# Do humans instinctively know how to perform coitus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 12, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052 "2008-04-12T17:24:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/1 "2008-04-12T17:24:08Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/2 "2008-04-12T17:29:13Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![Lobohan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobohan/32/79_2.png) [@Lobohan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lobohan)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/3 "2008-04-12T17:29:51Z")
[QUOTE=WF Tomba] 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? [/QUOTE] I get aroused by looking at naughty bits. I suppose that if before I learned of the particulars I had a willing girl it might fall into place. I also imagine that the trial and error could be pretty fun. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/4 "2008-04-12T17:31:20Z")
I think the Bloodhound Gang said it best: > [@](#): > > You and me baby ain’t nothing but mammals, > so let’s do it like they do on the Discovery Channel 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. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/5 "2008-04-12T17:34:33Z")
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? ---
**Author:** ![Darryl\_Lict](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/7cd45c/32.png) [@Darryl\_Lict](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darryl_Lict)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/6 "2008-04-12T17:34:56Z")
Sure, there’s a documentary called _Blue Lagoon_ which shows this scenario. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/7 "2008-04-12T17:35:40Z")
[QUOTE=WF Tomba] 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? [/QUOTE] I suspect it gets put in the “wrong” hole on purpose (even with hetero couples) on the order of about 10% of the time, rather than half… ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/8 "2008-04-12T17:36:50Z")
[QUOTE=Darryl Lict] Sure, there’s a documentary called _Blue Lagoon_ which shows this scenario. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/9 "2008-04-12T17:37:43Z")
"You want to put what _where?"_ ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/10 "2008-04-12T17:43:56Z")
[QUOTE=ultrafilter] 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. [/QUOTE] I agree that it seems likely, but it doesn’t seem to be clearly manifested. As far as I know, young boys don’t go around humping random objects. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/11 "2008-04-12T17:51:15Z")
[QUOTE=WF Tomba] I agree that it seems likely, but it doesn’t seem to be clearly manifested. As far as I know, young boys don’t go around humping random objects. [/QUOTE] Not in public, anyway. I’m sure that many a pillow has had to be retired in households with teenage boys through the years… ---
**Author:** ![Myglaren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f1d935/32.png) [@Myglaren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myglaren)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/12 "2008-04-12T18:03:37Z")
[QUOTE=ultrafilter] Our ancestors did just fine anyway [/QUOTE] Og knows how. Everyone knows that we invented sex in the early 1960’s. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/13 "2008-04-12T18:12:34Z")
[QUOTE=WF Tomba] I agree that it seems likely, but it doesn’t seem to be clearly manifested. As far as I know, young boys don’t go around humping random objects. [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/14 "2008-04-12T18:41:32Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] "You want to put what _where?"_ [/QUOTE] 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. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/15 "2008-04-12T19:11:19Z")
Adam to Eve: “Stand back! I don’t know how big this thing gets!” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tremorviolet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e47774/32.png) [@tremorviolet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tremorviolet)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/16 "2008-04-12T20:30:14Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends] 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. [/QUOTE] [OT]Slough rhymes with “how”? I always thought it was pronounced “sloe”. ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/17 "2008-04-12T20:39:27Z")
[QUOTE=Colibri] I would agree with **jayjay** that sexual rubbing/humping comes pretty instinctively to male adolescents [/QUOTE] 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! ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/18 "2008-04-12T20:50:00Z")
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” ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/59ef9b/32.png) [@Don\_t\_fight\_the\_hypothetical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_fight_the_hypothetical)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/19 "2008-04-12T21:56:46Z")
[QUOTE=Lobohan] I get aroused by looking at naughty bits. [/QUOTE] Except there was a time when we walked around naked. I suspect they seem naughty because they are covered up. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [April 12, 2008, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052/20 "2008-04-12T22:45:53Z")
[QUOTE=tremorviolet] [OT]Slough rhymes with “how”? I always thought it was pronounced “sloe”. [/QUOTE] Yeah, it rhymes with “how”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-humans-instinctively-know-how-to-perform-coitus/445052.md?page=2)