But what REALLY puts a bad taste into my mouth is the casual mention that you basically slept with several different women for research purposes.
I would be interested to know why this comment leaves such a bad impression. Some people have casual flings primarily for pleasure. Some people have them to raise their self-esteem. lukeprog had them mostly for research purposes. Are any of these goals incompatible with the other person enjoying themselves?
Is your intuition that empirically, if people are pursuing casual flings for the conscious goal of research, then it is likely that they won’t treat their partner in a beneficial way?
I have seen cases where this happens, but merely an experimental motivation isn’t enough. I’ve seen some cases of people experimenting on others and being a jerk, but that’s mainly because experimenting merely amplified some pre-existing negative traits, like lack of empathy, resentment of others, or a desire for revenge on other people.
Personally, I’m consciously trying to learn something from my interactions with everyone, all the time. I don’t feel that this attitude is counter to recognizing their personhood, or that it entails viewing people as lab rats. Actually, this curiosity motivates me to be very attuned to the responses of others, which is a necessary-but-not-sufficient condition of treating them beneficially.
This is due to a combination of the aforementioned cached thoughts, and… seriously, dude? I mean, are you down with animal testing?
Unlike animals, women are human beings. This analogy seems to downgrade the agency of the women involved. If a casual fling is consensual and mutually enjoyable, and one or both people are motivated by curiosity, I don’t see any problem. Many young people of both genders are motivated by curiosity and a desire for a variety of experiences; they are constantly learning from their experiences with each other.
If someone uses words associated with “science,” like “research,” or “experiment,” does their empathy turn off, and they suddenly start acting like sociopaths? I understand that these words carry negative associates with many people, but it’s not clear to me what that association is based on, and if it needs to exist.
I would be interested to know why this comment leaves such a bad impression. Some people have casual flings primarily for pleasure. Some people have them to raise their self-esteem. lukeprog had them mostly for research purposes. Are any of these goals incompatible with the other person enjoying themselves?
Is your intuition that empirically, if people are pursuing casual flings for the conscious goal of research, then it is likely that they won’t treat their partner in a beneficial way?
I have seen cases where this happens, but merely an experimental motivation isn’t enough. I’ve seen some cases of people experimenting on others and being a jerk, but that’s mainly because experimenting merely amplified some pre-existing negative traits, like lack of empathy, resentment of others, or a desire for revenge on other people.
Personally, I’m consciously trying to learn something from my interactions with everyone, all the time. I don’t feel that this attitude is counter to recognizing their personhood, or that it entails viewing people as lab rats. Actually, this curiosity motivates me to be very attuned to the responses of others, which is a necessary-but-not-sufficient condition of treating them beneficially.
Unlike animals, women are human beings. This analogy seems to downgrade the agency of the women involved. If a casual fling is consensual and mutually enjoyable, and one or both people are motivated by curiosity, I don’t see any problem. Many young people of both genders are motivated by curiosity and a desire for a variety of experiences; they are constantly learning from their experiences with each other.
If someone uses words associated with “science,” like “research,” or “experiment,” does their empathy turn off, and they suddenly start acting like sociopaths? I understand that these words carry negative associates with many people, but it’s not clear to me what that association is based on, and if it needs to exist.