Do people really think sex is needed to live?

[The_Commonist]

57. Sex is like food.

Yes, it is a necessity. We are hardwired for it. Maybe not "to live," but certainly to be healthy.

Some people, and I have known three adults who were willing to admit it, can go through their entire lives without ever having sex with another human being. Are they happy, healthy, productive members of society? One of the people I knew was, in fact healthy and productive. But he was a Bodhisattva. The other two were not. At all. It's not possible to say which came first, the unhealthiness or the life-long virginity. But I do believe they were related.

I have met other people whom I suspect had never had sex, and for whatever reason, they were not happy, healthy, productive members of society. Again, the chicken and the egg. And of course, their unhealthiness most certainly had other root causes, but were certainly exacerbated by unwanted virginity.

One can go on a diet, and not eat much or have much sex and be in great shape. One can be a total glutton for food or sex and be all fucked up. There's a very wide range of what is "normal" and "healthy" as well as a wide range of what is "unhealthy." Everyone's mileage varies.

However, I do believe that every human being, again, to be "healthy" and "well-adjusted" needs to have sex, according to whatever their specific bodily function needs are.

Obviously, this latest young man was clearly not "healthy" and "well-adjusted" and his lack of sex was not the cause of that. He was just using that as an excuse. However, my intuition and experience tells me that if he had been able to have sex with another human being on a fairly regular basis, his unhealthiness may have been less likely to cross over into mayhem. Or, of course, he may have just found a different excuse.

So, your question is: "Do people really think sex is needed to live?"
To live? No.
To be healthy? Yes.