Why do people watch porn? Is it evolution or, as Mark Richardson thinks, is it "the lord"?
On Friday morning, Richardson posed the idea to The AM Show that perhaps the reason people watch porn is because "[God] has wired us that way, for our fascination with sex".
"Because we need to procreate don't we, to continue the species, so he's wired us in this way and it's made us fascinated with sex," he said.
His co-hosts were not as convinced as he was, with Amanda Gillies calling him out.
"Even you don't believe in this argument!"
His comments follow the Breaking Down Porn report, presented by Chief Censor David Shanks on Thursday.
It analysed 196 of the most popular videos New Zealanders watch on Pornhub.com
There are many reasons humans watch porn. Arousal, boredom, and stress are all quoted in Psychology Today as causes for people to watch porn.
Sex therapist Stephen Snyder says our porn consumption is tied to the fact humans are a social species.
"The fact that most of us like to watch other people having sex is clearly part of our evolutionary heritage," wrote Snyder in Psychology Today.
He says early humans likely watched others have sex.
"Promiscuous sex on the plains of Africa 100,000 or so years ago may have helped ease social tension and foster cooperation and communal well-being."
He says the noises female porn stars have become famous for are rooted in evolution too.
According to Snyder, the loud cries are known as Female Copulatory Vocalisation (FCV) and are common in social primates.
"It's likely the original purpose of FCV in highly social primates like ourselves was to attract others of your species," wrote Snyder in Psychology Today.
"If you heard sexy noises from the tree next door, it probably made you want to climb on over and join the festivities."
So thousands of years ago, humans evolved to enjoy watching and hearing others having sex - and that made them want to have sex too. Thus, pornography was born.
