Mastodawn

Based on the type distinction in the previous post, where does "horny" belong? #SillyPolls

Interoception

45.2%

Alexithymia

29%

The Great Link

9.7%

I refuse to participate

16.1%

Poll ended at Jan 26, 2025 at 3:11pm.

Jae Jan 19, 2025

@Cassandra I voted for “alexithymia”, largely based on Emily Nagoski’s argument in Come As You Are that sex shouldn’t be seen as a “drive”

@considermycat Thank you! I have argued this point with people (perhaps in relation to Maslow's hierarchy?)! There is no *individual* *need* to have sex. Reproduction is necessary for the continuation of the species, but it's not comparable to water or food or sleep or shelter.

@Cassandra I have ZERO sex drive. None whatsoever. No feeling, no emotion. Horny just isnt a thing existing within me. I consider myself demisexual or asexual, maybe demi as I had the feeling of wanting sex... once, with one person. No more than one.

Interoception is about feeling the body needing a thing. My body has never needed sex. My body does however need to defecate, and I, the descision maker, never feels the defecation needs until it's at 30 seconds away, and I sometimes dont make it

Kevin Davy Jan 19, 2025

@Cassandra
I see them as completely seperate, despite their ability to interact. That's just a function of the meat sack, rather than the systems at work.

@pathfinder I saw them as separate too, but I've read things that made clear others have a different interpretation, and if emotions are things that are *felt in the body* then ... ?

@Cassandra @pathfinder I believe the body is separate from the decision maker, but the descision maker exists within the body, and the body depends on the descision maker to keep the body functioning, which the body needs food water and sleep, and relief of waste products. The body breathes so we dont have to think about breathing.

@Cassandra @pathfinder

I also believe my body is what has meltdowns, and not me, desicion maker. I can try to ignore the body's demand for a meltdown, but that only lasts so long, until the body will make me have a meltdown if I dont reduce the stressors that are irritating my body.

Our body will force us to breathe if we try to hold our breath, or have sleep apnea.

Underwater, hold your breath. Body will eventually disobey you, and breathe.

@GreenRoc

Yeah, I think that's consistent with the idea that meltdowns are beyond our control and not something to feel shame about. (Shame to the people who don't improve conditions for us.)

@pathfinder

@Cassandra @pathfinder Indeed. If I werent overwhelmed, or intimidated to do things I dont want to do, I would not have meltdowns

Kevin Davy Jan 19, 2025

@Cassandra
In a sense everything is connected. But whilst true ultimately, it's not the same as implying that all processes are. Feelings do including physical reactions. But the processing and recognising of them doesn't. Just as being able to recognise hunger isn't about recognising how hungry makes you feel emotionally. Except as a learnt backdoor that some of us use as a way of getting to, oh that's what it is.