      Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
  40. Meaningless by medv4380 · · Score: 1

    When I read that people with aspergers tend to become excessive video game addicts, and that aspergers is more common in men ranging from 2 to 1 to 4 to 1 I need something a little more meaty when someone makes a claim that Video Games are creating a masculinity crisis. How about aspergers patents are creating a bias in your sample, and that a more acceptable explanation of your results because your "symptoms" of the video game masculinity crisis are oddly identical to aspergers.

  41. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by TWX · · Score: 1

    Then those societies will go into decline.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  42. Talk about a study, but no study. by IRWolfie- · · Score: 4, Interesting

    "Phillip Zimbardo says his study into the lives of 20,000 young men and their relationships with video games and pornography demonstrates that this relatively new phenomenon is affecting the minds of young men. " I see no links to a scientific publication nor any in the independent link. Where is this apparent study actually published? Instead we just seem to have a book for a popular audience.

  43. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by SirGeek · · Score: 1

    "When I'm with a girl, I'll wish I was watching pornography, because I'll never get rejected" - loser.

    If there wasn't pr0n for losers like this, he'd be doing the same thing with dept. store catalogs. This is nothing new, what's new is the internet feeding into it.

    Or with his sister's "Seventeen" mags (or from the watching the Disney Channel)...

  44. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by SirGeek · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Only if you're a pussy and buy your girlfriend shit. If she says you need to buy her shit to prove you love her, run the other way, fast.

    So much for wanting equality. All women want to do is use men for their wallets, and then when they start losing their ability to do so because they are losing their beauty, they settle down with the stable guys they've rejected their whole lives.

    Then you're dating the wrong women. My wife isn't that way. She doesn't have a real diamond engagement ring (and she know it - she'd have killed me for spending $ 2+K on a ring.)

    Date a shallow woman, Get a shallow woman. Date an interesting woman, Get an interesting woman.

  45. Masculinity? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    When I'm in class, I'll wish I was playing World of Warcraft. When I'm with a girl, I'll wish I was watching pornography, because I'll never get rejected.

    When exactly did "masculinity" required being interested in school?

    Moreover, second part suggest that guy in question is more interested in sex then in relationship. First, when exactly was "masculinity" defined as opposite preference? The boy "just wanting a sex from her" is not exactly new invention, more like an old masculine stereotype. Second, the guy in question replaced "just sex from her" by "just sex from porn" and I do not even think it is worst, cause no girl is going to hope for relationship just to find out there is no romance in store afterwards.

    Yeah yeah, thinking about how to make boys more engaged in school is worthy goal given that girls are doing better in school overall. Yeah yeah, that romance and relationship thing is important in the very long run and it is good to teach kids that. Blaming every uninterested boy on games might be misleading through and blaming boy lack of emotional maturity at the time when his hormones already work on port might be misleading too.

  46. Not worth the risks by TheDarkMaster · · Score: 1

    Today women are batshit crazy and ANY mistake (and notice the important detail that can be a mistake only in their view and be a completely banal thing for the rest of humanity.) with then can completely wreck yoyr life, maybe forever. So, why bother with them? Better to carry on your own life alone.

    --
    Religion: The greatest weapon of mass destruction of all time
  47. 3rd Wave Feminism is causing this. by pecosdave · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Odds are stacked against men. From the fake "rape culture" propaganda and an environment that ensures if she regrets a hook up you will too, stacked courts, diminishing reasons to get married. Why hook up with a woman when she can change her mind, take at minimum half your stuff, and if you have kids the courts are stacking in such a way that a man will lose?

    Men are playing video games and retreating from women and normal society in general because masculine men have an uphill battle to fight. When even former places of refuge for men to be masculine are attempting to force masculinity out of society men are retreating even further into their own self contained worlds.

    3rd wave feminist recognized that men were retreating into games so they created the Gamer Gate fiasco which was nothing more than a false flag bitch-a-thon trying to take over that refuge as well. It's still a bit early to say, but I think they failed, but since Gamer Gate was nothing more than a political move rest assured, there will be another double-downed attempt to destroy that refuge again.

    Here's a really good book on the subject written by a woman no less, so don't dismiss it as just men sitting around bitching.

    --
    The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    1. Re:3rd Wave Feminism is causing this. by alexjplant · · Score: 1

      This book is nothing more than a collection of blog posts substantiated by comments made thereupon by embittered men. While I agree with many (but not all) of the author's postulations I simply couldn't finish the book because it felt more like poorly-researched propaganda than actual discourse. I'm firmly on one side of the fence on this debate but this particular tome does the exact opposite of help the cause. It's nothing more than apologist polemic that serves only to validate your thoughts on the topic one way or another... hardly what I'd call good writing.

    2. Re:3rd Wave Feminism is causing this. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Bring that statement over here in person and we'll determine what a beta male is

      Over where, internet tough guy? I've got some frequent flier miles to use and I'm sure your "wife" will be glad to see me again.

      You're what is known as an Uncle Tim

      Can you believe these cucks?

      BTW, my very feminine wife who recently provided me with a very healthy male offspring that looks just like me

      "My wife, Morgan Fairchild, whom I have slept with."

      us real men will continue to seek out good women or retreat from the society that loathes us on some fronts and fight on others

      "Us real men..." Apparently, real men don't pronoun.

      You just cannot make this shit up. If you haven't encountered the MRA in the wild, you just wouldn't believe they actually exist.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    3. Re:3rd Wave Feminism is causing this. by pecosdave · · Score: 3

      I'm not the one spending my time in San Francisco.

      Yeah, sure point your Prius towards Texas and if you survive the trip through the Western end to the gulf we can settle it like men, or one one real man and one San Francisco nancy in the lawn in front of the San Jacinto monument.

      --
      The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    4. Re:3rd Wave Feminism is causing this. by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      Odds are stacked against men.

      If you need any additional evidence that there's a masculinity crisis, just take a look at that single sentence, oft-repeated by beta males.

      You poor, pitiful bastard.

      Men are playing video games and retreating from women and normal society in general because masculine men have an uphill battle to fight.

      You know what's masculine behavior? Not whining like a little pissbaby.

      The men aren't whining. They're just refusing to play the social game. Nothing wrong with that.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    5. Re:3rd Wave Feminism is causing this. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      I'm not the one spending my time in San Francisco.

      How would you even get your trailer to San Francisco?

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    6. Re: 3rd Wave Feminism is causing this. by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      Why would I want to even go there, much less take horses?

      --
      The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    7. Re:3rd Wave Feminism is causing this. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      The men aren't whining. They're just refusing to play the social game.

      I guess a man's got to know his limitations.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    8. Re: 3rd Wave Feminism is causing this. by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

      Why would I want to even go there, much less take horses?

      I don't care if they're homely, that's a lousy way to refer to your wife and kid.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
    9. Re: 3rd Wave Feminism is causing this. by pecosdave · · Score: 1

      You're really having to dig now.

      --
      The preceding post was not a Slashvertisement.
    10. Re:3rd Wave Feminism is causing this. by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      The men aren't whining. They're just refusing to play the social game.

      I guess a man's got to know his limitations.

      As long as they're happy, it's not their problem, nor is it yours. It's the women's problem as they have to compete for the fewer males that are left playing the game. That's what a social gender imbalance brings. Extreme imbalances in the far past meant that almost every woman had to share a man with one or more *other* women.

      (Of course, perhaps women would go the same route in as many numbers as men are doing in which case it all balances out in the end).

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    11. Re:3rd Wave Feminism is causing this. by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      As long as they're happy, it's not their problem, nor is it yours.

      If they were happy, would they have created a "men's rights movement" and spend so much time whining on the internet?

      What makes you think that the MRA people are the ones playing WoW 15 hours a day? As far as the article is concerned those students aren't out championing a cause because they are in playing videogames and watching porn.

      Here's a photo from one of the massive men's rights demonstrations. Do these guys look happy to you?

      https://manboobz.files.wordpre...

      I'm afraid those people don't look like the males the article were talking about - FTFA: "an in-depth look into the lives of 20,000 young men". It's even in the summary. We're talking about thousands of young men who get their drives satisfied without needing a female.

      The young men referred to in the article (and the summary, perhaps you should read it?) aren't complaining at all, AFAICT. It's society that is complaining that these men are mentally checking out. In which case, my point still stands - the only losers are young women.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
  48. Sex ed should include "technique" by swb · · Score: 1

    Sex Ed should have a "technique" component that does something to at least inform kids what kind of behaviors are expected and liked by potential sex partners and what preferences they have that their partners are unlikely to share.

    I'd wager more than a few date rape scenarios result from frustration borne of people who don't know what the other person wants or how to please them.

    (Standard disclaimer applies, date rape is bad, no means no, etc etc etc).

    1. Re:Sex ed should include "technique" by Boronx · · Score: 1

      They should really just give them some personal training. I'm not even joking. Teach kids the basics of how to date and how to screw.

  49. So the Nintendo generation popped pills by future+assassin · · Score: 1

    and the "games needs internet access to work" generation are pulling their puds? Wouldn't the bonus of that be less teen pregnancy?

    --
    by TheSpoom (715771) Uncaring Linux user here. I have nothing to add to this but please continue. *munches popcorn*
  50. Why do authors interpret data for a solution? by tygreen101 · · Score: 1

    Since we are talking hypothetical impacts. To me, it sounds like this will have a direct impact on the perceived "Rape Culture" that I keep hearing that is happening on our campuses? If young guys are choosing pr0n and video games over RL girls, what is the impact? It sounds to me like POWNING each other online is more important than doing it in RL. Add that to the debunking of previous studies that showed a relationship between online violence and RL violence--and yet still repeated by elected officials--I see no issue.

  51. Re:Too close to home by ClayDowling · · Score: 1

    No doubt.

  52. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 1

    The common link in all your failed relationships is you. (This isn't a dig at the parent post, it's agreement.)

    If you keep dating people that are bad for you, it's because you're picking the wrong people, or putting yourself in situations where you're only meeting the wrong people. And maybe if everyone you end up with--regardless of where you look--is toxic to you, you should sit down and figure out if it's you and not them.

    The minimum requirement for being in a relationship with someone is being in good working order, emotionally. If you can't sit down and know that that's true, you should probably work that bit out first.

  53. I see examples at the club by GlennC · · Score: 1

    My wife and I will occasionally go out to a club on Saturday nights.

    While we are a little older than the "average" attendee, we are friends with many of the other regulars, and have a wonderful time when we go. We'll both spend a lot of time out on the dance floor, both separately and together. Because I am one of the few men who will get our and dance, I have often found myself literally surrounded by women, more than once having them grind on me. Meanwhile several single men, many of them younger and at least as physically attractive as me, do little more than wander around and mutter lame pick-up lines at women they find attractive (including my wife...yes, I'm a lucky man!) Most of these men only show up once or twice, and if they don't get an immediate offer of sex, they leave.

    This particular club also maintains a small online group, primarily to allow members to let each other know when we're going, and to allow prospective members to post questions and receive answers. Our moderation team has lost track of the number of men who post some variant of "Who's looking to fuck?" I find it sad that so many people aren't willing to put in even a small bit of effort. I imagine that most of these men are the same ones who fill their lives with porn and video games, as it provides a modicum of reward for very little effort.

    As a result, I have tried to instill in my kids the philosophy that "Life is a Mirror," in that the thoughts and emotions you put out into the world will be reflected back to you.

    --
    Go on, citizen, stamp the vote card. R or D, your choice.
  54. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

    pr0n costs much less than a girlfriend

    You're doing it wrong.

    And, frankly, all the people modding you insightful are doing it wrong too.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  55. There is no crisis. by Jack+Zombie · · Score: 1

    Or, there is a simple solution: embrace it.

    The "crisis" comes from these pornosexual men feeling guilt for not conforming to outdated masculinity ideals. Now that they're altered, they don't _need_ sex, or _need_ women; porn is more satisfying and can fill all their sexual needs if they educate themselves on masturbation. This is liberating in the sense that sex becomes a choice, that you're in a relationship not because you need sex, but because it benefits both of you to be together.

    The same goes for trading the mythical, idealized "having a life" with videogames + Internet. If they "had a life" they would find that it's not what it's cracked up to be; that it's not partying and friendships, but is instead dull and dreary at its best for most people. When compared to what a guy can get from videogames + Internet this "life" is a crappy deal. That they want "a life" is a sign that they don't know what that means, or how it realistically compares to the experience of videogames + Internet.

    Life, without quotes, encompasses videogames + Internet; the difference that I'm evangelizing is that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages in giving a much stronger focus to the digital life. It's better.

    --
    "You should never doubt what nobody is sure about." -- Willy Wonka
    1. Re:There is no crisis. by itzly · · Score: 1

      So where are these gamers going to live and what do they eat ? Mom's basement and hot pockets ?

  56. Lets further attack ostracized persons. by davydagger · · Score: 2
    Here seems to be the game plan going back as least as far as the Salem Witch Trials. Lets find people who are already ostracized from society and blame them for societies ills.

    No need to worry about some pro-athletes beating or murdering people, or frat boys in their perpetual rape and disorderly conduct sprees. Just find someone on the skirts of society to blame.

  57. Masculinity deficit by Boronx · · Score: 1

    If there's one thing the world needs, it's more masculinity.

    1. Re:Masculinity deficit by Ketorin · · Score: 1

      My regrettable job here is to point out that aren't they not the jocks and the athletes who get the women and the admiration of the most of the menw while for us techies, who hold the modern world on our shoulders, only craps remain.

      I don't see this completely fair.

  58. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by neilo_1701D · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Then you're dating the wrong women. My wife isn't that way. She doesn't have a real diamond engagement ring (and she know it - she'd have killed me for spending $ 2+K on a ring.)

    Ditto here. Married 13 years now with a $100 cubic zirconia ring.

    Date a shallow woman, Get a shallow woman. Date an interesting woman, Get an interesting woman.

    You forgot the most important bit: be an interesting man, be able to date an interesting woman.

    If your life revolves around video games, by definition you're a shallow person. I might be interested in a brief conversation with a person about the latest games, but if that's the extent of your interests then it's going to be a short conversation. Mix porn into the conversation, and I'm looking for a fast out.

  59. Not happening by StikyPad · · Score: 1

    Even if there was some approved curriculum for dating based on scientific evidence, which there isn't, it wouldn't be politically correct to teach. Teaching that there is "a way" to reduce rejection implies manipulation. Teaching that people can or should change who they are in order to be more attractive goes against "be yourself" and getting awards for doing nothing.

    Most teachers I know -- and I know quite a few -- have hopeless romantic lives anyway. Listening to them lecture about dating is like listening to Rob Gronkowski wax philosophic. Learn from people who don't know what they're doing at your own peril.

  60. Not normal male - normal HUMAN behavior. by denzacar · · Score: 5, Insightful

    The "conclusions" of "abnormal behavior" were made from observations that kids would rather be at home playing instead of sitting in a class AND from the fact that young humans will seek sexual satisfaction but avoid rejection.

    That sounds like something a ROBOT might find strange.
    Not a human being. Particularly not one who actually went through puberty at some point in their life.

    In short... like most psychology studies out there, this too is most probably bullshit.

    --
    Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
  61. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by war4peace · · Score: 1

    Is that a bad thing?
    I've been wondering why all the whining that EU population is declining (for example). Let it decline. Sure, this might bring some problems in the long term but there's always population pressure from other parts of the world.
    Yes, maybe within 50-100 years the most common names in Europe would have African or Arabic origins. Maybe the majority in the USA will be of Asian or Central/South American origin. So what?

    --
    ...gis sdrawkcab (usually not responding to ACs; don't bother posting as AC)
  62. As a father with a daughter by Morpeth · · Score: 1, Insightful

    ... most of the comments here scare the sh-t out of me.

    A lot of people whining that the world isn't fair to men, are you fucking kidding me? Who gets raped, men? RARELY. And the whole 'so many women falsely accuse men of rape'. That's total fucking bullshit.

    Who has to actually carry a child to term, and possibly raise them alone when the man bails, men? Who still are generally underpaid compared the other sex, men. Who runs the vast majority of the governments and writes the laws, men.

    I know lots of young egotistical narcissistic young men who think they're fucking so special that if a women rejects their 'charms', suddenly they're a b-tch or a c-nt. Comments above demonstrate the point perfectly.

    C'mon people, I'm not promoting self-flagellation, but seriously do you REALLY think that way?

    --

    'The unexamined life is not worth living' - Socrates
    1. Re:As a father with a daughter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      ... most of the comments here scare the sh-t out of me.

      A lot of people whining that the world isn't fair to men, are you fucking kidding me? Who gets raped, men? RARELY. And the whole 'so many women falsely accuse men of rape'. That's total fucking bullshit.

      Who has to actually carry a child to term, and possibly raise them alone when the man bails, men? Who still are generally underpaid compared the other sex, men. Who runs the vast majority of the governments and writes the laws, men.

      I know lots of young egotistical narcissistic young men who think they're fucking so special that if a women rejects their 'charms', suddenly they're a b-tch or a c-nt. Comments above demonstrate the point perfectly.

      C'mon people, I'm not promoting self-flagellation, but seriously do you REALLY think that way?

      Open your fucking eyes:

      "Last year the National Crime Victimization Survey turned up a remarkable statistic. In asking 40,000 households about rape and sexual violence, the survey uncovered that 38 percent of incidents were against men. The number seemed so high that it prompted researcher Lara Stemple to call the Bureau of Justice Statistics to see if it maybe it had made a mistake, or changed its terminology. After all, in years past men had accounted for somewhere between 5 and 14 percent of rape and sexual violence victims. But no, it wasn’t a mistake, officials told her, although they couldn’t explain the rise beyond guessing that maybe it had something to do with the publicity surrounding former football coach Jerry Sandusky and the Penn State sex abuse scandal."

      http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2014/04/male_rape_in_america_a_new_study_reveals_that_men_are_sexually_assaulted.html

      False rape accusations are real, happen often, and destroy the life of the accused while the accuser often faces no consequences:

      https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=false+rape+accusations&safe=off&tbm=nws

      Of course here's the most recent and prominent case. Yes, he raped her, but she continues to message him and even asks him to "fuck her in the butt"??????!??!?! But you think false rape accusations don't happen? What fucking planet do you live on?

      http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/24/nyregion/accused-of-rape-a-student-sues-columbia-over-bias.html

    2. Re:As a father with a daughter by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      C'mon people, I'm not promoting self-flagellation, but seriously do you REALLY think that way?

      You mean frustrated, upset, and feeling persecuted?

      A lot of them do. And you're not exactly helping.

      I do understand, you believe you have a valid concern that you're worried about. Yet other people feel afraid and worried themselves, about things that you would probably rather not admit have any validity at all. Yes, some of the posters here can be a bit hysterical and overwrought, or exaggerate things, but that goes both ways, and can even include yourself.

      Look how you've chosen to stigmatize people here. It's one thing if you were replying to them directly, but you're not. Sure, you don't say "all" or even "The comments here" but limit it to "most" yet even that can go too far as you're still determining it as the majority.

      That is part of the problem. You're judging. But apparently not even giving a thought to the other side.

      Sure, I can respect that there are posts here that seem a bit disturbing and fit your description, but is it too much to ask that you be a little even-handed yourself? There are other comments with a lot of reality to them.

      It's a bit like police brutality. It's easy to assume that criminals are just complaining and trying to get off. But it's necessary to see if the police are, in fact, being oppressive instruments of tyranny even without intent.

      Yeah, men do wrong. So do women. You want to help your daughter? Teach her. What do you need to teach her? I don't know, I don't know your daughter, so I don't know how she acts or behaves, but you should.

      The rest of us? Maybe you don't know us well at all.

    3. Re:As a father with a daughter by z80kid · · Score: 2

      You're an idiot.

      All of your "f-ing this" and "f-ing that" aside, my brother has had an accusation that was proven false (interestingly, without any prosecution for false police reports.) It seems that you can't be fighting overseas and raping someone stateside at the same time. He recently lost his job over "fire me for not showing up and I'll scream sexual harassment". Silly boy thought that her long string of tardiness and absenteeism would demonstrate that it was a fair firing.

      I've also been cleared of accusations by police investigation, despite not having "out of the country" for an alibi. Seems some girls make a habit of such blackmail. Why not? They obviously won't be prosecuted.

      "When the man bails, eh?" Google "who files for divorce". Over 70% women. They almost always get custody of the kids, and the man winds up paying them support.

      Yes, we "really do think that way". We're the ones paying the support and dealing with the accusations.

      You haven't the slightest clue what you're talking about. And no amount of cussing will compensate for that, boy.

    4. Re:As a father with a daughter by spads · · Score: 1

      The primary cause of feminism I have found in men is having a daughter. They can be an extremely strong influence. I've seen them (fairly young girls) overwhelm their fathers right in front of me.

      --
      Bukowski said it. I believe it. That settles it.
    5. Re:As a father with a daughter by z80kid · · Score: 1

      In retrospect, that was far more personal information than I would like to have shared. I get way too upset over this topic, especially when I think about the crap that my male friends, family, and I have been through.

      This is almost deja-vu. A friend was recently complaining about his boy being just like this. The boy lives with his mom, and only occasionally gets to visit his dad, who is broke from paying domestics and living in a moldy shoebox. I pointed out that from the boy's perspective, having a family probably doesn't look too appealing.

      "As the father of a daughter", you don't have much cause to be worried. We're not talking about people wanting to hurt your daughter. We're talking about people who want nothing to do with her.

    6. Re:As a father with a daughter by Morpeth · · Score: 2

      Yeah -- there are false rape accusations but THE MAJORITY ARE NOT (FBI stats show about 2-8% are false). And then there's the pressure women feel to not report (shame/fear), religious baggage, and then being re-victimized by cops/courts:

      " Baltimore’s “unfounded” rate used to be the highest in the nation, at about 30 percent, due partly to questionable and sometimes downright abusive police procedures, such as badgering a woman about why she waited two hours to report a street assault. By 2013, an effort to provide better training and encourage full investigation of all complaints reduced that rate to less than 2 percent."

      http://www.slate.com/articles/...
      OR
      http://www.theguardian.com/wor...

      Some women recant, not because a rape didn't happen, but because of the shit they'll have to face. Only 40% of rapes are even reported because women know they'll deal with all the usual shit (were you drinking, what were you wearing, did you smile at him -- which to people like you seems to mean 'she was asking for it')

      You sound like a rape apologist and victim blamer. So why don't YOU 'open your fucking eyes'

      --

      'The unexamined life is not worth living' - Socrates
    7. Re:As a father with a daughter by LionKimbro · · Score: 1

      I am a father, and I have a daughter too, which gives me equal ground to respond.

      * Who has the most sexually pleasurable and sensitive part of their genitals systematically mutilated at birth? BOYS.
      * Who makes up a minority of college students? BOYS.
      * Who is expected to sacrifice their life for their country? BOYS and YOUNG MEN -- "infant"-ry indeed.
      * Who is expected to pay for the date? MEN.
      * Who is expected to make more than their partner, by their partner? MEN.
      * Who is always reminded from all sectors of society that, in a sexual-romantic relationship, they are the one who have to provide value through success, earning, providing, career, and disciplined behavior at all times? BOYS and MEN.
      * Who is reminded that they have to EARN sexual fulfillment? BOYS and MEN.
      * Who often has to PAY to have sex? MEN.
      * Who has to pay child support, even if they were underage and sexually abused? BOYS.
      * Who is at 10x a risk of physical violence? BOYS and MEN.
      * Who is used by society for violence-work, and then criticized condemned and feared for being violent? BOYS.
      * Who is given longer and harder prison sentence, for the same exact crime? MEN.
      * Who is expected to do grueling grunt work, and "take it like a man"? BOYS and MEN.
      * Who is considered to be an existential threat to children? MEN.
      * Who is forced to pay child support for unwanted children? MEN.
      * Who is denied access to children, even when they're paying child support? MEN.
      * Who is not listened to, or even criticized and condemned, when they are feeling emotionally hurt? BOYS and MEN.
      ** Note the use of the word "whining."
      * Who is the victim of roughly 35-50% of unilateral domestic violence, but is most likely to not be supported, oris even taken to jail, should they report it? BOYS and MEN. (Girls are responsible for more than 50% of teenage dating intimate violence.) See http://www.domesticviolenceres... for more information.
      * Who is accused of being in a "victim mentality" for angry opposition to the lies of "equality" ..? Sympathy compassion and care for girls and women, grounding threats and punishments for boys, and condemnation and ceaseless criticism and distaste for men.

      When I found out that I was having a girl rather than a boy, I cried tears of relief. I wouldn't DARE bring a boy into today's hostile climate, by choice.

      * NO MORE CHILD GENITAL MUTILATION.
      * NO MORE DATING DOUBLE-STANDARDS.
      * NO MORE TARRING BOYS AND MEN THROUGH BULLSHIT STATISTICS.
      * NO MORE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST BOYS AND MEN.
      * NO MORE INTIMATE VIOLENCE AGAINST BOYS AND MEN.
      * NO MORE ATTACKS ON SEXUALITY, ESPECIALLY MALE SEXUALITY.
      * NO MORE SPECIAL PROTECTIONS FOR WOMEN.
      * NO MORE FORCED PATERNITY.
      * DECLARATION OF INNOCENCE WHEN RAPE ACCUSATIONS ARE FOUND FALSE.
      * DUE PROCESS AFTER RAPE ACCUSATION.
      * PRISON TIME FOR FALSE ACCUSERS.
      * EQUAL TIME FOR EQUAL CRIME.

      Perhaps most importantly: CARE FOR BOYS AND MEN.

    8. Re:As a father with a daughter by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

      ... most of the comments here scare the sh-t out of me.

      A lot of people whining that the world isn't fair to men, are you fucking kidding me? Who gets raped, men? RARELY. And the whole 'so many women falsely accuse men of rape'. That's total fucking bullshit.

      Who has to actually carry a child to term, and possibly raise them alone when the man bails, men? Who still are generally underpaid compared the other sex, men. Who runs the vast majority of the governments and writes the laws, men.

      I know lots of young egotistical narcissistic young men who think they're fucking so special that if a women rejects their 'charms', suddenly they're a b-tch or a c-nt. Comments above demonstrate the point perfectly.

      C'mon people, I'm not promoting self-flagellation, but seriously do you REALLY think that way?

      I don't think you need to worry too much about males running after your precious snowflake. The article strongly implies that men now would rather have porn+VG than court your daughter. Enough males do this and there's even more of a male deficit than now - your daughter will likely have to share a man with some other woman (or women) 'cos the men can get their urges fulfilled without having to play this game of stacked decks. A gender imbalance means that one gender will have to work considerably harder to keep a partner. There's a gender imbalance when men don't want to get involved.

      --
      I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
    9. Re:As a father with a daughter by Chordonblue · · Score: 1

      Hmmm... There are a lot of men in prisons - lots of rape going on in there too - but apparently, criminals doesn't 'count'.

      It is the woman's responsibility to choose wisely, knowing what burden she may carry as the result of a sexual liason. As a father, it is YOUR responsibility to help your daughter develop that skill so that the man she finally chooses will be worthy of her. It may seem unfair, but eggs are a commodity, sperm isn't.

      And yes, it is generally true that when a guy thinks he's a nice guy who is rejected because he is 'nice', he typically will blame the woman. Actually, women have a kind of radar on this - and that is explained quite well here: http://divalion.livejournal.co...

      --
      "...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
    10. Re:As a father with a daughter by z80kid · · Score: 1

      Yeah. Every guy that wants nothing to do with women does that. Dumbass.

    11. Re:As a father with a daughter by righteousness · · Score: 1

      Some women recant, not because a rape didn't happen, but because of the shit they'll have to face. Only 40% of rapes are even reported because women know they'll deal with all the usual shit (were you drinking, what were you wearing, did you smile at him -- which to people like you seems to mean 'she was asking for it')

      This is a problem with your laws requiring proof beyond reasonable doubt that consent had not been given. The solution is to change the laws so that absence of consent is not required to be proven for a successful prosecution. If a woman accuses a man of rape, and it is able to be proven forensically that penetration happened, it should be enough for conviction of rape. Testimony of the victim would not be required and so the woman would not have to go through all that shit you talk about.

      --
      Don't fornicate. Seriously, just don't do it.
    12. Re:As a father with a daughter by righteousness · · Score: 1

      Don't fornicate and you'll be safe.

      --
      Don't fornicate. Seriously, just don't do it.
  63. Adiction by Bengie · · Score: 1

    Addiction is bad, news at 11.

  64. ElectroDarwinism by swschrad · · Score: 1

    indeed

    --
    if this is supposed to be a new economy, how come they still want my old fashioned money?
  65. The video game thing is entirely sensible by nintendoeats · · Score: 1

    Blizzard employs several full time psychologists to time the drops in their games. There are many aspects of game design which are about spacing out reward stimulus and the results are pretty much identical to drug use. When somebody talks about WoW addiction that is absolutely accurate. It's a pretty simple mechanism: the player performs actions and recieves a reward triggering endorphins. In real life rewards are often spaced very far apart and the actions performed are often tedious. In a properly designed game the actions are at a bare minimum not annoying to perform and you need to perform far less of them to get a reward. People are becoming addicted to short term rewards. CoD is based on a very similar principle. I am normally skeptical of this sort of "these younguns" reasoning, but in this case it is simply evidence that the games are working as they were intended to by the creators. By the way, I love video games and in fact am actively working to become a professional game designer. It is this particular type of game design that I am criticizing. There are many others which aren't so insidious and ethically problematic.

  66. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by clong83 · · Score: 1

    I also didn't buy my wife a diamond ring. She picked out her own ring, and got one with a green tourmaline instead. Much cheaper; beautiful stone.

    Can we form a club?

  67. I'm sure you're a god... by Grog6 · · Score: 1

    In your own mind, lol.

    --
    Truth isn't Truth - Guliani
  68. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by nintendoeats · · Score: 1

    If your life revolves around video games, by definition you're a shallow person. I might be interested in a brief conversation with a person about the latest games, but if that's the extent of your interests then it's going to be a short conversation.

    I know where you are coming from, but I find that a tad offensive as a general statement. Certainly if somebody essentially lives for the next big budget release they probably don't have much to contribute, but video games as a field are broad complex and fascinating. Understanding them requires knowledge of technology, psychology, drama, economics...name any major category of human endeavour and I'm sure I can come up with a way that it is relevant to video games.

  69. marriage was a disaster for me by jsepeta · · Score: 1

    Thanks to my marriage, I'm on the hook for 20 years of giving up 20% of my paycheck. Although I love my daughter, every single other aspect of my marriage destroyed me -- loss of income means living in a basement apartment with little sunlight but centipedes and poor heating because that's all I could afford. I was an emotional wreck for a year. My wife didn't love me, and attempting to find a girlfriend since then has been fruitless -- the women I meet who are willing to date me are hardly the cream of the crop. I'm better off watching porn than seeking the admiration of women who themselves seek the money I don't have.

    --
    Remember kids, if you're not paying for the service, YOU ARE THE PRODUCT THAT IS BEING SOLD.
  70. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by Greystripe · · Score: 1

    So are you saying he's not spending enough on pr0n?

  71. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by TWX · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Exactly. After a string of toxic relationships I realized I was chasing women that needed to be saved. Trouble is, they always needed to be saved, they never stayed saved. They always had problems that had to be fixed by someone else, ie, me.

    Once I realized this, I made a point of avoiding women that were 'vulnerable' in the sense that they were on the tipping point of needing to be saved. The woman I married was self-sufficient and took care of her own problems when I met her, and if anything I provide that soundingboard for her to sanity-check ideas against and to vent to. On an entirely practical level I can take care of things that were previously contracted-out (ie, auto repair, house maintenance, technical support) but she knows how to get these things dealt with if necessary; if her car breaks down she can have it towed without requiring me to drop everything and rush to her side. We make each others' lives better, but we can each stand as individuals and take care of things without excessive drama. It allows us to be together because we want to be together, not because we're not functional in a co-dependent state.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  72. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by Krishnoid · · Score: 1

    Date an interesting woman, Get an interesting woman.

    Too much work. Can't I just clone an interesting woman?

  73. What about women? by aThickWorm · · Score: 1

    If the guys are becoming less outgoing towards women, how does that then affect young women? Seen from their point of view, they must have a harder time finding love in this cold world of pr0n and WoW. It could be interesting to hear their side of the story, and it could also confirm Zimbardo's theory.

  74. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by serviscope_minor · · Score: 1

    Sure, why not.

    --
    SJW n. One who posts facts.
  75. nothing new by ltorvalds024 · · Score: 1

    watching porn (or simply, people having sex, romance) is not allowed by many religions long time ago! so the point is its better to follow, at least one, religion and learn from it, you will always be in safer side

  76. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by TWX · · Score: 1

    Sounds like these relationships as-described are codependent, with more of the codependency resting on the man's side than the woman's. I've seen plenty of codependency the other direction too, where the woman essentially loses her life as she knows it to be with the man. Perhaps the best approach would be for both parties to be honest with their hobbies and interests, to date people that have some common hobbies and interests, and to continue to maintain their own separate hobbies while guaranteeing the sanctity of the other person's hobbies, within reasonable bounds.

    I've been married for approaching a decade. I have not had to give up any of my hobbies from before I got married. I have had to make some choices as to what materiel related to said I hobbies I have kept or continue to acquire, but my wife does not force me to give up anything that interests me. I still have my model rockets, my drum set, my cars, my computers, my tools, my ham radio gear, my Legos, my science fiction collectables, my movies, etc. I did sell one of my two drum sets, I am capped at five vehicles, I don't buy tools unless I need them but given that I just bought a two-post vehicle lift I'm certainly not restricted, I continue to build model rockets. The only real purge has been to go through and get rid of obsolete computer parts, but there's no need to keep ISA cards and 50-pin SCSI cables, or too many 40-pin IDE cables. She also has her hobbies and interests, and she has not had to give up any of their constituent materials beyond normal housekeeping either.

    I wonder if the biggest problem here is the blanket generalization of women. Being demanding in a relationship is not a trait of all women. Unwillingness to give is not a trait of all women. Being fickle is not a trait of all women. Being disinterested is not a trait of all women. Sure, there are women to whom some of these traits apply, and there are probably women to which all of these traits apply, but there are also men to which some or all of these traits apply too. If someone is experiencing these conditions, then one needs to re-evaluate where one is meeting women; a change of scene is in order.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  77. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Ding, ding, ding.

    Relationship portrayal in media is ridiculously far off from healthy relationships. Oafish, meek men in shows, moves, etc. are constantly shown as walking wallets who's sole goal in life is to please some insufferable, raging twat. It's infuriating. It's the equivalent of children watching Disney Channel shows, and using it as a model for how to interact with their parents.

    So, ya, don't chase shallow, selfish women.

  78. It's called being lazy by sunking2 · · Score: 1

    It's really that simple. Interacting with real people takes effort. People just don't want to do it anymore. For boys more effort is required finding a relationship with a girl. Many are just too lazy to go through it now.

  79. They have a problem to begin with by Bruha · · Score: 1

    Played WOW for 10 years, asheron's call before that and had no issues stopping to go on dates and get laid.

    Sounds like they just interviewed people who are afraid of rejection. It's part of game guys.

  80. It's also just stuck in the past by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 3, Interesting

    In particular with regards to gender roles.

    So, time was women were for making babies and raising said babies. Men were for protecting and providing for the women. That was the roles society prescribed and there wasn't a lot of deviation from it. You did see outliers that didn't conform, but by and large that's how things were basically due to necessity. You notice many animals follow a similar structure. It is what is needed for the survival of the species.

    Well that all changed, of course. We now have the problem of too many humans, not too few. Also many of the household tasks that used to take a ton of time are now automated (try washing clothes by hand, it is a full time job almost). So society changed. Women didn't need to place their worth in their offspring anymore. They could choose to be what the wanted, do what they wanted, and still be valuable. It wasn't about popping out babies.

    Well, this is the other side of that: Men's value now no longer needs to be in providing for a family. They can have a family, or not, they work, they can stay at home, etc, etc. For some men, that means staying single.

    However, some people, like this dude, have a problem with that. They think that men should be required to be providers to be considered "real men", should be required to fill a particular role in society.

    1. Re:It's also just stuck in the past by serviscope_minor · · Score: 2

      You notice many animals follow a similar structure.

      Depends on which animals. The range is vast and encompasses quite astonishingly diverse behaviours. It ranges from ones where the males do all the caring to ones with an almost equal share of work (many birds, especially those that mate for life), ones where the work share is equal but are ruled by a queen (naked mole rats) to ones where the (sterile) females do all the protecting (ants) to ones where the male is nothing more than a pair of parasitic gonads with no independent life (anglerfish). And then there's just the fire and forget ones where neither gender lifts a finger, fin or tentacle after the eggs are fertilised. And then then there's the ones that can switch genders depending on the circumstance: some fish shoals are all male/female except for the lead female/male. When the lead dies, the head male/female switches gender to female/male. And then there's the hemaphoradites. At that point things get really weird.

      Anyway other points, yeah pretty much.

      --
      SJW n. One who posts facts.
  81. Bingo by ThatsNotPudding · · Score: 1

    Philip Zimbardo isnt doing science on this, hes regurgitating talking points from evangelical american christian leadership. porn addiction, insufficient masculinity, and "the vidja games" are all bitchcraft perfected by the likes of James Dobson and focus on the family as surrogates for their collective concern that america is "changing" and they dont like it.

    All this shit boils down to what they see coming: the White race becoming a minority within God's Own Country (USA).

    From the very beginning, the anti-abortion movement has not been "Save the babies!", but rather "Save the WHITE babies!!"

  82. #GamerGate and MRAs by PopeRatzo · · Score: 1

    As if we didn't already have enough evidence for a "masculinity crisis", we now have this study.

    And I want to give kudos to the Slashdot editors for being able to resist putting up MRA clickbait until today. For a second, on Friday, I thought you'd decided to forego this valuable (though de-masculized) demographic.

    --
    You are welcome on my lawn.
  83. What if I like both? by ElusiveJoe · · Score: 1

    What if I like both having sex and watching porn? What if I like both video games and hanging out with friends?

  84. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

    People say this often but if 1/10 women aren't shallow, what do the other 9/10 males do?

  85. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

    Most of the developed Asian countries have extremely low birth rates and their populations will start to shrink in a couple decades.

  86. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

    If it requires dating 10 girls to find a good one, that 1/10 ratio bodes poorly for the male populace.

  87. I called bs on the errection point by Karmashock · · Score: 1

    Who here thinks watching porn causes men to not be able to get erections with women? Dumb.

    A more relevant question they should be asking is why are men seeking escapes form society? The assumption he's making is that this is just an addiction and that men would otherwise WANT to be part of society. But most of the people that get sucked off into games and pornography are checking out.

    That is an effect and not a cause. The cause is that there are various things in modern society that are hostile to young men. We can all feel it. And if that becomes stressful and alienating then why not check out? What is society offering you to make you want to participate?

    A big part of how societies work is that they encourage, reward, and facilitate constructive participation in a group culture and society. But if given members of that society do not feel encouraged, rewarded, or able to organize then that leads to disconnection. Men drop off the system.

    And since they're not doing anything productive they might as well entertain themselves.

    And thus the games.

    Look at the college rates. They're not only not graduating but they're not even going in the first place. That is people that are checking out. They don't see the point of investing the time and energy and so they don't.

    If you want to change that then you effect it THERE. Treating the symptoms won't do anything for you.

    --
    I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
    1. Re:I called bs on the errection point by JustNiz · · Score: 1

      >> Who here thinks watching porn causes men to not be able to get erections with women? Dumb.

      Although I don't suffer from it, I can understand it.

      If you get used to the perfect fantasy, (i.e. a model hired for her perfect physical appearance then filmed with perfect lighting and makeup and any slight imperfections post-processed out) , then a real woman with inevitable faults when compared to an unacheiveable perfection may not meet your unrealistic and artificially high expectations enough to sufficiently turn you on.

    2. Re:I called bs on the errection point by Karmashock · · Score: 1

      Depends. If she's a fucking land whale then you can't blame the lack of an erection on the porn. If she's just "a normal woman" then I'm calling bullshit. Naked woman in front of me... in the flesh... erection is happening. Especially if she's prepared to put in any effort what so ever to put the man in the mood. Women go on and on about how they need foreplay and rub this and touch that... and don't go too fast. Etc.

      Well, do men have to have such blue balls that they spurt at the first sight of nipples? Worst case, there is some heavy petting that happens before intercourse. Apparently this is the end of masculinity. Give me a fucking break.

      I was very disappointed with his article because his study from the 70s was very interesting. But the idiocy of his recent situation makes me wonder if perhaps he's always been an incompetent boob.

      --
      I've decided to stop wasting my time responding to AC trolls/sockpuppets... so if you want a response from me... login.
  88. Effect on women? by JustNiz · · Score: 2

    This is clearly a natural conclusion of women's and society's ongoing erosion of the value of masculinity and the traditional male role, and even the value of men's lives compared to women's lives.

    It seems to me that all the attention in society is still on women''s rights, and if you even mention mens rghts many people think you're soft in the head or something, or worse yet, just done something "socially unacceptable".

    For example, even though approximately equal numbers of men are kiled by prostate cancer as women killed by breast cancer, but were is the vast majority of the attention and money going?
    (http://dailycaller.com/2010/10/05/breast-cancer-receives-much-more-research-funding-publicity-than-prostate-cancer-despite-similar-number-of-victims/)

    Its very subliminal too, for example next time you watch TV note how the media NEARLY ALWAYS portray men as more stupid and lazy than women, (in pretty much every commercial the butt of the "joke" is a dumb man who is shown up because he's too stupid to use the same product as the woman).

    Basically societiy is continually reasserting a strong message to men that we are very much 2nd-class citizens and should just count ourselves lucky if some women even gives us the chance to date her, and it goes without saying that most women think most men should pay for everything during the date and do all the other things that demonstrate themeselves as being subsurvient.

      For example did you know the Birkenhead Drill ("women and children first") was only invented in the early 1850s? Note I have no problem with children first as there is actually some logic to it, but the implicit belief that one person's life is more valuable than another's just because "vagina" is insulting and damaging.

    I won't even get into the ongioing massively high suicide rate of young men that indicates a serious societal problem is still going unaddressed.

    Is it really any wonder then, that most young men are desperately finding alternatives to the current value system of this society?

    1. Re:Effect on women? by JustNiz · · Score: 1

      So you and the Birkenhead Drill is saying its more OK that a child should grow up without a father than a mother? I don't think that is either true or fair.

  89. Fantasy life easier than real life by Kjella · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Isn't that what this really boils down, not some bullshit about masculinity? Women watch soap operas because it's more exciting than their boring life, men play video games so we can be greater than the insignificant little peons that we are. And in porn the most beautiful women will perform for you even if you're fatter than the marshmallow man and uglier than a troll. We have immersive enough solutions that the body is fooled to play out almost all its chemical registry with endorphin, adrenaline, dopamine and so on letting you fake all the excitement and rewards as you slay imaginary dragons.

    The problem is that it's addictive and desensitizing, if you're on a constant rush of awards and achievements and level-ups and whatnot then real life is a real downer. Not entirely unlike how I hear people on drugs describe coming off their high or how fat people act when they come off a sugar rush. So through a combination of actual reality check, batting outside your league because of failed self-perception and being poor at handling disinterest or rejection the result is often a painful face-plant. Once bitten, twice shy so you rather watch porn and play video games than try again.

    --
    Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
    1. Re:Fantasy life easier than real life by Chordonblue · · Score: 2

      Pretty much your comment. Funny thing about women who complain about porn; they don't seem to have a problem with spending money on their own version of porn: Romance Novels. That's a $1 billion / year industry now, and the overwhelming majority of buyers are women. It's nothing more than 'dirty' moving pictures of the mind.

      At the end of the day, we have to concede that there are differences in the psychological needs of men and women. We ARE different, and not just physically. As always, there are exceptions, YMMV...

      --
      "...Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam..."
  90. Psychology lol by Dunbal · · Score: 1

    More junk science. Where are the double blind clinically controlled trials or the cohort studies? Oh wait, it's just someone pushing their pet theory again, using a database search to do a bit of post hoc justification. Are you SURE it wasn't because someone touched them as a child or that they want to have sex with their mothers? Let's have the prospective studies then figure out if the claim is true.

    --
    Seven puppies were harmed during the making of this post.
  91. More than you probably realize by MikeRT · · Score: 1

    Philip Zimbardo isnt doing science on this, hes regurgitating talking points from evangelical american christian leadership. porn addiction, insufficient masculinity, and "the vidja games" are all bitchcraft perfected by the likes of James Dobson and focus on the family as surrogates for their collective concern that america is "changing" and they dont like it.

    Believe it or not, many of us who are orthodox (not Eastern Orthodox, just tradition-focused conservatives) Christians would more or less agree with you here. Focus on the Family actually puts out some rancid garbage on relationships, basically encouraging young men to be simpering "nice guys" who act like they're unworthy of the woman in their life. They can't stand the idea of men standing up, having a mission (which may genuinely never include marriage and a family) and living how they want to live within the limits of morality.

    MGTOW and other reactions are actually not controversial among orthodox Christians because unlike modern Evangelicals, we understand that there's nothing contrary to God's plan about men not getting married. In fact, we would tell many young men that it's better to not get married at all than to get married to a woman who is not willing to be a real wife (whether she has a job or stays at home). The reality is that many, many women do not want to be wives today so it's better to simply not get married than to be shackled to that.

  92. Game Addiction Makes Money by WheezyJoe · · Score: 1

    It's not just porn and MMORGs. The Verge posted a story on slot machines where the industry puts a LOT of effort into figuring out what kind of bells and whistles best hit the reward-center of your brain to keep you playing. Now, designers of other kinds of games are getting in on it:

    "I can’t tell you how often I’ve been approached since the publication of my book by Silicon Valley types who say things like, ‘Wow, the gambling industry really seems to have a handle on this attention retention problem that we’re all facing,'" Schüll told me. "'Will you come tell our designers how to do a better job?’"

    Check out the thing they call the "zone", where players get so absorbed by the machine they pay no attention to their surroundings.

    To understand the zone, you first have to understand "flow," the concept developed by Hungarian psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi to describe a hyperfocused state of absorption. During "flow," time speeds up (hours feel like minutes) or slows down (reactions can be made instantly) and the mind reaches a state of almost euphoric equilibrium. Schüll, in her book, describes Csikszentmihaly’s four criteria of flow: "[F]irst, each moment of the activity must have a little goal; second, the rules for attaining that goal must be clear; third, the activity must give immediate feedback; fourth, the tasks of the activity must be matched with challenge." For most of their history, slots easily fulfilled the first two criteria; after lowering volatility, they fulfilled the third criterion, and with the introduction of multiple lines, endless bonus rounds, and the occasional mini-game, they finally fulfilled the four criteria.

    If you've ever taking a stroll through a casino, you've seen this. No reason it can't go on in some kid's bedroom.
     

    --
    Take it easy, Charlie, I've got an Angle...
  93. It happened to me by Chrontius · · Score: 3, Informative

    Then being told any sexual act with a girl could end up with you in jail.

    I was pretty literally told that at my college orientation - 10 minutes after it was pointed out that campus security was entirely handled by local police with arrest powers, and orders to enforce campus policies, we were taken to the dorms and it was casually mentioned that the university policy on sexual consent allowed the female partner to revoke consent retroactively, and one had to get verbal permission every time some new kind or level of intimacy was reached during a sexual encounter.

    Standards were relaxed twice in my last two years, but I sure wasn’t interested in dating on-campus - any time I had any passing interest, I flashed back to the dorms, and the interest quickly passed.

  94. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by LaurenCates · · Score: 2

    Can the women who never asked for a ring join as well?

    I mean, I asked him, too, so I was never entitled to one, but still, I'd very much like to befriend your wives so we can high-five each other for being awesome.

    --
    Some people don't believe in fairies. I don't believe in The Patriarchy.
  95. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by Ryanrule · · Score: 2

    porn and video games.

  96. This is a different effect and well-known by gweihir · · Score: 1

    This person is a hack. What he is seeing is a well-documented effect that is not that new. For example
            http://www.smh.com.au/it-pro/w...
    describes it well. The problem is basically that the dating-game is not worthwhile playing for the more dependable "beta males" anymore, (who are perfect for founding a family), because younger women all go for the alphas and because whenever something goes wrong with a marriage or relationship with children, these days the man is the one that will get screwed over by the legal system. The betas have arranged themselves with this and found alternatives. ("Women - can't live with them, _can_ live without them.") Porn is a substitute, not a cause. And it saves all that tedious and stupid "romance" thing. (Not all women want that stupidity, some just want a decent guy. These are rare though.) Same for gaming. It is entertainment. It tickles your fantasy life and it is often quite the opposite of solitary. The whole traditional role model thing is just not attractive for men anymore and there are plenty of alternate ways to live your life. For example, working less than full-time and doing interesting things with the time you gain and still living well.

    That Zimbardo apparently completely misses this is just pathetic. Do not listen to this person. He is a conservative traditionalist that regards any deviation from the established "normal" patterns as pathological.
       

    --
    Most ACs are not even worth the keystrokes to insult them. Be generically insulted by this and ignored otherwise.
  97. Two premises by Ibhuk · · Score: 1

    Zimbardo has two premises/theories and I would say one is completely normal behavior not warranting much further study (maybe a study just to disprove it) and another that probably warrants further study. Video and computer games making it distracting for young males in classes or work is just normal behavior. My experience with male friends and colleagues who both played games and those who didn't show it's really just a desire to do something more interesting than sit in class or spend time working. I've been in classes myself where I would prefer playing games, reading a book, or just walking around outside. It's not computer games that are making males distracted in class, but computer games have probably become most young males preferred recreational activity. The other premise regarding porn versus other romantic interactions has actually become a more popular topic of late. The premise is basically the entire point of the movie Don Jon starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt as having difficulties with romantic relationships because how porn has influenced his ideas of romance. There is also a greater cry for study from people are trying to figure out if porn habits influence college rapes. I think it will be difficult to prove as a kind of chicken-egg scenario, but there will likely be a significant correlation.

  98. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Thanks. I'm a woman and I'm not that way either. I don't even have an engagement ring - the idea of being proposed to made me sick, instead we decided to get married together like an adult couple making an adult decision together. I wasn't going to sit around idly while he was deciding when/if WE were getting married - that's something we should decide on together. We don't care to buy each other presents or anything like that - neither of us are into material objects and rarely want anything plus we don't need to buy each other crap to prove we love each other.

    I swear /. is full of idiots whose idea of a all women is a caricature that doesn't even exist. They also somehow don't recognize that their entire caricature falls on its head when you consider lesbians and bisexuals exist.

  99. Don't trust it by Murdoch5 · · Score: 1

    This is Physiology, the field of study where you never validate your results. Once I see this exact study verified by several researchers and across isolated double blind teams then I'll believe it.

  100. Re:No. by Stormy+Dragon · · Score: 4, Interesting

    If expressing yourself means women don't want you, that's great. Be single.

    Seems that's what a lot of men are doing and it results in people like Zimbardo going "Hey, you're not allowed to just be single!"

  101. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by TWX · · Score: 1

    This isn't a surprise. He's probably just as interested in girls not suited to his interests and not interested in the girls that he has so many hobbies in common-with as they are with him.

    There's only so much time in the day. It sounds like he's chasing the girls that put a lot of effort into their appearance, which aren't typically the girls that are in to these hobbies. It's not impossible that there are girls that are way in to their appearance that like these same things, but they're not very common.

    Once he matures and gets out of high school he'll end up with different circles. It makes it a lot easier when one chooses who to associate with, rather than being so artificially bundled together.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  102. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by TWX · · Score: 1

    I takes meeting lots of women to find the one that's compatible with you. The others that are not compatible with you may be compatible with other men. Just as the one that is compatible with you might not be compatible with lots of other men.

    --
    Do not look into laser with remaining eye.
  103. What's the Problem? by allquixotic · · Score: 4, Interesting

    While the guys with Neanderthal brains are out at bars trying to get laid, I'm living a comfortable, safe, and happy life. While they're getting exposed to STDs, drugs, accidental pregnancies, rough divorce settlements, paying child support, spouse abuse (either as the perpetrator or the victim), defaulting on their home because their spouse talked them into living above their means, etc. etc. etc..... I am living in a small single-bed apartment alone, making good money, playing video games (mostly MMOs) for social interaction, and listening to music to tame my biological cravings.

    Not to mention, my choice not to reproduce helps the population problem -- at least in the span of a few decades, if not the long term. There is not a single problem that humankind has that can be solved by making more people. In fact, making more people does exactly the opposite for nearly all of our problems; it makes them more severe and reduces the length of time we have until those problems erupt into global catastrophes.

    I don't *want or need* a woman. I don't *want or need* a romantic relationship with anyone. I don't want kids. I don't want any of the associated problems that come with either. It's been completely wired out of me.

    I am basically an exact description of the type of person the study was about. And yet, I am not unhappy; I am not unsuccessful; I am not a loser. I am an environmentally-conscious, socially-reponsible citizen, supporter of my community, dedicated employee, educated voter and participant in the political process, and I have my fair share of social interaction, too, on the order of 6 to 8 hours per day on MMOs. Just because I don't touch the people I socialize with doesn't somehow make me diseased. I am a very social person. I am "socially intelligent". I can pick up on body language cues, implied meaning in conversation, the intent behind vocal intonation, the significance of a touch. I deal with people in meatspace for eight hours a day, and people in virtual space for another 6 to 8.

    Medicine and academia has a tendency to call anything abnormal a disease, or a problem to be solved. Sometimes change is for the better. Sometimes the status quo is the worse of the two worlds.

    In short: I would prefer to continue to be who I am, in the situaton I am in, rather than be the epitome of "masculinity" as this researcher thinks I need to be, even if I had the means to become that. And quite honestly, I'm pretty sure I do have the means to become that, if I put my mind to it. I don't put my mind to it because *it's not how I want to live my life.* Who the fuck is Philip Zimbardo to tell me that my life choices are wrong, especially when, by all the objective measurements that his ilk thrive on, I am of a far greater net benefit to society than many of the so-called "masculine" men he thinks I should be?

    1. Re:What's the Problem? by Locando · · Score: 1

      Who the fuck is Philip Zimbardo to tell me that my life choices are wrong?

      Who are you to tell the Internet that your life choices are right? I don't mean in the legal sense, I mean in the moral sense. You sound like you have an awfully large chip on your shoulder. Why are you so convinced that your morals are defensible that you can't expose any kind of interrogation whatsoever into your reasoning that led you to your conclusions, just a metric fuckton of defensiveness?

      A lot of us here have unusual life setups in one fashion or another. There's no reason for that to automatically entail defensiveness. If you can't tell that that's how your post comes off, maybe you should take a closer look at your assertion that you're "socially intelligent," and where your abnormally high level of certainty comes from.

      And what's with your obsession with children, anyway? Some of us have relationships without kids, living above our means, or the risk of STDs. Maybe you should have a little more contact with those of us who don't play MMOs, so that if nothing else you don't sound like you have any idea of how people different from you actually live.

    2. Re:What's the Problem? by allquixotic · · Score: 1

      First: you misquoted me by leaving out the ", especially..." clause I added to it as a proviso. To make this explicit, that means:

      (1) I think I should have the right to live my life the way I want to, regardless of whether anyone else uses any subjective or objective reasoning to determine that my choices are worse than some other choices I could have made instead.

      (2) I think, based on evidence that has informed some of the choices I've made, that I've made good choices that are logical and grounded in scientific data, with an aim to minimizing the amount of harm I inflict on my environment and fellow human beings, while (hopefully...) doing my best to slightly improving the lives of at least a handful of other people whom I interact with, either socially or professionally. While I could probably *technically* save some resources by offing myself, so could just about anyone, and I don't advocate suicide. I advocate making the most of what we have, while we have it.

      Even if I'm wrong about (2), I think my point in (1) is still able to stand on its own. If I sound defensive, it's because someone else, namely this researcher, has "gone on the offensive" against a certain set of characteristics or behaviors or choices, many of which match some of the choices and behaviors I see in myself. Naturally, if you do not fall within Zimbardo's tartgeting reticule, you would have no reason to be defensive. I do, and I do.

      The reason I am concerned is that influential researchers like Zimbardo are able to influence public policy to a significant level, especially because he is the guy who published that seminal result about the Stanford prison experiment. That WAS great work, indeed, and insightful information about human psychology (it also did a great service by opening up a can of worms for the public and other psychologists to dig into for the next ~50 years) -- but that doesn't entitle him to start throwing people like me under the bus.

      Consider the distinction between these two statements (neither of which I am implying that Zimbardo actually said; this is just for illustration purposes):

      (A): I observe, empirically, that people who exhibit 'foo' behaviors/choices experience 'bar' consequences later.

      (B): I observe, empirically, that people who exhibit 'foo' behaviors/choices experience 'bar' consequences later. Therefore, 'foo' is bad, and anyone who behaves like / chooses 'foo' should reexamine their life and maybe stop doing 'foo'.

      The problem with (B) is that there may be countless *positive* consequences besides 'bar' (we're assuming 'bar' is something that most people would consider undesirable) that the researcher did not anticipate. Furthermore, there may be disagreement over whether 'bar' is even "bad" at all; maybe it's fine from a certain point of view. In the specifics of this situation, I feel that there's a little bit of both going on.

      If Zimbardo stopped at (A), and if TFA stopped at (A), and TFS stopped at (A), I'd be fine. I wouldn't even bat an eyelash. But, not having read the actual research study, TFS and TFA *portray* it as more like (B). If that's not what Zimbardo said, then my beef is with TFA, not Zimbardo. The article definitely reads like the research identifies a societal "problem" that needs to be fixed.

      Now, let me be clear. Under normal circumstances, I do not go around living my life by telling people who've made different choices than me that they're wrong, or that they're wasting resources, or making problems worse, or whatever. That's not the type of personality I have. I'm very much "live and let live". But when someone starts taking pot-shots at my choices, I feel fully entitled to rebut their arguments, and maybe even argue past them a little bit if I feel like it, because it has a very personal impact on me when someone does that to me.

      In fact, even though I feel that some of my choices are objectively better than the alternatives, I am very hesitant to point out to others, normally, that I disagree with their choices. But unfortunately, when situations like this arise, I can't resist the temptation to air out my opinions, and sometimes people who fall under *my* targeting reticule might get upset. If that's the case here, I'm sorry.

    3. Re:What's the Problem? by Locando · · Score: 1

      Wow. I'm not arguing against your argument, I'm arguing against your argumentation. I'm arguing against your epistemology; I'm questioning the depth of your metacognition.

      (1) I think (...)

      (2) I think, (...)

      Even if I'm wrong about (2), I think (...)

      See how much you talk about yourself, as if your thoughts automatically matter when you're communicating with other people? That's what I'm looking at. Of course we all want to be listened to. Of course we all believe we have something to offer. But at a certain point you cross a line and sound self-important or self-congratulatory or self-righteous or self-something else unsavory.

      If I sound defensive, it's because someone else, namely this researcher, has "gone on the offensive" against a certain set of characteristics or behaviors or choices, many of which match some of the choices and behaviors I see in myself. Naturally, if you do not fall within Zimbardo's tartgeting reticule, you would have no reason to be defensive. I do, and I do.

      You're making a huge assumption here, that sounding defensive is natural or unavoidable in certain circumstances. While I'm not the target of Zimbardo's criticism, there are plenty of issues for which I am in the minority and can read articles attacking my way of life. I don't take it as a given in those cases that I'll get defensive. Nor do I think my defensiveness is defensible if that's how I react. I think I can do better than that. So can everyone else.

      Now, let me be clear. Under normal circumstances, I do not go around living my life by telling people who've made different choices than me that they're wrong, or that they're wasting resources, or making problems worse, or whatever.

      How you treat other people about their lifestyles is beside the point. This is about your lifestyle, your defensiveness, what you feel entitled to, and the extent to which any of these deserve respect.

      These two long posts paint a picture of someone who thinks very highly of his own choices and opinions. You, however, like anyone else in the world, do not have any objective reason to believe that you have made the right decisions. In fact, the extent to which you don't choose to engage me here — but instead repeat your assertions about your fixed thoughts and your perceived entitlements — implies the kind of inflexibility of mind that keeps people from being able to make the right decisions. We have to entertain the notion that some ways of being might be worse than others. If we open ourselves up to that possibility, then we open the possibility also that we are the ones doing the wrong thing, and if that's the case, the fact that a given lifestyle is our own means nothing morally.

  104. Quote from night court by voss · · Score: 1

    "Money cant buy you love, but it can buy a whole lot of like"

  105. In my case... by Yagia · · Score: 1

    I had (and still have I guess) a strong video game addiction when I start to think about a game always and even say voice lines from the game when I'm outside feeling I'm doing it and I used to dream about this game sometimes 3 times on a night. It's an addiction and a bad habit and desire to do something that you will get no stress doing than working on your dream that may or may not came true (in my case...). I used to be that guy who rarely left his room or go outside and just stay home and write code and I had no social problems even that I'm stuttering when I'm talking, when I start playing video games it's the same too nothing changed. So I don't think video games have this impact on a person other than screwing his life (if you do too much of it of course), also I watch pro players who leave by playing the game I play and they are pretty normal socially and they can make a crowd laugh easily (just like a celebrity do for attention...) and they have a normal life just like any other one.
    About porn I used to watch it more than I should (used to jerk 5 times a night... sorry if that not a respectful term, English isn't my mother tongue) just as a alternative to a real relationship since I didn't wanted any distraction to goal I wanna reach, and it's the same for everyone I guess, I don't see porn as an addiction except for married people...

  106. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

    It's also far less rewarding.

    Porn is far less rewarding than a divorce? Are you serious?

    At least that was my experience. Once I figured out the kind of woman that I shouldn't date and avoided dating them it was a lot easier.

    You are making parents point for him. It takes time and effort and talent and money for a man to get multiple different women to agree to sex. All a woman has to do is say "yes". Hence for a man it is a lot of time and effort and talent and money to find the kind of women to date, while for a women its no effort, nor time, nor money. Why wouldn't the man check out of the whole process if he can get satisfied elsewhere?

    Be glad it's only porn - prostitutes having been steadily dropping in price due to the the falling number of men who are willing to commit to a relationship. These women who would traditionally traded sex for a male protector now have to fend for themselves. They still trade the sex, but much much cheaper than before.

    --
    I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
  107. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by goose-incarnated · · Score: 1

    Then those societies will go into decline.

    And good riddance. Those societies who are hellbent on making relationships one-sided get everything that they deserve.

    --
    I'm a minority race. Save your vitriol for white people.
  108. "Speak for yourself, bro." by jbeach · · Score: 1

    Looks to me like his job might be reaching a trolling-controversy-for notoriety crisis.

    --
    The Invisible Hand of the Free Market is what punches workers in the nuts.
  109. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by MachDelta · · Score: 1

    Count me in too. My fiance dislikes diamond centerstones so I went with a pale aquamarine on white gold. It kinda looks like a diamond at first glance, but on closer inspection it's actually a soft sky blue. She likes it, and I paid for it in one installment and not six.

  110. Not this hack again by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Oh look. It's the wanna be tyrant again, making another broad generalization. If anything is a troll, he is. His choice of calling this problem a "masculinity crisis" only serves to polarize the debate. Zimbardo only reveals the obvious, and then ruins any hope of having an objective conversation about it. Of course people who isolate themselves are going to be isolated and emotionally compromised. Any evidence that there were any comorbidities as well? Nah, Zimbardo isn't in the business of figuring out or solving problems, he might as well be Ms. Cleo.

  111. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by epyT-R · · Score: 2

    Translation: I'm too needy to acknowledge the reality of today's relationships so I shame men who opt out.

  112. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by epyT-R · · Score: 1

    None of that changes the social and legal realities we live in now. Just remember that all of your interactions with her are based on the knowledge that if she decides to leave, your financial and social life is over, especially if her lawyer convinces her to accuse you of abuse. It may seem unimaginable to you, now, and it's great you've got a situation that's working out, but that doesn't change the fact you are still playing the lottery every day as a social and legal second class citizen.

  113. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by epyT-R · · Score: 1

    Yes, but you should ask yourself why the media portrays men and women this way. It's due to pressure from feminist political correctness.

  114. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by epyT-R · · Score: 1

    That's correct. So why are more and more men choosing this lifestyle instead of having families? Perhaps it's because feminists have convinced marriage age women to fill their pots with vinegar instead of honey. If marriage is supposed to be symbiotic, then we can't limit ourselves to what men are doing. Women's behavior and what they're offering the table these days needs to be discussed as well.

  115. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by tsotha · · Score: 1

    It's a fun lifestyle. I don't have time for some woman who needs constant attention, wants to do things I have no interest in, needs things buying for her so she can feel loved. The reward simply isn't worth the time and money you have to invest.

    That's really what it boils down to for me. Women go through a sexual "rock star" period in their 20s which leads them to expect every waking moment of a man's time. Sex is great, but it's not that great, and I don't see that modern women bring much else to the table.

  116. Comment removed by account_deleted · · Score: 1

    Comment removed based on user account deletion

  117. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by sonicmerlin · · Score: 1

    Based on what I hear of my friend's dating experiences I really don't think you can attribute it to lack of compatibility. More like systemic personality issues among females.

  118. For the 5000th time, Slashdot porn and video game addicts conclude that porn and video games "are too good for you, meanies!"

    World reels in shock!

  119. Tried Talking To Women? by ClayDowling · · Score: 1

    All the poor woe is me, women are horrible crap I see is just sad and pathetic. Have you actually tried talking to women like they were people? Not a goal to be achieved or a trophy, but actual people with interests and feelings and goals of their own? I know this is a radical thought, but it works. Or at least, it worked for me: my wife of twelve years was the busty cheerleader in school.

    1. Re:Tried Talking To Women? by russotto · · Score: 1

      Have you actually tried talking to women like they were people?

      Unless things have changed a lot in the last 25 years, most women don't regard nerds as people worth talking to. Believe it or not, two different people can attempt the same approach and get entirely different results.

    2. Re:Tried Talking To Women? by ClayDowling · · Score: 1

      So no, then. You're viewing women as just a status symbol to impress other guys. Totally not going to help your love life.

    3. Re:Tried Talking To Women? by ClayDowling · · Score: 1

      And yet, here I am in a building full of engineers, most of whom are married. Possibly your theory has holes.

    4. Re:Tried Talking To Women? by JustNiz · · Score: 1

      Things _have_ changed a lot in the last 25 years. Many women prefer geeks now, but I do strongly suspect that its mostly because we usually have a significantly higher income than average, and also they think that as a group we are easily manipulated. Buyer beware.

    5. Re:Tried Talking To Women? by ClayDowling · · Score: 1

      Have you seen most engineers? I mean, the odds are good, but the goods are odd.

  120. Masculinity or Stupidity? by hackus · · Score: 1

    After watching a few of my friends go absolutely nuclear and destroy themselves at the hands of the court systems and treacherous women who just want a fetus and a monthly payment per month, I alone have emrged unscathed.

    Funny, when was in High School, nobody even knew I existed. Now that I super computers for a living (basically industrial computing plants), and make a decent salary, I am all of a sudden "noticed" by lots of women and I am 48 years old.

    Women who are just dying to latch onto someone and get that monthly payment going. I am not much too look at externally, so when a 34 year old chic wants me to date her someone is wrong.

    Even after I say "I am very flattered but I do not have the time at the moment for a movie, bar, eat out....etc.".

    What is surprising is some of these women won't let up.

    Apparently the new sexy is anyone with a steady decent job, and monthly pay check!

    But I watched my friends in their 30's get racked over the coals by women who drained them dry of cash, material possessions and even took the damn dog. Nothing will slap that little head between the legs into reality is a phone call from your pal at 2:30am in the morning sobbing on the phone she cheated on him, and said she is going to divorce him and take everything.

    She didn't take everything, he did get the old dumper he drove to work everyday because the judge through the Expedition would be safer for her and the kids!!!!

    BRING ON THE PORN I SAY!!!

    LET IT FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAKING role!

    Besides, turn on a little porn at night, helps me sleep better. BONUS: No bitch telling me I can't go to sleep afterwards.

    This chic has an ON and OFF button, thank goodness.

    Who in their right mind, would be stupid enough to get married in American society today?

    If I do get married it is no going to be in the States THAT IS FOR SURE.

    --
    Got Geometrodynamics? Awe, too hard to figure out? Too bad.
    1. Re:Masculinity or Stupidity? by Lord+Kano · · Score: 1

      Women who are just dying to latch onto someone and get that monthly payment going. I am not much too look at externally, so when a 34 year old chic wants me to date her someone is wrong.

      I'm a few years younger and I have found that now that I have a good career, good income and secure finances, I get a lot more attention from the female of our species.

      I'm not married but I am in a relationship with the mother of my children. She was with me when I was working my way through college and living in my grandfather's spare bedroom so I know that she's here for me and not what I have.

      I'd be extremely cautious about who I'd date if I were on the scene again.

      LK

      --
      "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
  121. Decisions have consequences. by Lord+Kano · · Score: 1

    There are certain feminizing elements in our society who are trying to pathologize maleness.

    Boys are more likely to be diagnosed with psychological issues and medicated for doing the kinds of things that little boys just do.

    We have things like California's "yes means yes" law that criminalizes what's considered normal sexuality in the rest of the country.

    Some guys are just checking out "Fuck this! I'll be over here with my video games and these porn chicks who won't make me just through a bunch of stupid hoops". They never planned to have children anyway so what's the point?

    LK

    --
    "Hi. This is my friend, Jack Shit, and you don't know him." - Lord Kano
    1. Re:Decisions have consequences. by x0ra · · Score: 1

      Wait a bit, the "yes can mean no" feminazi are coming right at you ... http://cmcforum.com/opinion/04...

  122. the selective focus is the bullshit part by foreverdisillusioned · · Score: 1

    Fair enough, as long as we don't discriminate for that list of commonplace "addictions": smartphones, Facebook, celebrity gossip, cars, TV shows, fan fiction, antidepressants, sports, bodybuilding, shopping, religion, (over)eating, etc.

    While "addiction" is a nebulous and overused concept, I agree that obsession with anything could potentially be harmful. But surely you can see that pathologizing certain popular activities and not others is disingenuous.

  123. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by deek · · Score: 2

    If your life revolves around video games, by definition you're a shallow person.

    Mayhap you need to generalise that a bit more. Video games per se aren't all that bad. I've struck up a few conversations with younger women about video games.

    Say instead that "if your life revolves around only one particular activity, by definition, you're a shallow person".

    To which I certainly agree. Be it video games, shopping, facebook, football, clothing, gym, programming, or clubbing, anything can be taken to excess. Also, it's fun to try something different every so often. My recent craze is slacklining. Great fun, and I genuinely believe most people are capable of it with practice. Age is not an excuse.

  124. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by Chrontius · · Score: 1

    Each other.

  125. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by Chrontius · · Score: 1

    I'd posit that "the rest of us" as you use it represents not the "rest of us" but "the lucky few".

  126. Re:So you're better off without us, then. by ClayDowling · · Score: 1

    There are fewer differences between men and women than men think, but there are fewer differences between women and men than women hope.

    Pure gold.

  127. Re:Well what does it mean when a woman says by ClayDowling · · Score: 1

    Learn to ride a horse? Stop trying to date her, since she's clearly not interested?

    My money is on learning to ride a horse. Not to date her, she's in the past. But you might wind up a lot happier with the bond you form with your horse. And the happier you might meet a nice woman who also likes horses.

  128. Really? by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

    Drugging the crap out of our young boys has nothing to do with it? Walk into an elementary school around lunch time and see the queue of boys to the nurse's office to get their drugs. So the boys are like little girls and don't cause a challenge for the educator (note, I didn't say teacher).

    Then there are all the emasculating things they do to our boys. No bullying, no calling anyone a fag or anything else. In the playground - no dodge ball or other games like that. Turning them all into wusses. Need to allow them to punch one other more. Need to stop the PC crap.

    Like guys - you're a fag. Like girls - you're a sissy. Don't like to play dodge ball - you're a wuss. Like to play sports - you're a dumb jock. Oh, if you missed something that you are and you feel you've been left out, just let me know. I wouldn't want you to feel left out. I'll try to make fun of you too.

    Seriously, while a lot of people think this is cruel, it's necessary. It builds character and allows us to interact with one another. Stops us from taking that parking spot that someone has waited for 5 minutes for, butting in front of a whole bunch of people, screwing people just because we can. Other people have feelings too. Not just the ______fill in the blank_________.

  129. Re:George Carlin says ... by ebvwfbw · · Score: 1

    You're in trouble if three of them take you to their home.

  130. Psychologist: Porn and Video Game etc by ThomasDargan · · Score: 1

    Did Phil do another original and easily replicable and eye-opening experiment, or did he just fart in his Porsche and vent the door for another tired grad student?

  131. Alone in the room is not alone by unicornzvi · · Score: 1

    Something that seems to be missed here - When you're playing WoW or other MMORPG, or chatting with people on the internet, etc... you might be alone in your room but you're not alone. You're interacting with a community where you fit in, and given that the shrinks seem to be ignoring that and focusing on kids not reacting as they think the kids "should" any conclusions they reach based on these false assumptions are garbage.

  132. Re: You are quoting losers, so yeah. by TimboJones · · Score: 1

    If you think only 10% of men are shallow, I encourage you to ask a female friend about her online dating inbox.

    If you think 90% of women are shallow, I encourage you to try meeting different women in different places with different strategies.

    Or choose porn and video games. Those choices are available, and easy. I choose them often myself. Might choose one or the other a couple minutes from now. Yet even at my most transcendent, I find fapping toward a screen ultimately... disappointing.

    I am an adventurer and a skilled professional craftsman. I experience and create amazing things by myself. My experiences and creations die with me if I don't share them with anyone. When I get together with other people to experience and create things, those things are even more frequently excellent than what I can access and accomplish alone.

  133. Re:You are quoting losers, so yeah. by TimboJones · · Score: 1

    Porn is far less rewarding than a divorce? Are you serious?

    Difficult and painful experiences can be incredibly valuable. An experience brings value to you as you bring value to the experience. You will always and only experience the consequence of your choices.

  134. Zimbardo's research... by wendyg · · Score: 1

    I guess no one's read Jon Ronson's latest book, So You've Been Publicly Shamed. There's a chapter on the Zimbardo prison experiment in which Ronson interviews a couple of the key figures and casts a lot of doubt that the experiment unfolded the way it's been told for these many years. IF you believe the people he interviewed, which includes the main "prison guard" bully, there was a lot of play-acting going on. Ronson cites academic psychologist and textbook author Philip Gray's argument that the experiment was flawed because Zimbardo awarded himself the role of superintendent, especially since he gave the guards a pep talk about their total power in the situation (as recounted in Zimbardo's own book, The Lucifer Effect).

    That does make me wonder about the quality of Zimbardo's research on this occasion.

    wg