Ideas worth spreading

When Sex Is More Than Just Sex: Why Humans Make Sex So Complicated

142,634 views |

Gurit Birnbaum |

TEDxVienna

• October 2018

Professor Gurit Birnbaum explores why sex may pose a problem for humans and how imbuing sex with meaning transforms an animalistic urge to something larger than everyday lives, which alleviates existential concerns. She illustrates how sex can be everything, other than sex; a means to expressing love, escaping reality, or manipulating others. She discusses the dark and light sides of sex and why to the same extent that it can create intimate bonds, it can destroy them. More information on http://www.tedxvienna.at Prof. Gurit Birnbaum works at the School of Psychology, the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya (Israel). Her research is guided by complementary questions: How does the functional significance of sex change as relationships progress from initial encounters to long-term commitments and what are the processes whereby the sexual behavioral system contributes to relationship development, maintenance, and deterioration? This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

Professor Gurit Birnbaum explores why sex may pose a problem for humans and how imbuing sex with meaning transforms an animalistic urge to something larger than everyday lives, which alleviates existential concerns. She illustrates how sex can be everything, other than sex; a means to expressing love, escaping reality, or manipulating others. She discusses the dark and light sides of sex and why to the same extent that it can create intimate bonds, it can destroy them. More information on http://www.tedxvienna.at Prof. Gurit Birnbaum works at the School of Psychology, the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya (Israel). Her research is guided by complementary questions: How does the functional significance of sex change as relationships progress from initial encounters to long-term commitments and what are the processes whereby the sexual behavioral system contributes to relationship development, maintenance, and deterioration? This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at http://ted.com/tedx

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxVienna, an independent event.

Read more about TEDx.

About TEDx

TEDx was created in the spirit of TED's mission, "ideas worth spreading." It supports independent organizers who want to create a TED-like event in their own community.

Find a TEDx event near you

This talk was presented to a local audience at TEDxVienna, an independent event.

Read more about TEDx.