Ben Sasse blames porn for Americans having less sex
He says digital life lets people skip the work of community for short-term satisfaction.
Uncommon Knowledge · Basketball in the Last 60 Seconds: Ben Sasse on Mortality, Meaning, and the Future of America | Peter Robinson | Hoover InstitutionPeople often ask Ben Sasse, the former Nebraska senator, whether the digital revolution will bring heaven or hell. His answer is yes.
It speeds up everything humans do, he says, the good faster and the bad faster. His example is sex. Americans are having less sex, Sasse says, with less premarital sex, less marital sex, and less extramarital sex, except for some wealthy 70-year-olds using Viagra.
The reason, he argues, is porn, which lets people feel short-term satisfied without doing the work of community. Sasse says the digital revolution "has made us all bored by sex."
Questions people ask
Are Americans really having less sex?
Yes. The General Social Survey and other national surveys show American adults report having sex less often than they did in the 1990s and 2000s. The decline is largest among young men, teenagers, and unmarried adults.
Is porn proven to be the cause?
Researchers have not settled on one cause. Later marriage, economic stress, depression and anxiety, smartphones and dating apps, less drinking, and living with parents longer are all linked to the trend. Porn is one widely discussed factor, but studies generally describe it as correlated with, rather than proven to cause, lower partnered frequency.
Why would more explicit images make people less interested in sex?
Psychologists point to novelty, easy access, and instant arousal without rejection, negotiation, or intimacy. Over time, some heavy users report needing more extreme material for the same response and less interest in ordinary partnered sex, though effects vary widely from person to person.