Aella: In defence of a birthday girl
Exactly this. Sex is closely related, via human physiology, to defecation, which is instinctively, likely innately, disgusting for obvious hygienic reasons.
This is true even for people like me, who have absolutely zero issues - that could be considered moral - with Aella, or any kind of safe consensual sex, or any kind of hobby or entertainment in general. Like scat? Great, you do you! I'm sure it's perfectly harmless with modern hygienic practices and scientific knowledge.
I would still likely feel pretty irked if someone gave me a detailed description of their morning stool, and I - and surely many others - feel the same way looking at Aella's chart. If one doesn't, they may be, to invoke the classic Scott Alexander's piece, missing out on a universal human experience without realizing it.
Again, I'm not supporting that instinct, I think it's best completely discarded once one's conscious brain understands hygiene on a rational level. I'm certainly not supporting reifying it into a moral rule - which, I suspect, is what many people our host criticizes are doing. But the instinct does exist, and it's precisely the "more fundamental thing" negative value assignments of sex are grounded in! Ignoring that greatly weakens the argument's persuasiveness.
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