# Death is not an option: Sex: The followup **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 22, 2011, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053 "2011-12-22T05:51:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 6
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/101 "2011-12-26T23:02:34Z")
> [@jz78817](#): > > you assume that you’re the judge of what is and isn’t “ridiculous.” Really? I’m the source of all of my thoughts and value judgements? Your talents are being wasted here. You should maybe teach remedial philosophy in a community college somewhere. > [@](#): > > Here’s a hint- none of those involved doing one of your parents. Are you getting this yet? Ok, am I interpreting you correctly? You’re saying that oh, sure, we can talk whether it’s worse to be BURNED TO DEATH or DROWNED, and that’s all fun and games, but if we talk about being forced to fuck a parent, woah now - now we’re talking about something that’s actually bad. So not only is fucking your parent, once, worse than being BURNED ALIVE, but it’s worse by such a margin that one can be talked about freely, whereas the other one is so horrible that it shouldn’t even be contemplated? > [@](#): > > Ah yes. “It’s not me, everyone else is crazy.” Yes, for some value of crazy. Delusional, sure. See above. > [@thenonepercent](#): > > I’m disputing the rationality of treating meaningless hypotheticals like anything but mindless diversions, as displayed by SenorBeef’s hilarious overreactions. (Which, incidentally, are hysterical and I approve of, not attack). > > The premise is a weak hypothetical as it is not a situation that would ever occur. Choose something people can relate to as being within the realm of possibility and you’re get the kind of answers SlowBeef is apparently fishing for. Why is the plausibility of the premise relevant? If I asked you if you’d rather be blind or deaf, you simply couldn’t comprehend and answer the question unless I can invent a scenario in which that choice could possibly happen? If I were to invent such a scenario, the question would go from meaningless and unanswerable to meaningful? > [@SciFiSam](#): > > I reckon these kinds of questions can be interesting - hell, this one has provided enough posts from me and lots of other people. 😃 But they’re better when the options both have good reasons for choosing them. There are reasons for choosing _against_ quadriplegia, etc, but there aren’t any _for_ choosing sex with your parents. But… what? You could say the same thing in reverse. There are reasons _against_ fucking your parents, but there’s no reason _for_ being a quadripalegic. Well of course. That’s the whole point, choosing between which is least bad between two horrible things. It wouldn’t be much of a hypothetical if the options were being a quadripalegic or getting to eat ice cream. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/102 "2011-12-26T23:05:06Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > Amazing that 12 year olds can treat the questions as the silly hypothetical games that they are, and not some assault on their delicate psyche, like adults who are adept at being perpetually offended. > > I didn’t bring up this whole thing anyway, I only interjected when it was clear that the people who were responding to the other guy’s poll were a) ridiculous and b) aggressive and insulting. Agreed. People need to grow up and admit that sometimes you just have to man up and bang your mom. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/103 "2011-12-26T23:36:21Z")
**Senorbeef** , I think what you’re neglecting is that most posters have a much more real, immediate and emotional connection to their parents (and sex) than they do to the hypothetical of being blind or paraplegic. You can say people aren’t being rational in their response to this question all you like, but that’d be ignoring the fact that people _aren’t_ rational. Clearly, at least for some people(including me btw) the idea of incest can create an immediate negative emotional response that the other hypothetical situations you’ve listed simply do not evoke. And since human rationality is very much bounded by emotion, it isn’t surprising at all that people are responding based on the more visceral response and stating, forcefully, that incest is off the table. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/104 "2011-12-26T23:40:58Z")
I said as much in an earlier post. The difficulty of thinking of having sex with a parent is automatically squicky, so you just sort of automatically dismiss it without actually evaluating it. But if an evil supervillain kidnapped you and was about to gouge out your eyes with pliers, you’d be begging to fuck your mom. What bugged me about that was that people are implying that anyone who would take the parent fucking option is sick and deranged and insane, even though they too would choose that option if it ever came to it, they just aren’t mentally strong enough to actually think it through an admit it. So they’re insulting other people because they’re incapable of handling the situation logically - that’s why this issue bothered me. Essentially, they insult others due to their own personal failings. I do not tolerate people insulting me over their own cognitive failures well. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2011, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/105 "2011-12-26T23:55:20Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I said as much in an earlier post. The difficulty of thinking of having sex with a parent is automatically squicky, so you just sort of automatically dismiss it without actually evaluating it. But if an evil supervillain kidnapped you and was about to gouge out your eyes with pliers, you’d be begging to fuck your mom. > > What bugged me about that was that people are implying that anyone who would take the parent fucking option is sick and deranged and insane, even though they too would choose that option if it ever came to it, they just aren’t mentally strong enough to actually think it through an admit it. Well, my point is just slightly different. Even if someone thinks it through and actually evaluates it, they do it through the prism of emotional responses. And this process works differently for different people and will lead them to different conclusions, as it clearly is doing in this case. Some people can work through a decision train based on logic, and others on ‘gut’. I wouldn’t call either version stronger/weaker or sick/deranged/insane. It’s just how people are wired, and different situations call for different decision making processes. ---
**Author:** ![Giraffe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giraffe/32/129_2.png) [@Giraffe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giraffe)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/106 "2011-12-27T02:22:39Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > What bugged me about that was that people are implying that anyone who would take the parent fucking option is sick and deranged and insane, even though they too would choose that option if it ever came to it, they just aren’t mentally strong enough to actually think it through an admit it. Yeah, it must be nice to live in a not-fucking-your-mom fantasyland, but out here in the real world tough choices simply have to be made. Shirking away from your mom-fucking duties is a disgrace to those who step up to the plate and bang mom’s blue-haired scalp through the headboard. Glorous motherfucking bastards. ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/107 "2011-12-27T02:29:45Z")
> [@SenorBeef](#): > > I said as much in an earlier post. The difficulty of thinking of having sex with a parent is automatically squicky, so you just sort of automatically dismiss it without actually evaluating it. But if an evil supervillain kidnapped you and was about to gouge out your eyes with pliers, you’d be begging to fuck your mom. It’s not just “squicky”, it’s full on disturbing. In the previous thread you expressed disbelief that people would voluntarily choose a life of celibacy, despite the fact that people do so everyday. You seem bound and determined to get someone to admit to come up with a scenario that would cause them to commit incest. (In this case, I would say that the term “mother fucker” would be appropriate) Guess what? It ain’t gonna happen. You waved away my question about having sex with a child. I think that shows that you’re only out to provoke a reaction, you don’t want a serious discussion. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/108 "2011-12-27T15:16:02Z")
The OP makes much more sense if you add in the fact that the OP’s mom is uber hot. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/109 "2011-12-27T16:24:09Z")
> [@kayaker](#): > > The OP makes much more sense if you add in the fact that the OP’s mom is uber hot. Are we talking Stifler’s Mom hot? ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/110 "2011-12-27T16:45:18Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Are we talking Stifler’s Mom hot? Yep. The kinda hot that forces you to constantly think up scenarios where you could legitimately bend her over the pool table. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2011, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/111 "2011-12-27T17:19:56Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > Yeah, it must be nice to live in a not-fucking-your-mom fantasyland, but out here in the real world tough choices simply have to be made. Shirking away from your mom-fucking duties is a disgrace to those who step up to the plate and bang mom’s blue-haired scalp through the headboard. Glorous motherfucking bastards. STFU\*, Giraffe, and stop making me laugh so goddamn hard! I have tears in my eyes now. \*not an insult, really! just a joke ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/112 "2011-12-28T03:40:37Z")
> [@thenonepercent](#): > > When they’re twelve. . . . Governments do it all the time, when putting together strategic plans for nuclear war. “Okay, do we defend Topeka, and let Kansas City burn?” Few things in the whole world could be more hellish than trying to decide whether or not to let a few million people die by nuclear fire, but the Pentagon does it, and does it in total sincerity. They really are balancing the lives of millions of people, and the nuclear missiles actually do exist, in the silos, fueled and armed and ready for launch. Would you rather they not think about it at all, and just go with their gut instinct when the time comes? ---
**Author:** ![ProbablyProcrastinating](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/57b2e6/32.png) [@ProbablyProcrastinating](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ProbablyProcrastinating)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2011, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053/113 "2011-12-28T04:16:54Z")
This is so fascinating! I’m amazed that to many people, apparently, paralyzation is worse than deafness. That would be like moving to a different country… forever. I can’t imagine. I’m not saying I wouldn’t deal if I had to, but I’d rather have one traumatic experience then never hear again. Then again, I would rather give up sex. Does that mean I value my hearing over orgasms? I would definitely get it on with either of my parents to save a life. Horrifying, but worth it. Though I’d have a hard time believing someone who offered me that deal. Obviously would not do it with my small children. Though… think about it. Suppose your adult child came up to you and said, “If we don’t have sex, I’m going blind. Look, here’s the deal from the devil. It’s proof. Please have sex with me. It’ll be a quicky.” Oh right. Now I remember. The first poll was about marathon sex, which I think might make me think twice. Once? Less traumatic. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/death-is-not-an-option-sex-the-followup/607053.md?page=5)