Is it because sex is a sin for women, but something that must be earned for men? Is it because sex outside of the established order is bad? Is it because sex without love is degrading? What motivates you, consciously or not, to make such a value judgment over such an exchange?
It would only regulate bodies in regards to labor, which is something we already do in other industries. We allow or even mandate drug tests for employment, something that is occasionally justifiable for certain professions. We already regulate out of work activities that could affect job safety, so prostitution wouldn’t introduce anything new. Most of the harmful things that could arise from regulation aren’t unique to sex work
Evolution may not want, but certain strategies are more successful than others in specific contexts. Long lived animals still age, only seeming so long lived relative to us. Aging is a balancing act of the benefits of generational iterations vs the value of experience.
Toxic relationships don’t require manipulation on the part of one person. Infatuation can lead people with incompatible personalities to make costly commitments to each other. Partners can genuinely treat each other with respect and still end up in relationships that harm all parties.
This comes back to the social construction of gender roles, even though I mostly focused on the well accepted effects of primary sex hormones. There are biological factors that limit the gender identities and expressions we can comfortably be. Some people feel comfortable with a wide range of identities, while others are more limited. If anything, seeing one’s gender as so maliable to social influence implies that conversion therapy would be effective and validates the idea of trans identities are a social contagion
The constructed nature of gender comes from the constructed nature of essence. Our brains understand the world by constructing a model of reality based on these essences, qualia, or forms. Gender is the simplified categorization of social dynamics, but so are all ideas we could ever use to describe society.
Evolution created everything about us to survive long enough to reproduce. It might have created all positive emotions we can ever experience, but it’s often advantageous for evolution to design suffering into our lives.
Many animals live short and brutal lives, giving birth through penises, fighting amongst each other to stay on top of violent hierarchies, cheating on their mates whenever possible. Most people are less happy after having children, but knowing that rarely affects our decision to have them. Love often encourages us to enter toxic relationships, taking away our infatuation and rose tinted glasses once leaving the relationship is costly.
About half of all humans are designed to take serious risks to gain status or resources, their bodies aging quicker and doing less to repair itself. The other half gets to live a little longer and be a little healthier, but once they stop being able to have kids, their bodies start breaking down more quickly to hasten their end. Even aging itself only exists to speed up the evolutionary process. Evolution generally wants us to live lives that are as short as possible to allow for more generations in less time.
Evolution is what created all our drives and programs us to do everything we do. That isn’t necessarily enslavement by itself, as nothing about us can exist outside of evolution, but the way it drives us towards personal suffering and death is enslavement. We don’t matter in comparison to our role in replicating genes. We’re designed to be disposable. Evolution may be the process of life, but it’s also the process of death.
People are afraid of being enslaved by something intelligent when we’re already enslaved by unintelligent systems. Capitalism, imperialism, culture, even evolution itself. These forces already control us, reducing our lives to mere mechanical functions. There isn’t a being in control of these systems, but they still devalue us as people. No artificial intelligence will ever dominate us like natural unintelligence.
I can never get myself to do totally evil playthroughs in most games. I feel so bad when I’m forced to choose between two terrible options that I avoid games where I have to do that. I struggle to start the Witcher, FO:NV, or other great games because of those tough choices. I enjoy playing games that railroad you into being good more than games that challenge you.
I over empathize with characters for some reason, struggling to watch them experience well written conflict. I get more stressed out watching new children’s movies or sitcoms than watching a Clockwork Orange. It doesn’t matter if I know characters will be alright because of the genre; I need to know the exact ending to enjoy most media. I prefer to hear spoilers because I experience less stress as a result. I often don’t watch new things without hearing spoilers beforehand.
The way I see it, most people try to do what they see as “the right thing,” but their understanding of right and wrong itself is often evil. Most harm is done with the best of intentions by people who don’t realize the evil of their beliefs.
For example, I realized that the American liberals who support Israeli fascists probably haven’t accepted that those Israelis are fascists. They try to “use diplomacy” and “apply pressure” to Netanyahu, but that strategy cannot work against fascists. As easy as it might be to think Biden is aware of what he’s supporting, I think his administration is more likely in denial. They thought a middle path existed where they can both support Israel and not support a genocide. People who accepted that those Zionists were genocidal fascists years ago knew that option never existed.
The sad truth is that most people earnestly believe the shit they spew. Even if you start off aware of your lie, at a certain point, you’ll internalize it by repeating it so often. It’s best to assume that on some level, everyone believes what they repeatedly say. They may value certain arguments more than their literal arguments, but they might not even be aware that they do. Contradictions in their logic doesn’t mean the logic isn’t believed. Humans aren’t consistent like that.