Pros & Cons of Being Promiscuous
My friend from work, let’s call him Ted, is arguing for the ‘pro’ side. I’m arguing for the ‘con’ side.
We will continue adding to this list, readers are free to comment their suggestions for either side.
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Additional pros:
The cascade of positive hormonal changes associated with regular touch
Exposure to multiple types of people, increasing empathy for divergence
Possible to take a depth/spiritual approach to multiplicity—quantity does not imply shallowness, necessarily. However, this stance will be counter-cultural, and will by necessity improve skills in communication and discernment.
Cons:
All forms of the spread of disease increased, not just STIs (I think here about the lice outbreak in the Los Angeles cuddle/contact communities)
Having an orientation towards pleasure-seeking seems to decrease tolerance for the normal conflicts of relationship, people seem to become less capable of the individual growth and change necessary to uphold commitments to principles.
Well documented correlations to self reported dissatisfaction—the optimal number of partners on a yearly basis, according to the data, is one. Monogamy correlated with most joy/health.