[ExI] Internet age verification spreads worldwide

[William Flynn Wallace]

It seems to me that these effects are mostly hypothetical.  Solid research
supporting any of them will be found lacking because of problems of control
and self-selection and relying only on correlation.  (I taught Human
Sexuality in college).

I support finding out what naked people look like and what intercourse
looks like.  The only ones that are forbidden on my list are the violent
ones.  These can be really toxic, leading potentially to rape and  violent
forms of sadism and masochism, etc.

Parents need to educate their children but are afraid of doing it. This is
a perennial problem.  Many won't provide their children with birth control
methods or even teach what they are, so kids relay on peers and they are
full of superstitions and false information which they learned from kids a
few years older than they are..

bill w

On Mon, Sep 1, 2025 at 7:19 AM Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat <
extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:

> On Mon, Sep 1, 2025 at 5:35 AM Ben Zaiboc via extropy-chat
> <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
> > And nowhere have I seen any serious attempts to find out if pornography
> > (which seems to be the main target) is actually harmful to, well,
> > anybody really.
>
> Not disagreeing with the rest of what you said, but this -
> specifically, the target of exposing minors to pornography - has been
> studied, and while not all of the claims (by any stretch) were found
> true, a nonzero amount did hold up.  I asked an AI to summarize:
>
> ---
>
> The commonly cited harms of exposing minors to pornography fall into
> several categories, though the research quality varies significantly
> across different types of effects:
>
> Commonly Cited Harms
>
> Sexual Development and Behavior:
>
> Unrealistic expectations about sex, bodies, and sexual performance
> Earlier initiation of sexual activity
> Increased likelihood of engaging in risky sexual behaviors
> Normalization of aggressive or violent sexual acts
> Confusion about consent and healthy sexual relationships
>
> Psychological and Emotional Effects:
>
> Increased rates of depression and anxiety
> Body image issues and self-esteem problems
> Potential for developing compulsive sexual behaviors
> Difficulty forming healthy intimate relationships
>
> Social and Relational Impact:
>
> Objectification of others, particularly women
> Changed attitudes toward gender roles and relationships
> Potential impact on academic performance and social functioning
>
> Research Quality and Limitations
>
> The evidence base has significant methodological challenges:
>
> Stronger Evidence Areas:
>
> Correlational studies consistently show associations between
> pornography exposure and earlier sexual initiation, more sexual
> partners, and riskier sexual behaviors
> Research on attitudes shows fairly robust links to more accepting
> views of sexual aggression and objectification
>
> Weaker Evidence Areas:
>
> Causation vs. correlation: Most studies are cross-sectional, making it
> difficult to determine whether pornography exposure causes problems or
> whether teens with existing issues are more likely to seek out
> pornography
> Long-term outcomes: Limited longitudinal research following
> individuals over time
> Dosage effects: Little research on whether different amounts or types
> of exposure have different impacts
>
> Research Challenges:
>
> Ethical constraints limit experimental research with minors
> Self-reporting biases in surveys about sensitive topics
> Rapidly changing technology outpaces research
> Difficulty controlling for other variables (family environment, peer
> influences, etc.)
>
> The scientific consensus generally supports concern about pornography
> exposure in minors, but researchers emphasize that more rigorous
> longitudinal studies are needed to better understand causal
> relationships and identify which young people may be most vulnerable
> to negative effects.
>
> _______________________________________________
> extropy-chat mailing list
> extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
> http://lists.extropy.org/mailman/listinfo.cgi/extropy-chat
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.extropy.org/pipermail/extropy-chat/attachments/20250901/207157b6/attachment.htm>