Most of the questions you're likely referring to are more of an extension of an urge than an actual occurrence. I'm not going to harp on about "fake" stories because that's not the point. This is my theory:
We all have strange urges, desires, thoughts, and feelings, and we also all have an incredibly strong instinctual need to belong.
If someone has a thought "I wonder what it would be like if my dog..." for example, this is a pretty embarrassing thing. Society teaches us that it's wrong. But our brains don't want us to think we're messed up (because of that need to belong I mentioned) so we try to justify that urge. Your brain will actually protect you from thinking that there's something wrong with you, whether you want it to or not.
And so the IIN question about inappropriate dog-activity is formed. The funny thing is, it's pretty common to want to feel somewhat justified in having this urge, so if someone else who reads it has also had the same thought, they usually chip in.
The reason this is all posed as "fact" (and people will insist to their dying breath it's true) is a combination of one's own curiosity and desire to push the line a little further, along with a rather intense feeling that if you admit it's not, you're invalidating your urge and admitting you're a deviant. Weirdly enough, it's LESS 'wrong' to be SO messed up you sleep with your dog, than it is to have constant, intense thoughts and urges to do so but otherwise you're a healthy individual.
Most of this isn't even the poster's fault. Our brain is, in simple terms, a huge troll and delights in doing things beneath the surface that we aren't fully aware of.
So, wall-of-text later, I answer by saying "We're not really all that messed up, because we all share the same inquisitive nature, propensity for odd thoughts, self-doubt, and love of feeling like we belong"
Is it normal to ask this here?
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Most of the questions you're likely referring to are more of an extension of an urge than an actual occurrence. I'm not going to harp on about "fake" stories because that's not the point. This is my theory:
We all have strange urges, desires, thoughts, and feelings, and we also all have an incredibly strong instinctual need to belong.
If someone has a thought "I wonder what it would be like if my dog..." for example, this is a pretty embarrassing thing. Society teaches us that it's wrong. But our brains don't want us to think we're messed up (because of that need to belong I mentioned) so we try to justify that urge. Your brain will actually protect you from thinking that there's something wrong with you, whether you want it to or not.
And so the IIN question about inappropriate dog-activity is formed. The funny thing is, it's pretty common to want to feel somewhat justified in having this urge, so if someone else who reads it has also had the same thought, they usually chip in.
The reason this is all posed as "fact" (and people will insist to their dying breath it's true) is a combination of one's own curiosity and desire to push the line a little further, along with a rather intense feeling that if you admit it's not, you're invalidating your urge and admitting you're a deviant. Weirdly enough, it's LESS 'wrong' to be SO messed up you sleep with your dog, than it is to have constant, intense thoughts and urges to do so but otherwise you're a healthy individual.
Most of this isn't even the poster's fault. Our brain is, in simple terms, a huge troll and delights in doing things beneath the surface that we aren't fully aware of.
So, wall-of-text later, I answer by saying "We're not really all that messed up, because we all share the same inquisitive nature, propensity for odd thoughts, self-doubt, and love of feeling like we belong"