# Humans being emotional vampires? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 2, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449 "2017-11-02T00:44:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/1 "2017-11-02T00:44:03Z")
[https://forbiddentruthblog.com/2015/04/16/professional-cuddling-a-forbidden-truth-dissection/](https://forbiddentruthblog.com/2015/04/16/professional-cuddling-a-forbidden-truth-dissection/) I know I know, just bear with me. I am a bit confused by those people who pay others for cuddling, it’s just so odd. Isn’t it kind of sketch to take advantage of someone else’s pain like that an make a profit from it? ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/2 "2017-11-02T00:46:23Z")
I’ve heard rumors that people do that for sex, too. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/3 "2017-11-02T00:52:18Z")
Again, I’m not going to click on your links. However, I wouldn’t consider pay-for-cuddling as emotional vampires. Two consenting adults can do what ever they agree upon for whatever payment. Real emotional vampires are the ones that pretend to like/love you only to feed off the drama they continually inject into a relationship. And THAT is SUPER “sketch”. ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/4 "2017-11-02T00:58:48Z")
People who like cuddling but don’t want to have sex don’t really have an outlet for it in conventional relationships, as cuddling is something you only do with a sexual/romantic partner. I don’t see what is confusing about it, some people want to cuddle without dealing with finding someone to cuddle with (which can be very complicated in a lot of social circles). If profiting from other people’s ‘pain’ by offering to provide what they want is sketch, then you need to call doctors, psych therapists, pharmacies, hair stylists, restaurants, prostitutes, massage therapists, politicians, writers, tv producers, clothing stores, and a whole big chunk of the world ‘sketch’. And I’m not reading any of the crazy rants on that blog. ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/5 "2017-11-02T02:04:07Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I know I know, just bear with me. Why are you still reading that wacko? ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/6 "2017-11-02T06:04:07Z")
> [@Pantastic](#): > > People who like cuddling but don’t want to have sex don’t really have an outlet for it in conventional relationships, as cuddling is something you only do with a sexual/romantic partner. I don’t see what is confusing about it, some people want to cuddle without dealing with finding someone to cuddle with (which can be very complicated in a lot of social circles). If profiting from other people’s ‘pain’ by offering to provide what they want is sketch, then you need to call doctors, psych therapists, pharmacies, hair stylists, restaurants, prostitutes, massage therapists, politicians, writers, tv producers, clothing stores, and a whole big chunk of the world ‘sketch’. > > And I’m not reading any of the crazy rants on that blog. I mean in the sense that cuddling is the sort of thing that people in a relationship tend to do for intimacy and love. To pay someone else that you likely don’t know on that level to come and do it with just seems a bit sad. It’s different from the occupations you have mentioned. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 6:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/7 "2017-11-02T06:06:50Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Why are you still reading that wacko? Because it’s hard to shake him from my head because it seems like there is a hint of truth. Kind of like mentioning kids as “yours” which might imply some kind of property sense. Or (in the link) he mentioned the people doing the service are only pretending to love and care but that they are honest about it since humans don’t really love. They just feed off your emotions at worst and money at best. Then again that last bit is sketchy. ---
**Author:** ![Machinaforce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/aeb1de/32.png) [@Machinaforce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machinaforce)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/8 "2017-11-02T06:15:56Z")
What must be singled out for condemnation here, is the inferiority of the human being as a whole, the immense pathologies of mind which cripple human progress and lead to the “discovery” and embrace of a mental health “therapy” such as professional cuddling. Samantha and others are positioning professional cuddling as a form of therapy. Is it?? Yes, and less harmful than the therapy offered by licensed psychologists and psychiatrists. But the key term here is: less harmful. It is still harmful, it still denies and rejects the Forbidden Truths of human touch. It still addicts the human to other humans, it still renders it impossible for the individual to meet his own needs, to embrace the unconditional love of Self which is so beautifully expressed via touching of Self. Is being touched in a loving way, a positive and emotionally healing experience? Of course it is! But other humans cannot touch you in a loving way. They cannot. They are vampires seeking to extract love from you at worst, or to extract money from you, at best. All external touch is not merely a compromise, but a deal with the devil, a betrayal of Self and of Truth. But still, being touched in a loving way is a good and positive thing. And there the human, the pathetic human, stands trapped. The solution is so glaringly obvious, but not to the diseased human. He can’t figure it out, because he is genetically diseased, emotionally enslaved, and societally brainwashed. “Oh jeez, what do I do?? I need loving touch, but relationships are so hard and complicated, and the prostitute doesn’t seem kind, and mom has already proven she hates me by abusing me….where oh where can I get my loving touch??? Oh, praise the internet gods, Samantha in Portland has such a nice smile and she is selling platonic hugs and cuddling! I’ll let her touch me, finally I have found someone to make me feel loved!” How pathetic is that? The solution is invisible and impossible for the humans to recognize or embrace, they are too broken and destroyed. They do not want to be loved, they want to feel loved, to find safe haven in yet another universal, societally sponsored delusion and illusion. So what is the solution? Exactly and only what I comprehensively outlined in my first blog post on the issue of human touch: Touch yourself! Kiss yourself, lick yourself, caress yourself, smell yourself, make love to yourself limitlessly and unconditionally, every single day, in a directly physical way, above and beyond masturbation, just as I do each and every day, as a top-level Superior. Ok after reading that last bit I can see he is clearly off the deep end. But I still find paying for cuddles be somewhat tragic. Is this what some philosophers refer to as alienation? ---
**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:** [November 2, 2017, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/9 "2017-11-02T06:28:14Z")
People will literally die without food. Yet we don’t see it as immoral when other people ask them to pay for food. ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/10 "2017-11-02T07:04:39Z")
You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Why bother with any of it, right? Fuck life!! 👎👎 ---
**Author:** ![Penfeather](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/penfeather/32/384_2.png) [@Penfeather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penfeather)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 9:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/11 "2017-11-02T09:16:16Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > You’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Why bother with any of it, right? Fuck life!! 👎👎 Would you like a hug? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 10:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/12 "2017-11-02T10:36:27Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > What must be singled out for condemnation here, is the inferiority of the human being as a whole Compared to what? “Inferior” is a relative measurement, not an absolute one. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 12:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/13 "2017-11-02T12:10:03Z")
Yes, paying someone else to cuddle with you is kind of pathetic. And it is a form of emotional prostitution. But that’s because there is a better alternative, and it isn’t self-love. It’s cuddling with someone who you don’t pay, who cuddles back. Look, the guy who writes this forbidden truths blog is crazypants. He hates everybody. Stop poisoning your mind with his hate. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/14 "2017-11-02T13:43:50Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Yes, paying someone else to cuddle with you is kind of pathetic. Maybe, sure. But really who am I to care or judge? I mean, I pay an after-school program to watch over, entertain, and teach the Sprout; is it pathetic that the teachers there are taking care of the Sprout for money instead of love? Sometimes I turn on the TV and watch sports, and get excited when one team wins, even though I’m not part of that team, have nothing to do with the win, and don’t know anyone who is part of the team. Isn’t that pathetic in a major way? (and isn’t the sports team/advertisers feeding off of my emotional needs?) ---
**Author:** ![Pantastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3bc359/32.png) [@Pantastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pantastic)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/15 "2017-11-02T13:56:10Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > I mean in the sense that cuddling is the sort of thing that people in a relationship tend to do for intimacy and love. To pay someone else that you likely don’t know on that level to come and do it with just seems a bit sad. It’s different from the occupations you have mentioned. Please explain how cuddling services are fundamentally different from The Oldest Profession, I really don’t see how you can criticize paid cuddling for this but not prostitution (which was on my list). And like I said, the fact that modern society has tied cuddling up into something that’s done between people in a romantic relationship instead of something that’s done casually between people who are just close is the reason why such services can make money. Some people simply don’t have the time, emotional energy, or mental stability to maintain a full-scale Relationship, and current social norms dictate that those people can’t get physical touch. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/16 "2017-11-02T15:59:14Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Because it’s hard to shake him from my head because it seems like there is a hint of truth. > > Kind of like mentioning kids as “yours” which might imply some kind of property sense. Or (in the link) he mentioned the people doing the service are only pretending to love and care **but that they are honest about it since humans don’t really love**. They just feed off your emotions at worst and money at best. > > Then again that last bit is sketchy. 1. Please stop reading that blog 2. It’s “your” child in the sense that “you” may or may not have contributed DNA, and “you” may or may not be raising it and it is part of “your” family. Not a thing, but definitely indicating a connection. 3. What do you mean that humans “don’t really love”? Is that your idea or the crazy-pants blog’s? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/17 "2017-11-02T16:42:18Z")
> [@Quercus](#): > > Maybe, sure. But really who am I to care or judge? If I can’t look down my nose at total strangers on the Internet, the terrorists have won. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/18 "2017-11-02T16:52:14Z")
> [@Machinaforce](#): > > Because it’s hard to shake him from my head because it seems like there is a hint of truth. Try harder. There isn’t. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/19 "2017-11-02T16:56:18Z")
> [@Telemark](#): > > Try harder. There isn’t. Nevertheless, it seems a consistent m.o. for the OP. ---
**Author:** ![begbert2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/begbert2/32/3357_2.png) [@begbert2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/begbert2)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2017, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449/20 "2017-11-02T18:13:01Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > Yes, paying someone else to cuddle with you is kind of pathetic. And it is a form of emotional prostitution. But that’s because there is a better alternative, and it isn’t self-love. It’s cuddling with someone who you don’t pay, who cuddles back. I think the pathetic part is that a person has failed to snag a romantic partner. This means that the person who has failed thusly is a worthless garbage person who can and should be demeaned by all who encounter them. Sometimes people are alone. And sometimes people who are alone are lonely. There are various ways people can deal with loneliness - drinking, stress eating, trying desperately to distract themselves, or contemplating suicide. Or alternatively some people seek to throw their money at the problem. And if the problem is a straightforward yearning for the comfort of physical human contact, then a paid cuddler seems like the most direct way to deal with the problem monetarily. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/humans-being-emotional-vampires/800449.md?page=2)