# Sex question
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [March 29, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966 "2003-03-29T03:58:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@insider](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/insider)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2003, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/1 "2003-03-29T03:58:50Z")
Why does having sex feel so good? Can you actually live a happy and long life if you gave up sex? What percentage of people actually think about reproducting when having sex?
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2003, 4:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/2 "2003-03-29T04:17:25Z")
1. I’m guessing sex feels good because if it didn’t we (and other animals) wouldn’t do it enough to reproduce sufficiently.
2. I’m sure plenty of people have lived long, happy lives never having had sex, but several studies have shown that people with a healthy sex life life longer and are generally happier.
3. I’m not sure, but I’d say most people aren’t thinking about reproduction during any given act of sex.
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### Author:  [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2003, 4:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/3 "2003-03-29T04:20:32Z")
I have never, ever thought of reproducting while having sex. You may have ruined that for me, though.
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### Author:  [@UncleBill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleBill)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2003, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/4 "2003-03-29T04:23:59Z")
[sub]pssst… **Q.E.D.** … come here a sec. GQ’s are better answered seriously when you actually know something about the subject matter. “I’m guessing…”, “I’m sure plenty of people…”, and “I’m not sure…” are not good starts to the answer. knowwhatimean?[/sub]
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### Author:  [@lorinada](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lorinada)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2003, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/5 "2003-03-29T04:35:03Z")
Believe it or not, not everyone in the world has sex on a regular/ong-term basis for any number of reasons, and they live long and happily. Sex is great, but it is not the sole reason for living. Or even _a_ reason for living. Perhaps they miss/wish they had active sex lives, but that does not make them so unhappy that they wither and die for the most part.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/6 "2003-03-29T04:43:39Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by UncleBill \*
> \*\*[sub]pssst… **Q.E.D.** … come here a sec. GQ’s are better answered seriously when you actually know something about the subject matter. “I’m guessing…”, “I’m sure plenty of people…”, and “I’m not sure…” are not good starts to the answer. knowwhatimean?[/sub] \*\*
I would have looked for cites, but I doubt there’s any definitive answer to any of these questions. Previous research into sexual behavior bears this out.
But, since you insist:
[Sex is good for mental health](http://www.4-men.org/reasonsforsex.html)
[Why we have sex](http://davefaq.com/Opinions/Sex_Free_Will.html)
[Sex isn’t just for reproduction](http://www.mwillett.org/mind/clitoris.htm)
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### Author:  [@mozart](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mozart)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2003, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/7 "2003-03-29T04:43:39Z")
This “reproduction” thing is nothing but a rumor. Lots of us guys have had sex thousands of times and our hands have never got pregnant!
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### Author:  [@hammerbach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hammerbach)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2003, 5:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/8 "2003-03-29T05:37:53Z")
How about thinking of NOT reproducing while having sex?
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### Author:  [@effac3d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/effac3d)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2003, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/9 "2003-03-29T07:10:13Z")
But how many of those who maintain celibacy for long periods have no sexual relief?
Be a partner,a hand or a dildo,i doubt many people go without some kind of sexual relief.
As for sex having nothing to do with mental well being,I think the explosive(snicker) success of viagra proves otherwise.
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### Author:  [@Arturas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arturas)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2003, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/10 "2003-03-29T12:09:01Z")
Satisfaction without sex depends on what other positive things you have in your life and how close you are to female pheromones when a woman is fertile. If you have an active life with many interests, then you can be quite happy. If you are watching TV every night wondering what you could be doing that was more interesting, if you feel lonely, if you lack self-confidence, if you feel unloved, then it is going to be hard to live without it. If you are in close companionship with women for long hours, like at the desk next to you with, then even a satisfied person can take an interest in the subject. (Men also produce pheromones, but I presume at a more even rate.)
A monk (or priest) is supposed to have a close relationship with God, which, when it is strong, also distracts the mind from sex. I am NOT saying you have to be celibate to have a strong relationship with God. I am saying if you want to be happy (at least in respect to sex) as a monk or priest, then you should have a strong relationship with God (or whatever you wish to call this figure).
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### Author:  [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)
#### Post date: [March 29, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/11 "2003-03-29T23:59:04Z")
**Why does having sex feel so good?**
That’s almost an illustration of an informal fallacy. Don’t remember the cute name for it–complex question, perhaps? – but it’s the same error one might make in exclaiming “How wonderful and astonishing, that the Earth is located at just the right distance from a star shining at just the right intensity to make it possible for life to flourish here!”
(In other words, it could certainly have been otherwise, but in all hypothetical cases otherwise you would not be here to exclaim about the situation at all. The environmental comfortableness of Earth, and the pleasantness of sex, are both implicit in your presence here to enjoy them).
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### Author:  [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2003, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/12 "2003-03-30T00:12:46Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by insider \*
> \*\*What percentage of people actually think about reproducting when having sex? \*\*
I’ve never thought about reproducing while having sex. My girlfriend has though, and it boggles your mind slightly. She sometimes says things like “I want your baby” right in the middle of doing it. Reproduction is more a woman thing than a man thing, so the women tend to think about it more.
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### Author:  [@drachillix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drachillix)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2003, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/13 "2003-03-30T00:32:46Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by samarm \*
> She sometimes says things like “I want your baby” right in the middle of doing it.
I had a woman do this the first time we had sex…maybe I’m weird but “I want your baby” Is not what I call a good second date discussion topic.
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### Author:  [@samarm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samarm)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2003, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/14 "2003-03-30T00:36:54Z")
She doesn’t say it with any logic or rational thought. She sort of moans it. I don’t worry too much, as I know she can’t get pregnant when we have sex, but it does kind of mess with your head a bit.
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### Author:  [@yoyodyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yoyodyne)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/15 "2003-03-30T01:08:05Z")
I haven’t had an orgasm for seven years. Can’t say I’m happy about it though…
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### Author:  [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2003, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/16 "2003-03-30T17:24:18Z")
“as I know she can’t get pregnant when we have sex,”
Ah, are you sure you have been reading the proper science textbooks?
“What percentage of people actually think about reproducting when having sex?”
Why not ask them? Seriously though, I have thought of having 18 years of child support payments & that can keep my finger off the trigger, so to speak.
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### Author:  [@teemingONE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teemingONE)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2003, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/17 "2003-03-30T17:44:33Z")
**Sex is great, but it is not the sole reason for living. Or even a reason for living.**
I think your wrong with that one. Most animals don’t have sex for pleasure, they do it because they have to. Like the humming bird, all it does is eat, have sex, then die. It would seem more like sex is the reason to live.
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### Author:  [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2003, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/18 "2003-03-30T18:00:28Z")
So monks or priests who take vows of celibacy don’t have a reason to live?
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### Author:  [@teemingONE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teemingONE)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2003, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/19 "2003-03-30T18:07:12Z")
speaking in more of an evolutionary, keep you race alive view, no, they don’t. But in a religious sense, they have every reason.
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### Author:  [@BrandonR](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrandonR)
#### Post date: [March 30, 2003, 8:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sex-question/164966/20 "2003-03-30T20:33:41Z")
> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Joel \*
> \*\*So monks or priests who take vows of celibacy don’t have a reason to live? \*\*
Correct.
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