Why is it that the basal human actions are most repulsive to post modern wo/man?

Question

Why is it that of all animals, on earth, we find the most natural elements of our existence so repulsive. For example, defication in public, urinating in public, vomiting in ...., having sex in ...... farting in......These are all natural and should not elicit humiliation and self depreciation.

Answer 1

they are all natural yes,,,,, but we as humans are a little more refined,,,,,, and so there are places and times that are considered appropriate,,,,,, we dont live "out in nature" if so, we would give up our clothes and homes and cars and computers,,,,,,, we have chosen to develop ourselves,,,,,, and politeness development should be right up there with it,,,, some people have more complex stereo systems then they do social graces
its not so much about the "where" you do these type things, its about sensitivity to those around you,,,, do they want you to? are they accepting,
ps: and lets face it, some of the things are gross, smelling farts, walking in pee because someone went where they wanted to,,,,, spitting is right up there with it also,,,,,,
there shouldnt be anything humiliating or embarrassing if something occurs without you being able to control it,,,,, vomiting for instance,,,,, but at the same time, if you are, why not for health reasons and kindness to others,,,, do it in a accepted place
and as to sex, i am sure you know most of our sexual taboos are the result of men,,,,, what they can or cant handle,, such as why its not accepted for women to not wear tops, but yet men can,,,,

Answer 2

These privacy taboos exist primarily because they are in two categories.
1. Waste elimination - simple, farting, bowel movements and vomitus all smell and are considered noxious because they are potentially dangerous and disease causing incedents.
That's why sanitation was a good thing for society.

2. Sex - I know only one person who has been abstinent on purpose for some time, everyone else I know pretty much likes sex, I suspect my buddy does too, he just hasn't found the right person.

Furthermore, as for doing these things in public or in the presence of others, I think that's probably social as much as personal, unless they look like movie-stars.

As to why, part of it is the disneyfication of all things in the US, so social taboo's aside, if you look like a covergirl or coverguy people wouldn't mind if you had sex, and there is a multi-billion pornography business built upon that very idea. But if you don't look as "good" or "ridiculous" as a porn star then you are just not fit to be seen in the act.

As a species we seem to prefer mates with youthful characteristics and traits which are considered sexually desirable. It is also in our nature to try and select mates who are more socially capable and in theory more able to provide for our needs or the needs of potential offspring. From this perspective, good grooming is a potentially important indicator. Even among monkeys who will throw scat around, mates are chosen on their ability to groom and their overall appearance as well as behavioral factors. Since there are generally tribal hierarchy's females may resist advances from less socially advanced males.

Furthermore, in modern society, the traditions of more conservative society do not have acceptable mechanisms for public defaecation, uriation or vomiting with notable exceptions for being ill. Under that circumstance, it is not unacceptable but it is still not the desriable condition.

Why for instance do people take notice if there is a sick person on a bus or a train or airplane, primarily self interest in not becoming sick becomes a factor.

The elicit these responses embarrasment etc, by virtue of being considered rude if they were done intentionally. For instance farting in an elevator is a minor example of the "Tragedy of the commons" game in so far as EVERYONE must now smell our emanations.

While this might be considered amusing for small children, it is considered impolite to impose one's personal conditions on people in an impersonal setting. These are learned conditions primarily taught in basic grammar school as a function of good socialization.

Young children for instance may often play with scat however this is discouraged by parents since children may become sick should they injest the scat or place it near their eyes. The taboo starts there, and proceeds through to adulthood. We know as children and adults that bodily fluids can contain disease and this makes the public exchange of these fluids or materials taboo.

Having sex in a public place stems again from the taboo for picking a mate, which USED to be a highly selective process, and now is engaged in with casual abandon. However, it is still generally unacceptable for a variety of reasons, disease however is not the highest of the priorities, in this case, the social mores of the place in question are called into action. So whereas you may have an open window sex-act shop in Amsterdam which is considered more or less completely acceptable, this is not the case in a chassidic orthodox community or in a church setting.

The stigma created here is one of being wholely inapproprate to the mores of the culture, it could at the least be considered insensitive or disruptive to work, if Bob in accounting takes every opportunity at lunch to ban*ing the accounting temp in a filing closet.

Answer 3

I don't think we're all that refined. I think we have strived to better our selves and that has been translated into replacing our nature with culture and we've failed, so we've made our nature taboo and shameful.

Answer 4

interesting idea but what about sneezing and yawning - even breathing and eating...

you have focused generally on expulsion of waste and by its very nature waste is not pleasant.