A few disclaimers before I get into the main thrust of this thread.
First, I am not speaking from experience here, all of the following will be based purely on (more or less flawed) reasoning. I have only had sex once, and am thus not very experienced.
Second, parts of this may be recieved as controversial, but this is purely a thought experiment and not meant to portray an opinion of any sort in any way.
This is all based on a thought that suddenly struck me. I pondered it for a bit, and then ran with it. This is the result of that.
Right, let's get on with it.
Lasting a long time during sex is usually seen as a good thing, yes? The "one-minute man" is often made fun of due to popping his cork too early.
But let's look at the animal kingdom. For the most part, it seems that mating is a very brief activity. There are exceptions of course, such as the (domesticated) pig that orgasms for 30 minutes. I do not know if wild boars share this trait with their domesticated relatives. For the most part though, at least for predators, mating has to be finished quickly because the animal(s) are vulnerable to attack during the act.
My understanding is that lasting for a long time during sex is a skill that needs to be honed, or perhaps a trained reflex. Humans are predators as well, judging from our eyes: I think it's the case that most (land-based?) predators have both eyes placed on the front of their faces for proper depth-perception. Thus, a "basic" or untrained human would probably not "last long" since needing a long time to orgasm would be a liability in the dangerous wild. Is it not also the case that young, inexperienced men pop their corks a tad too quickly?
To clarify, we're talking about the male animal or human here. We'll get to the women in a bit.
Sex is a pleasurable act, no?
If we are to look at it in a coldly mechanical way, this is most likely to motivate animals to get on with their "genetic duty", that is to say to spawn progeny. If we experience something that feels good we want to do it again! Furthermore, when we humans orgasm we are suffused by a cocktail of hormones that have all kinds of nice effects. I am sure that animals experience something similar.
But we're still looking at the male here. What about the females?
This is the controversial bit, I think.
Because, if we look at it from that coldly mechanical perspective again: are female orgasms necessary for pregnancy? I'm afraid that's not the case.
From what I've gathered, women have a harder time reaching orgasm than men. Have we, as a species, then developed the ability to train ourselves to last longer during sex so that we can ensure that women also orgasm?
Is it then the case that lasting a long time during sex is a human construction?
What are your thoughts on this?
To be absolutely clear, I am not assigning value to anything here, I just want to discuss this idea that happened to pop into my head.
Ending disclaimer: this is all not just some far-fetched discussion about my own premature cork-popping. During my only sexual experience I had difficulties reaching orgasm due to what could possibly be the phenomena called "deathgrip". That is to say masturbating with too firm a grip, thus desensitizing your penis. However, the point of this disclaimer is to point out that that is not the focus of this thread.
First, I am not speaking from experience here, all of the following will be based purely on (more or less flawed) reasoning. I have only had sex once, and am thus not very experienced.
Second, parts of this may be recieved as controversial, but this is purely a thought experiment and not meant to portray an opinion of any sort in any way.
This is all based on a thought that suddenly struck me. I pondered it for a bit, and then ran with it. This is the result of that.
Right, let's get on with it.
Lasting a long time during sex is usually seen as a good thing, yes? The "one-minute man" is often made fun of due to popping his cork too early.
But let's look at the animal kingdom. For the most part, it seems that mating is a very brief activity. There are exceptions of course, such as the (domesticated) pig that orgasms for 30 minutes. I do not know if wild boars share this trait with their domesticated relatives. For the most part though, at least for predators, mating has to be finished quickly because the animal(s) are vulnerable to attack during the act.
My understanding is that lasting for a long time during sex is a skill that needs to be honed, or perhaps a trained reflex. Humans are predators as well, judging from our eyes: I think it's the case that most (land-based?) predators have both eyes placed on the front of their faces for proper depth-perception. Thus, a "basic" or untrained human would probably not "last long" since needing a long time to orgasm would be a liability in the dangerous wild. Is it not also the case that young, inexperienced men pop their corks a tad too quickly?
To clarify, we're talking about the male animal or human here. We'll get to the women in a bit.
Sex is a pleasurable act, no?
If we are to look at it in a coldly mechanical way, this is most likely to motivate animals to get on with their "genetic duty", that is to say to spawn progeny. If we experience something that feels good we want to do it again! Furthermore, when we humans orgasm we are suffused by a cocktail of hormones that have all kinds of nice effects. I am sure that animals experience something similar.
But we're still looking at the male here. What about the females?
This is the controversial bit, I think.
Because, if we look at it from that coldly mechanical perspective again: are female orgasms necessary for pregnancy? I'm afraid that's not the case.
From what I've gathered, women have a harder time reaching orgasm than men. Have we, as a species, then developed the ability to train ourselves to last longer during sex so that we can ensure that women also orgasm?
Is it then the case that lasting a long time during sex is a human construction?
What are your thoughts on this?
To be absolutely clear, I am not assigning value to anything here, I just want to discuss this idea that happened to pop into my head.
Ending disclaimer: this is all not just some far-fetched discussion about my own premature cork-popping. During my only sexual experience I had difficulties reaching orgasm due to what could possibly be the phenomena called "deathgrip". That is to say masturbating with too firm a grip, thus desensitizing your penis. However, the point of this disclaimer is to point out that that is not the focus of this thread.