Other mammals don’t seem to need to be taught the basic moves, but humans pass this knowledge down culturally, usually before sexual maturity.
I vividly remember the time someone first told me that the penis is inserted into the vagina–it was like the last puzzle piece falling into place. Being a bit precocious, I already knew most of the other basics of human reproduction: the sperm and the egg, the internal female organs, how erection and ejaculation work. And of course I had a typical boy’s personal experience with arousal. But no one had told me exactly how the ejaculate got into the woman; I had an idea that it might be done in the bathtub, if the sperm could swim through the water.
If no one had told me how the act was performed, would I have had to figure it out by trial and error?
I’d say that, given a society in which the act wasn’t seen as a shameful thing, most people would be able to figure it out within a couple of minutes of trying.
Hell, consider that gay men and lesbians (prior to this current generation) almost NEVER got formal instruction in how to do their thing…it’s ALL fumbling with the equipment until it feels right.
We may be taught about sex now, but for most of our evolutionary history, we weren’t. Our ancestors did just fine anyway, and it’s not like there’s no selection pressure on the ability to know how to mate, so it seems likely that we have the same instincts they did.
True, it would not be hard to figure out, although I suspect you’d put it in the wrong hole about half the time. But is there specific instinctive knowledge? Bulls don’t have to figure it out by trial and error, do they?
Although, just an aside to the ladies…you may want to skip the “laughing at the man when he discovers masturbation” thing…it’s kind of a sensitive subject.
I would agree with jayjay that sexual rubbing/humping comes pretty instinctively to male adolescents
Recall that in most traditional societies children slept in the same hut or other shelter with their parents. Likewise, younger children might spy on adults or adolescents when they snuck off to the bushes to do it surreptitiously. I think in pre-modern times (and in many places today) it would have been fairly routine for children to have witnessed people having intercourse long before they hit puberty themselves. And also, children also would have observed dogs, other domestic animals, and wildlife mating as well. It’s really not that hard to figure out even if no one tells you about it directly.
Now, how long it would take for a couple to figure out penis-in-vagina in the very unlikely event they had no opportunity to observe other humans or animals it’s a bit hard to say. However, I personally don’t think it would be very long before they “hit the mark” by trial and error.
Note that many other animals learn aspects of their mating behavior by observation of other individuals. Sometimes animals in captivity don’t breed successfully simply because they have not had the chance to learn the correct behaviors.
There was a young lady from Slough,
Who admitted she didn’t know how.
Then a young fellow caught her
And jolly well taught her -
She can’t get enough of it now.
Probably to males and females, younger than that age. I found out that my girly parts felt really good at the age of four when I’d rub them.
I also remember reading that a lot of times, primates reared in captivity with no other primates, don’t know how to have sex. Then again people who aren’t told about sex still have access to things like porn and other people, even if they aren’t formally told penis + vagina = sex!
There was a young poet from Slough
Whose poems were not good enough
He said “But I see
That the letters agree
And if that doesn’t work then I’m through”
