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Is Porn Poison for the Brain?
Does porn actually damage the brain? Might sound far-fetched, but there is some very interesting research on this topic that might convince you that it does. This week, I plan to post each day on a different topic related to my new book, Sex & God at Yale. Chapter 2, entitled “The Great Porn Debate,” details a rip-roaring Oxford-style porn debate starring porn performer Ron Jeremy, which was held in New Haven during my junior year.
Just this morning, a current Yale student sent me this fascinating TEDx video, featuring a talk by physiologist Gary Wilson, host of www.yourbrainonporn.com. According to the video description, Wilson’s research “arose in response to a growing demand for solid scientific information by heavy Internet erotica users experiencing perplexing, unexpected effects: escalation to more extreme material, concentration difficulties, sexual performance problems, radical changes in sexual tastes, social anxiety, irritability, inability to stop, and obsessive-compulsive symptoms.”
The video lasts about 15 min, but you can catch the main drift by watching only the first 5. Do so and I promise you’ll learn something:
Fascinating stuff, huh? Especially considering how extreme and how universal porn has become among youth in the internet age. It has shaped an entire generation already.
So what do you think? Is porn harmless, or is it poison for the brain?
Published in General
OK, I’m tired of seeing my words get twisted around here. Back to real life, including my daughter and beloved husband.
They are really sad.
And the condescension just keeps on coming.
Madame, if not for the CoC, I’d express what I actually think of you.
Good night.
I agree. If you objectively look at the evidence and don’t let yourself be swayed by the fact that you probably use it yourself (speaking to men in general), it’s clear that porn is harmful (in varying degrees to different people, but harmful to most at least to some degree). You don’t need to be a Bible-thumper to realize this– however, Jesus and many other religions already told us what science is confirming.
Except that as with cigarettes, it’s hard to take this in moderation. Porn is less like alcohol and more like cigarettes in its addictive nature.
As in my first comment, let me ask again: if you (to men in general, no one in particular) wanted to, could you stop viewing porn for 90 days? If not, you are addicted.
Wow! This (thread) is almost enough for me to change my self-assigned category from conservative-leaning libertarian to full-blown fulminating right-wing reactionary. I’ve never seen so much “to hell with you, I like it” in any Ricochet thread.
So is porn worse than pot, Mollie? You are usually more libertarian.
continued from #108
Men’s ability to go out and earn a living and even to want to go out and earn a living comes from this testosterone. Both men and women need to realize this. It is like the goose and the golden egg (well, egg? –maybe a bad simile).
Women are driven primarily by their oxytocin level. When they are depleted in this they have no desire to have sex. Interestingly, oxytocin is developed by the body (men, too) by touching, general intimacy, security. So, foreplay is very very important to women. They can’t get interested without it. Armstrong says this is because the feeling in their body is that sex costs them. We think it’s because they are tired — it’s not just that. It costs them oxytocin and they can actually feel that depletion — so they need to build that up and to do that they need to feel secure and protected and intimate to create more oxytocin.
Women need to feel safe. Armstrong regularly asks women when was the last time they felt scared. Most women answer with an experience in the fairly recent past. Men answer with an experience years ago.
Speaking of “self-reported well-being,” I can report my quality of life is much higher after I quit porn.
I encourage anyone reading this thread to give it a try. Like quitting smoking, it’s not easy, but it can be done, and it’s worth it.
Bryan G. Stephens Pornography, both male and female, is not evil, Stephen, as much as unwise. I would agree, if a married couple is having such problems with their relationship that they don’t want to have sex with each other, this is a problem that urgently needs to be solved. Sex is such a bonding experience, couples need to have it regularly and often. This is separate from the issue of pornography. They shouldn’t have time, or need, for pornography. :-)
Pornography is a drug that can do bad things to the brain. The problem is it is too easy to get into in this age of the internet. If society encourages young boys to “go for it” without explaining the dangers, they may become so addicted they are incapable of having a mature, fully sexual relationship with a normal woman.
Interesting stuff Larry. Men and women are very different.
Pornography is a drug that can do bad things to the brain. The problem is it is too easy to get into in this age of the internet. If society encourages young boys to “go for it” without explaining the dangers, they may become so addicted they are incapable of having a mature, fully sexual relationship with a normal woman. ·1 minute ago
Same can be said for any drug.
Sorry to see you go, Lucy.
-E
(notice, it says “us sinners”–not “you sinners.”)
They are really sad.
And the condescension just keeps on coming.
Madame, if not for the CoC, I’d express what I actually think of you.
Good night. ·1 minute ago
I thought I was going to leave, but I will jump in and say this: I am sorry that I have offended you. Over the Ricochet years I have grown fond of you, and almost always admire and enjoy your comments. It can be hard to achieve the right tone in print, and I was a bit insulted myself by some of the thoughts you seemed to attribute to me, but I wish you nothing but good things in life and relationships and hope you can find genuine love and happiness.
Once we start done the “Porn is a sin” line, then we are not talking science but religion. Same can be said for drinking, right?
I smoke and drink in moderation as well.
Anyone want to explain the decrease in divorce in the age of the internet? ·4 minutes ago
Bryan: Because 13 million American men and women are cohabitating. Twenty years ago, less than three million Americans lived in cohabitational relationships. If there’s no marriage at the beginning of a relationship, there will be no divorce at its end.
Wow. So, porn is the cause of cohabitation now?
There are problems with marriage, but there are lots of things to blame before we blame porn. ·24 minutes ago
Bryan, I’m starting to think that you are being deliberately obtuse. TR was answering your question. The reason that divorce rates are going down is that people are cohabitating more and not getting married. That’s why there is not an explosion of divorce in the internet age.
-E
Porn is impacting on the brain and like drugs, some get more addicted than others. Porn for the young generation is new at this level and there is a growth in youth depression, a brain issue. So porn is a poison, like other addictions sych as food, alcohol, drugs, etc.
Then there are the side effects and how does a “porn is OK” value system impact on life, love and marriage? Does it change behaviours? Seems as if young males are using it as release and what does that do for finding a partner?
I remember being shocked by porn on the Internet but have lived in countries with complete porn bans and I do not think that fixes what people are seeking.
The role of government can be to educate on health benefits, warnings about the impact, but please, no prohibition.
continued from #114
Final thing on this. Another thing about women that we already know but that Armstrong shows is mirrored in body chemicals: After sex, she wants to spoon, to snuggle, etc. Men — not so much. But, this is very important for the man to know: she needs to build her oxytocin. He needs to help her with that. It will help him, too.
From this base, a woman can create a nest out of which the best and brightest come. But, she really needs a man to do it right. And he needs a woman to feel complete.
Pornography is more a symptom than a cause. But, this video has given me a reason to think that this level of sexual stimulation is seldom experienced by men except by OJ Simpson, JFK and other such sterling examples of manhood. It’s not organic to our basic nature and it might be dangerous. I think, though, that the comments on this post by the women lead me to believe that they would be just as adamant about this 20 years ago before the “high speed” Internet doom.
Ladies, please find out how men work. We will try the reverse.
What’s wrong with religion? Its absence causes a lot more problems then its presence.
Bryan, I’m starting to think that you are being deliberately obtuse. TR was answering your question. The reason that divorce rates are going down is that people are cohabitating more and not getting married. That’s why there is not an explosion of divorce in the internet age.
-E ·0 minutes ago
Wow, this is getting personal isn’t it? I don’t tow the line of being outraged, so I am both “sad” and “obtuse”?
So we postulate that porn is bad for couples, but offer no real evidence of systemic problems. Divorce was mentioned and when I counted that they have not gone up, something else is offered on why divorce is down.
Prove to me, all the porn on the internet has increased the number of divorces. Prove to me, in real life, not some study on brains, real life, porn is as bad as you are saying.
I have seen the effect of real drugs. Porn does not even come close.
Agreed. Keep science separate.
Men sexuality = porn = evil
Women sexuality = romance novel = good
You must be reading a different thread.
I haven’t read anyone justify women’s porn (whatever form it takes) on this thread. That’s a pretty weak straw man.
Don’t take it personally. This is not an attack on male sexuality. It’s an attack on porn. Let’s agree that the two aren’t one and the same, please? ·2 hours ago
Edited 2 hours ago
A straw man implies and attack. What I did was a summation of the thread I read as it came across to me. Maybe you need to reread it.
I’m completely libertarian on both of them, which relates to my view of whether the government should enact or enforce limits on either of them. But as to whether one is better for you than the other? No contest. I didn’t realize it until I grew older and developed some friendships with men who were heavy users (or ex users) of porn, but porn is bad news. Totally messes up your self-confidence and ability to deal with women. Now, if you read my piece, I actually put some of the blame for the whole porn culture on women. If we all treated each other better, we’d be well served. But no matter why some men rush to the soothing release of porn, it’s bad news for intimacy and quality sex.
We all mess up sex, but we should aim for great intimate sex with our spouse. And porn makes that almost impossible (in the real world).
Fair enough Mollie.
I have a problem with going after only one side of the problem, towards men. What about women that are heavy users of Porn?
127 comments??!! Man, I don’t have time to read them all…I think I’ll just look at the pictures.
All seriousness aside, if mammary serves me right I’m sure I read something in the past few years, some research from the UK maybe, the saline point of which sort-of proved that men were smarter after having looked at women’s breasts. Granted, that’s not quite the same as porn, but it nipples at the edges.
So while some of y’all may find it morally revolting, the notion that it poisons the brain seems far-fetched.
Porn can lead to couples trying some new things that expand on their sexual expression.
As for learning new things, most of the things shown in porn videos are pretty crude and don’t work well in real life, leading to incorrect expectations and a more unsatisfying sex life for many. The most sexually liberated generation, the teens and tweens of today, are often reporting being quite disappointed with their sex lives. With all the porn they’ve watched, they should be the most satisfied and most expressive sex experts of any generation.
Listen, there’s a time and place for learning new techniques. There are books and even some relatively tasteful videos for that. I don’t think those should be classified as porn as long as they aren’t abused.
What we’re talking about here is the stuff you find on your average porn site. Realistic, loving, non-objectifying couple sex is one of the least popular categories on these sites.
Bryan, I’m starting to think that you are being deliberately obtuse. TR was answering your question. The reason that divorce rates are going down is that people are cohabitating more and not getting married. That’s why there is not an explosion of divorce in the internet age.
-E ·0 minutes ago
Wow, this is getting personal isn’t it? I don’t tow the line of being outraged, so I am both “sad” and “obtuse”? ·in 0 minutes
You certainly seem to want to make it personal. No one has called you “sad” or “evil” or a bad husband. I did suggest that you are being obtuse because throughout this thread you have misrepresented other people’s arguments, slaughtered straw men, and ignored evidence.
-E
Men sexuality = porn = evil
Women sexuality = romance novel = good
You must be reading a different thread.
I haven’t read anyone justify women’s porn (whatever form it takes) on this thread. That’s a pretty weak straw man.
Don’t take it personally. This is not an attack on male sexuality. It’s an attack on porn. Let’s agree that the two aren’t one and the same, please?
A straw man implies and attack. What I did was a summation of the thread I read as it came across to me. Maybe you need to reread it.
Men are not evil. Men are weak. Women too.
That’s where God comes in–to support and strengthen the weak. If they’re willing to be strengthened.
The study showed men got dumber actually I think.
Well then maybe you can help me find my car keys…