Quote: Someone wrote that only Food, Water, Oxygen, and Shelter are needs. Those may be the only BIOLOGICAL needs, but people have psychological needs as well. And without meeting basic psychological needs, such as for companionship, research shows longevity is shortened. Maslow's famous "hierarchy of NEEDS" lists many needs that are not just biological. In fact, the highest human need is for self actualization.
I am sure any of the other parents here will know that our first need is not so much for food as it is touch. A newborn's been well-fed for the past nine months, and they'll only get few drops of milk from mom for a day or so - but they'll certainly take a long time getting it! Snuggling up to the breast, rooting around to get mom's smell in their nose. Later a nursing baby will 'knead' mother's breast, grab her hair, face, as they're nursing (or taking a bottle)- there's definately a lot more than just feeding going on there.
A kid doesn't get that - they don't grow. Even long after nursing has stopped, a child needs to be held, touched by their parents.
Ok, I know that some of you are dealing with Ss that feel that touch is enough...so maybe that's not enough to prove that sex is actually a need, but i would certainly argue that touch, connection is. And isn't sex the ultimate in connection?
Does the neocortex really remove sex from the instinctual level - or does it allow us to think beyond our insticts, to the point that we can 'avoid' them? I don't know enough brain chemistry to even try to answer - so I'm asking any of you who do?
