So why is sex a pleasant activity?

[BlackPirate]

Here is how i see it:Life as you know must reproduce in order to survive.But isolated organisms dont care about reproduction.Even if i have 100 children i dont have any benefit(quite the opposite!).Here is were a designer comes and says:"Ok you dont care about having children and i acknowledge that.So i will make reproduction something pleasant(just to lure you in having sex therefore continue the specie).After that i dont care if is is going to be painful for the female to bring the child in this world(the job is done i dont care)

What science has to say about this?How this wise characteristic evolved "Randomly"?

[The spartan]

I don't get what you are getting at here...wouldn't it just be pleasant (though, as far as I know, few animals have recreational sex) so animals will reproduce?

[Manco]

But isolated organisms dont care about reproduction

source?

[BlackPirate]

source?

Would you care to have sex if it wasnt a pleasant activity?

[Gaidin]

Would you care to have sex if it wasnt a pleasant activity?

You're making a definitive statement about life as a whole. Source it with research or drop it.

[Manco]

Would you care to have sex if it wasnt a pleasant activity?

do you even realize not all organisms have sex to reproduce?
And the hypothesis that it's the other way around? We do not have sex because it's pleasant, but it's pleasant because it is reproduction?

[Phier]

Eh?

I doubt sex is pleasant for all animals, and its just an instinctive drive.

In animals with greater intelligence, making sex a reward into it self, would increase reproduction, and in the end favor those organisms which found it pleasurable. They would 'work' harder for sex, have more off spring, etc.

On the other hand if it was like a drug addiction, there would be negative survival implications which would negate the benifit of extra copulation in terms of reproduction.

Hence, for animals with nervous systems which can experience pleasure, sex drive and pleasure become linked to a degree.

[BlackPirate]

Eh?

I doubt sex is pleasant for all animals, and its just an instinctive drive.

In animals with greater intelligence, making sex a reward into it self, would increase reproduction, and in the end favor those organisms which found it pleasurable. They would 'work' harder for sex, have more off spring, etc.

On the other hand if it was like a drug addiction, there would be negative survival implications which would negate the benifit of extra copulation in terms of reproduction.

Hence, for animals with nervous systems which can experience pleasure, sex drive and pleasure become linked to a degree.

Well tell it pleasure tell it instict i dont care.There is a mechanism that "makes" us have sex.Its clear that this mechanism exists to help reproduction.How the Species developed such a characteristic?

[chamaeleo]

Well tell it pleasure tell it instict i dont care.There is a mechanism that "makes" us have sex.Its clear that this mechanism exists to help reproduction.How the Species developed such a characteristic?

Within a population, who would you expect to be more sexually competitive (thus, tending towards greater reproductive success): individuals who are interested in sex, or those less so?

Extrapolated over thousands of subsequent generations, how can you not recognize that enjoyment of sex would tend to be an evolutionarily advantageous adaptation...one that is self-perpetuating, and indeed...inevitable?

[Maverick]

Within a population, who would you expect to be more sexually competitive (thus, tending towards greater reproductive success): individuals who are interested in sex, or those less so?

Extrapolated over thousands of subsequent generations, how can you not recognize that enjoyment of sex would tend to be an evolutionarily advantageous adaptation...one that is self-perpetuating, and indeed...inevitable?

A love of glucose was adaptive too, now that we have internet pornography and big gulps at 711 who needs 'em?

[Claudius Gothicus]

In the Humans case it's pleasant because of a combination of mostly physical factors with psychologically acquired ones. Nervous terminations and erogenous parts playing the most important role.

[Armatus]

Eh?

I doubt sex is pleasant for all animals, and its just an instinctive drive.

You doubt based on what? Humans and a couple of other species may be the only ones to actively seek out pleasure for obvious reasons such as our level of awareness and the ability to manipulate our environment in ways never before seen to please us. But pleasure certainly exists in the animal world, I would be willing to bet right down to the the microscopic level. It's easily observed in your pets, the content relaxed dog lying on a rug in the sun, etc, etc so on and so forth. Why then would be the most important reason to experience pleasure be left out? Is it more important to feel relaxed or desire to reproduce?

Secondly drive is driven by what? Autonomical response motivated by? Involuntary reactions account for those things which we don't have time to consider. The whole ritual of the mating process follows a lot of external stimuli that needs to be translated into something "we" or other life forms "desire". I can't see how this is different in the vast major of higher order of animal kingdoms.

I think the use of the word "instinct" is way over used. It certainly has it's place, but far to often it's a cop out filling in the gaps of where we are ignorant. It's usage is a left over God-complex ingrained in scientific thinking from yester year.

There's no reason to think pleasure is something unique to humans unless you feel that the human is ultimately superior to everything else. That's really up to mother nature in the long run, that is unless we can figure out how to become Gods.

[Taiji]

Here is how i see it:Life as you know must reproduce in order to survive.But isolated organisms dont care about reproduction.Even if i have 100 children i dont have any benefit(quite the opposite!).Here is were a designer comes and says:"Ok you dont care about having children and i acknowledge that.So i will make reproduction something pleasant(just to lure you in having sex therefore continue the specie).After that i dont care if is is going to be painful for the female to bring the child in this world(the job is done i dont care)

What science has to say about this?How this wise characteristic evolved "Randomly"?

Your life is not as important to you as having sex is and you have no choice about that. Production of semen takes precendence over the health of organs, to the point where nutrients will be taken from organs for semen production if they are not found to be present in sufficient quantities.

Personally I look at the organism and it's environment as the designer, or else there can be no answer to a 'why' question like this without conversing with god and that probably meaning you're insane.

So it is pleasurable (when you're good at it) because, like eating, you are meant to do it in order for the organism/species to survive.

[Jom]

Move to the Athenaeum as this seems to be a more suitable home for it.

[removeduser_4536284751384]

Alright lets say there are a couple of organisms that reproduce sexually, but only one of them enjoys sex.

It will reproduce. The other organisms won't and will die off. So its children will also like sex because their parent passed it on.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Evoluti...l_reproduction for details.

[Vizsla]

In this particular example the role of your mythical ‘designer’ is fulfilled by genes that want to be passed on to another generation. If the organism doesn’t have offspring the genes will 'die'.
If you’ve got genetics you don’t need gods.

It seems odd that you wouldn’t think that maybe people would have already answered this question. Maybe type it into google or something.

[chamaeleo]

Vizsla, I consider sincere responses to remedial science queries a pretty good proxy indicator of a posters' degree of boredom...I don't know about you, but I'd rather be at home playing with my dog.

I'll bet my Ridgie's about as bored as we are right now...

[Strelok]

So Why sex is a pleasant activity?

Why are there medical problems existing within a range of humans that stop such from being a pleasurable activity?

The answer to both questions would be similar.

[Jaketh]

Why are there medical problems existing within a range of humans that stop such from being a pleasurable activity?

sucks to be them

[Poach]

I was always under the assumption that sex felt good so early humanity (thinking purely on human terms here) would do it. Same with all our instincts and reactions: we feel pain because it'll make us stop doing something, we have adrenaline so that when the hits the fan we can keep going, and we feel pleasure to ensure we do things that are good.

Early man would've been unable to reason out that the survival of the species as a whole was desirable, so sex felt good in order to ensure they indirectly ensured that the species survived.

Ofcourse, none of this is researched knowledge: I've watched a few documentaries and read a few articles here and there but I don't pretend that I'm posting concrete, properly researched fact here, though I am fairly sure I'm remembering what I've learned correctly.