What Men Want

What Men Want
Men, it is generally agreed, are simpler creatures than women. This generally comes from men’s desire to understand things, as opposed to women who are more comfortable than men about not fully understanding the opposite sex. However—I believe that Satan is taking everything that men want and perverting it in two levels. One, is society’s representation of that instinctual desire, and two is a simulation of that desire that is almost always damaging and uses electronic devices to provide that.

The examples I am about to go are in random order, except that they are probably more or less in the order that they were presented to me in, by my friend, Russ, in a lesson.

The first attraction is to power and performance. One might say that this attraction is what drives men to accomplish great things. We are always trying to push the limits on what is possible. This attraction has been with us forever—and for good reason. In order to survive in the wilderness, we need to have the most powerful weapons, and perform with them with precision and accuracy using our own strength, power, and performance. One modern societal manifestation of this attraction is cars. Almost all guys like cars. We like fast cars, powerful cars, cars that turn on a dime, etc. We are all attracted to the power and performance. One way that this attraction is simulated—and probably in the most healthy way of all the simulations—is with computers. It is comparing hardware or software: RAM, fast applications, special commands, control, etc. This is barely a simulation as another societal manifestation of the attraction. In fact, it would be quite a healthy outlet into this desire, as long as it does not turn into an obsession, as it so often does.

The second attraction is to male companionship. In stone-age times, this was quite necessary. It is, of course, much more difficult to hunt on your own than it is with a group of men. It might be easy enough to imagine stalking and killing a deer on your own, but bringing it to camp? All the time alone is also not good. A hunting trip could potentially take weeks. That is why we have “pals.” It’s not just enough to tolerate having other men with you; we have to instinctually like it. In modern society, however, homophobia runs rampant. Most straight men in Western society have inhibitions when it comes to revealing feelings to other men, or showing a need for companionship. Thus comes one of the most common societal manifestations of this desire: “booze.” Alcohol’s first job is to take away our sense of judgment, and therefore breaking down the walls that we’ve put up against our fellow men so that we can share our feelings—and embarrass ourselves. Only a fool or an alcoholic will tell you that alcohol is completely harmless. Many lives, families, homes, reputations and barstools have been destroyed by the influence of alcohol. It is already not the healthiest manifestation of the desire for companionship, but the simulation is steadily growing in damage: video games. When I was in high school—which wasn’t too long ago—there was a huge group of friends I had with whom video gaming was the only source of “real” socialization. The only time I have interacted with many of these friends was by playing video games with them. Sure, I might know that they prefer the energy sword over a gun, or have a favorite level on Zelda, but I did not get to really know these people, and in reality, neither did they.

The third attraction is to war. This has a very real stone-age manifestation. Ten thousand years ago, there were all sorts of wild animals and savage neighboring clans to deal with, and protection was a very real necessity. We created spears, bows, arrows, catapults, tomahawks, rockets, cannons, and today’s chief societal manifestation: guns. Other common societal manifestations include martial arts, boxing, all sports, and the spirit of competition. Most of these manifestations, if not all, are pretty healthy. However, the simulations are usually not so healthy. Violence in electronic media is desensitizing our society to the realities of death. If you mention the phrase “raping and pillaging” to a group of middle school boys, they will laugh. If you mention that phrase to a group of Dark Age Scotsmen, I doubt they would have the same response.

The final attraction is the most serious for a few reasons. For one, God gave us this attraction for the most sacred reason. For two, it is perverted more than any of the others by Satan. This, of course, is sexual desire. These feelings are extremely powerful. God gave them to us for a beautiful purpose. The societal manifestation of this has always been sex with women. Common societal perversions include pre-marital sex, extra-marital sex, sodomy, and the big catalyst for all of these perversions and more: pornography. Pornography is, of course, most accessible on the computer. It is the biggest web industry. Most sex offenders will tell you that they began with an addiction to pornography. This is the grossest of Satan’s attempts to pervert men’s natural attractions. It is a disease that runs rampant in our society today. It is the most serious temptation we are given in these latter-days.
Thus we see that all of these instinctual attractions can be twisted and perverted electronically into some fake simulation that too many of us men are substituting for the real deal. I want to see my friends in real life, not in a video game. I want to protect my family, not pretend I’m in a war on my computer. I want a fast car…AND a fast computer. I want to have sex with my wife, not watch some strangers re-create the experience for me.

With that, I’m out.