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Asked by sophiecorteville to Arttu, Ceri, James_M, Monica, Philip on 16 Jun 2011.
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James M Monk answered on 13 Jun 2011:
If it wasn’t enjoyable then people probably wouldn’t bother with it, and before long there wouldn’t be any people. So there’s a pretty strong evolutionary reason.
I don’t think it’s possible to know if animals get pleasure from sex. You can hardly ask your dog “how was it for you?” I’ve certainly heard that bonobos do it for fun. The idea of pleasure for animals is a bit different than pleasure for humans, really.
Interesting alleged fact about dolphins and other cetaceans: they have prehensile penises (only the male ones, obv.)
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Arttu Rajantie answered on 16 Jun 2011:
I cannot claim to be an expert on the sex life of animals, but I think James is right. I guess most animals just do what their instincts tell them, but the more intelligent ones (humans, dolphins, bonobos) could decide not to bother if it was not fun.
Comments
Glo commented on :
Ha ha ha – I just have to zone jump in here – whoever is spreading that rumor about only humans and dolphins is wrong! LOTS of different animals engage in sex for reasons other than procreation, after all – other than humans – what animals are self-aware enough to realize that sex = babies? You’ve got to have a fairly big brain thinking away to make that connection. (It seems pretty common sense to us now, Find a local pig farmer and ask him or her this question – you will be amazed by the answer!
Just to be clear on dolphins though – they’re not as nice as everyone claims. Dolphins can be exceptionally violent animals (both with other dolphins and with other species), and engage in non-consensual sex at times.
Glo commented on :
Oops – somehow part of my explanation disappeared! This is what I meant to type.
You’ve got to have a fairly big brain thinking away to make that connection. (It seems pretty common sense to us now, but for most of human history, we didn’t know that sex = babies. Think of the stork myth!) Find a local pig farmer and ask him or her this question – you will be amazed by the answer!
chelzziigal commented on :
sophie i belive frogs have sex for pleasue too
imaninja commented on :
Bonobos are too cool.
If a monkey were to find a box, it would open it and throw it around, where as if a bonobo found a box, it would get exited and have sex with another bonobo,because they are very horny monkeys.
sameverett commented on :
i heard frogs like to have sex for pleasure to?
Moderator - Sophia commented on :
‘The idea of pleasure for animals is a bit different than pleasure for humans, really.’ Surely how instinct works is that it makes things enjoyable for us? We assume that our experience of consciousness is different from that of animals, but ultimately, the reason we enjoy sex is because our brains and bodies are wired to make it enjoyable for us. Isn’t that the same for animals?
James_M commented on :
I’m not sure about that @modsoph – now we get into one of those annoying philosophy discussions where we have to define what pleasure is. That’s why I said I don’t think you can know if animals experience pleasure – all we can do is ask someone whether they experience pleasure, which you can’t do for an animal.
chelzziigal commented on :
i belive cats have it too