# For those that do not believe in God **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 12, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668 "2015-08-12T16:44:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Phu\_Cat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/77aa72/32.png) [@Phu\_Cat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phu_Cat)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/1 "2015-08-12T16:44:12Z")
Is there anything you have found to be more pleasurable than the sensation experienced during sexual intercourse? (I’ve never done drugs.) Ever wonder how it became that way? Please don’t expect me to accept evolution as the reason. If that was the case, this particular sensation could have ranged anywhere from barely OK to being so enjoyable men and women seek it on a regular basis as we do today. Being that this sensation is the latter and that I am a theist, I find it very easy to accept that God wanted to insure His children kept His earth adequately populated. Could there be other possible explanations? Phu Cat ---
**Author:** ![Inner\_Stickler](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/inner_stickler/32/318_2.png) [@Inner\_Stickler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inner_Stickler)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/2 "2015-08-12T17:02:23Z")
Assume you have a population where the average orgasm is equivalent in pleasure to eating a tasty grape. In 100 years, the average orgasm will be: a) greater in terms of pleasure than eating a tasty grape b) less in terms of pleasure than eating a tasty grape c) unchanged from 100 years ago. d) made entirely of grapes. Show your work, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/3 "2015-08-12T17:02:31Z")
**Moderator Action** If this stays in GQ, that will restrict answers along the lines of accepted theories related to the evolution of human sexuality. Since you seem to want to involve religion and/or other alternate theories that require more speculation or belief, and don’t want simple evolutionary type answers, I think it’s best to move this. If this ends up turning into a debate related to religious beliefs relating to sexuality then maybe this thread will end up in GD, but let’s give IMHO a shot for now. That will allow folks to give their religious opinions as well as engaging in speculation about other possibilities, which seems to me to be the intent of the OP. Moving thread from General Questions to In My Humble Opinion. ---
**Author:** ![leahcim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b4bc9f/32.png) [@leahcim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/leahcim)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/4 "2015-08-12T17:03:25Z")
> [@Phu\_Cat](#): > > I find it very easy to accept that God wanted to insure His children kept His earth adequately populated. Couldn’t a god who saw his earth inadequately populated just conjure up some more people to fill it? That seems like a much more direct route to the goal than giving the people there people already there an urge to perform an act that sometimes results in increased population (but is also easy to modify so it doesn’t). ---
**Author:** ![cwthree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9de0a6/32.png) [@cwthree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cwthree)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/5 "2015-08-12T17:07:51Z")
> [@Phu\_Cat](#): > > Is there anything you have found to be more pleasurable than the sensation experienced during sexual intercourse? Yes. > [@](#): > > Ever wonder how it became that way? No. Reproduction is important to the survival of the species. If sex weren’t enjoyable, sentient living things would be in trouble. > [@](#): > > Please don’t expect me to accept evolution as the reason. Why not? If you’re hoping to use orgasms as proof of intelligent design, you’ll be disappointed. > [@](#): > > If that was the case, this particular sensation could have ranged anywhere from barely OK to being so enjoyable men and women seek it on a regular basis as we do today. You’ve pretty well described the range of human experience of sexual intercourse. Some people think it’s the pinnacle of human sensory experience. Some don’t. > [@](#): > > Could there be other possible explanations? Yes. Evolution favors the species that enjoy sex or otherwise find the activity compelling. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/6 "2015-08-12T17:13:23Z")
I can’t be bothered to look up the sources, but it’s theorised that the pleasure of sex is not only there to ensure conception takes places. but also to ensure male-female bonding, so that the father has a reason to hang around to look after the children. With humans, unlike other animals, the time of the month when the female is fertile is not obvious, and females are equally willing to have sex at any time of the month. Thus, sex is not just about making babies, but also about women hanging on to their men. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/7 "2015-08-12T17:15:23Z")
Evolution is the explanation. Apologies if you don’t want to talk about evolution, but that’s the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/8 "2015-08-12T17:15:48Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Couldn’t a god who saw his earth inadequately populated just conjure up some more people to fill it? That seems like a much more direct route to the goal than giving the people there people already there an urge to perform an act that sometimes results in increased population (but is also easy to modify so it doesn’t). Easy to modify? Are you kidding me? 1. When do you think that effective birth control became available to the general public? 2. When do you think that safe, easy, risk-free, reversible, and inexpensive birth control that doesn’t interfere with sexual pleasure became available to the general public? Answers in the spoiler box below: [spoiler] 1. The pill was approved for birth control use by the FDA in 1960, so that’s generally considered the watershed moment. That was only 55 years ago. 2. It hasn’t happened yet.[/spoiler] ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/9 "2015-08-12T17:21:56Z")
Obviously organisms that enjoy sex are going to have more offspring than those that aren’t interested in it. This seems plain as day; I don’t understand why you wouldn’t think this was an adequate explanation. Whereas God, if wanted to increase the human population, would have a vast array of possible solutions (make humans have larger litters, create a large initial population rather than two, make humans reproduce asexually and avoid the whole problem, etc.), so it’s strange that he chose the one that looks exactly like the one that evolution would produce. –Mark ---
**Author:** ![Enginerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/bcef8e/32.png) [@Enginerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enginerd)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/10 "2015-08-12T17:23:33Z")
> [@Phu\_Cat](#): > > Being that this sensation is the latter and that I am a theist, I find it very easy to accept that God wanted to insure His children kept His earth adequately populated. Could there be other possible explanations? Adequately populated? He overshot the mark by a mile. The God I don’t believe in has better aim. ---
**Author:** ![markn\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@markn\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/markn_1)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/11 "2015-08-12T17:31:17Z")
One might also wonder why, if this was a special “gift” to humans, that all other animals seem to enjoy sex just as much as we do. –Mark ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/12 "2015-08-12T17:34:37Z")
As requested I won’t invoke evolution for you. I don’t enjoy sex, I don’t have sex. I don’t have babies. My neighbors enjoy sex. They have lots of sex. They have lots of babies. Their kids are more likely to have the genetics to enjoy sex, so they will likely have more sex than my (non existent) kids. The trend favors those people who enjoy having sex, while those that don’t, have less likelihood of populating the earth. There you go, no use of ‘evolution’ at all. Its simply a progression of changing genetics over time. ---
**Author:** ![Lightnin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightnin/32/180_2.png) [@Lightnin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightnin)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/13 "2015-08-12T17:35:51Z")
> [@Phu\_Cat](#): > > If that was the case, this particular sensation could have ranged anywhere from barely OK to being so enjoyable men and women seek it on a regular basis as we do today. Actually, that’s exactly what happens- [there are a lot of people who have no desire for sex at all](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asexuality). ---
**Author:** ![simster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/simster/32/1047_2.png) [@simster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/simster)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/14 "2015-08-12T17:40:16Z")
every other species on earth that requires sex to procreate may/may not find the experience pleasurable. I think that alon throws your thesis out of the water. ---
**Author:** ![somepumpkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7feea3/32.png) [@somepumpkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/somepumpkin)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/15 "2015-08-12T17:42:51Z")
\ But if God wanted us to do it, why do we (socially) feel somewhat dirty about it? \ For me, the greatest sensation I’ve ever had comes from road-racing motorcycles. That feeling of quick, hard acceleration out of a curve while still leaned over is hard to trump. I’d not trade it for sex, but I probably crave it more often. Of this, I really have never questioned why. Sex is easier/cheaper to get, however. I don’t disagree with your hypothesis in that the sex drive is there to ensure a species recreates and survives. But I don’t think that it has much to do with God. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/16 "2015-08-12T17:51:45Z")
Ya know, the Praying Mantis has managed to survive and the male gets his head eaten off after copulating. Just say’n… ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/17 "2015-08-12T17:54:16Z")
The short answer is evolution favors it. Period. You don’t need to conjure up an invisible being to explain why we like sex. If humans didn’t like it you wouldn’t be here. ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/18 "2015-08-12T17:56:05Z")
> [@leahcim](#): > > Couldn’t a god who saw his earth inadequately populated just conjure up some more people to fill it? That seems like a much more direct route to the goal than giving the people there people already there an urge to perform an act that sometimes results in increased population (but is also easy to modify so it doesn’t). Adam didn’t have that many ribs to spare. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/19 "2015-08-12T17:58:29Z")
Do Christians _really_ think that people are going to read things like the OP and be like “OOooooh you got me! Guess you are right, God did it!” I mean, _really_? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 12, 2015, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668/20 "2015-08-12T17:59:36Z")
> [@Phu\_Cat](#): > > Please don’t expect me to accept evolution as the reason. You may not accept it as the reason, but there it is. Evolution makes a lot more sense as an explanation than “God did it”. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/for-those-that-do-not-believe-in-god/727668.md?page=2)