Sex On The Brain! Liberated or manipulated, Is pornography really a mass lobotomy?
Unlimited, Free And As Addictive As Crack
With the introduction of the contraceptive pill in the 1960's the sexual revolution that followed through out the West brought about changes such as the the normalization of contraception, the legalization of abortion, social acceptance of premarital sex, decriminalization of homosexuality and of course the legalization of pornography.
While many may still view the 60's as the start of a sexual liberation it might be more reasonable to see it as the start of sexual degradation or dare I say, a mass manipulation where we were conveniently sold oppression in a package that appeared to be freedom of expression.
it is said that actually the sexual revolution may have begun a decade earlier after advances in treatment driven by the need to get soldiers during WWII who had contracted syphilis via sex with prostitutes, out of the sick bay and back into shooting people and stuff.
Penicillin was made widely available and concerns about contracting syphilis became negligible, however, with an obvious rise in risky sexual behavior throughout the 60's and 70's came a steady rise in other STD's and eventually the AIDS epidemic of the 80's
@jockey may point at the question "who profited?"
And of course we at the least find a profit made by those people who sell pills.
In advertising it is no secret that "sex sells", though I would argue that sex sells so effectively because we have been sold sex overtly and covertly.
The sexual revolution saw western society openly debauch and with this came a massive boom in the porn industry, and only now are we waking up to the effect that engaging in porn use has on the brain
If we are kept in a state of underlying sexual arousal we are likely to unconsciously reach for products which trigger a rise in sexual desire, confusing this with a desire for the product.
It is all a big subject to cover but lets just say the masses are having their minds messed about with everyday, news, media, marketing, pornography and more.
Masturbation might not make you go blind (maybe just a little blurry eyed) but in conjunction with watching porn it will certainly numb your brain or even damage it, and let us not be blind to this fact.
The main purpose of this article is to take a very simplified look at how pornography can affect us.
Both regularly viewing and porn and climaxing to it is known to alter the brain in a way that is much akin to the brain of a drug addict.
In short having sex, porn and masturbation jack up the dopamine receptors in the reward center in brain and tell us that what we are doing is good and pleasurable, smaller amounts of dopamine are released in day to day life in activities such as talking with friends, eating meals and all the little things which add to a connection with the world around us and contribute to general fulfillment, dopamine is also released upon learning new things and is key in reminding us to continue to return to activites which bring pleasure.
Oxytocin (the love hormone) is released upon orgasm and is responsible for creating a deeper emotional bond with our partner, in terms of watching porn and masturbation the question needs to be asked as to what exactly the user is bonding emotionally with.
There are a few more brain chemicals involved in the whole escapade and in no uncertain terms porn destroys the natural state of the human brain, porn causes dopamine to hit levels similar to the act of using morphine, and it's addictive, and it can be a catalyst for perversion.
The bottom line in this is basically that when such a high "reward" is achieved through the use of porn, the motivation to engage in the world around us diminishes as we are depleted of dopamine and the reward for socializing and learning and all the other good stuff diminishes.
Studies in rats show that if the dopamine is kept at zero levels, it will starve to death even if there is food in it's cage, because it simply has not motivation to do anything what so ever as there is no reward for its brain.
There are heaps of studies into the subject of how porn and masturbation affects the brain and growing accounts of how abstaining from porn, masturbation and orgasm, has changed the lives of people with the uprising of the "nofap" community, many of its participants reporting what has come to be known as "super powers" which include higher levels of motivation, better mental clarity and improved cognitive function as well as better energy levels and a greater confidence together with a deeper connection to the world around them,as well as other noticeable improvements regarding attitudes toward sex and relationships, much of this is beginning to be backed with tangible evidence.
Doctors generally suggest that men should conduct the act of masturbation every couple of days as it can apparently prevent prostate cancer, but there is really no evidence to back that up and piling evidence of how regular masturbation can have negative effects in terms of brain damage and general quality of life.
If you do view porn or masturbate regularly yet don't feel that it's an addiction, I would invite you abstain from any sexual pleasuring of self for just one month and see if any positive changes do occur.
Further Recources
https://www.yourbrainonporn.com/
https://www.nofap.com/
This video might not be your cup of tea but it's an interesting perspective.
Is there any reason you left out critique of those who control the porn industry and profit from it the most? (let alone who they are).
And you also left out the economic conditions which drive those into the porn industry: an economic system based on unlimited coercion and exploitation of the masses by the billionaire class....
Any thoughts on what the repetitive scrolling on Steemit does to the brain when repeating that scroll for hours upon hours upon hours a day because the economic model doesn't allow fair and generous amounts of income to the masses anymore........
I'm not going to argue the points made in this video as generally speaking they are valid; but once again, on Steemit, I see the burden of pathology being laid on the individual while giving a free pass to the structures and organizations most responsible for the toxic environment of the earth in the early 21st century.
I know, no upvote for me: all too predictable on this site.......
Well the main point of the article was aimed at abstinence from viewing pornographic material due to the increasing evidence of the effect it has psychologically, neurologically and sociologically. I touched very briefly on a few points to raise the question about whether or not it was intended as a control mechanism from the top down and did not wish to indulge too deeply in conspiracy nor which I view as "predictable" or obvious regarding some of the atrocities that can occur in the porn industry itself which is a subject on its own and one of which I possibly avoided as I have a friend and fellow steemian with first hand experience in the "professional"world of porn who is ultimately more qualified to discuss this particular area, I am glad you already know it all and you obviously have strong opinions about this so I am happy that you have seen the light and refuse to engage with self gratification through the usage of porn.
There's all kinds of porn out there.....When you're free from all of it then we can talk.
I've mentioned the porn of social media. How about the porn of war? The porn of fiat/fractional lending? The porn of exploiting others labour for personal profit? The porn of environmental degradation? The porn of every manner of unnecessary exploitation and coercion of other people and life forms? It's all porn as far as I can see and if you choose to abstain from one form of it while enabling all the other types; well then, there is a name for that: self-deception......
No, I am the exact opposite of the Puritan ethic.......
Here is my official public view on sex, porn, and prostitution:
http://andrewmarkmusic.com/?p=40
yes, very good. One of the main reasons for my post and I don't know if you missed it was the way in which cutting the porn out improves quality of life, certainly on a personal level it has improved my relationships and the act of abstaining from this "one form" (the definition of pornography as in imagery explicit in the display of sexual organs) has remarkable holistic benefits. From a spiritual perspective abstinence from porn gives me a greater ability to get on in the world and even get along with others.
I feel you missed the sentiment of my post but thank you for your opinion.
And I'm sorry that you disagree so strongly with what I have said in the post.
I agree that ALL kinds of addiction are counter-productive to healthy lifestyles; and although I don't disagree with your definition, I do expand the definition to mean all forms of explicit exploitation and coercion.
In that sense, although it's fine to swat flies it's also better to address the underlying conditions which create the conditions for such pestilence.
On a personal note: it's true that your experience has helped YOU, but it's an error to project your experience onto everyone else--that becomes a type of logical fallacy..........
My focus is not on any individual but rather critiquing and trying to affect and change vast systems of corruption.
This was really interesting and certainly made me think some things over...
Thank you!
Thank you 🤗
I've actually decided to try abstaining from both porn and masturbation to see how it impacts me.
I've known about the potential downsides of porn for a while, but have resisted the urge to give it up. Here goes nothing...
Ahhhh let me know how you get on 🐒
Nice work very interesting post, raises some questions. Yet again comes down to our conditioning that we need to break out of :)
Thank you
I was browsing the comment section and no one accepted the 1 month challenge. Haha. But dude this is really a treasure of info you've provided. Good luck and I'll wait for your next post :)
Very interesting mate! I will UPvote and resteem shortly! =)
Thank you very much!!!
Good read!
My viewpoint on this important subject... the ones who are making millions and billions out of this industry wouldn't want us to view this as a negative thing, or even more alarming, this will be socially, morally and globally accepted in the times to come and have adverse affects for our future generations... Funding the doctors, medical care institutions, media, etc., for their own benefit isn't an obstacle for them either. We live in a world where most negative things are not portrayed to us in a negative way, or in some cases for example this subject that you've highlighted, we see positive elements attached to it instead!
During the WWI and WWII eras, I would say that wartime sexual violence was widely used as part of psychological warfare, and unfortunately, according to many historians, it was believed to be highly effective. Soldiers were permitted at a state level to commit sexual acts, whether or not with consent, that did have a devastating impact on the societies during the post-war era. The way sexual revolution was suggested, portrayed, encouraged, executed, accepted and justified at a global level during those eras, was, to me, the grassroots of what we are seeing around us today. Our brains were programmed in a way that made us accept what shouldn't have been accepted at such a huge level.
The least I expect now is for the kids of our future generations to have limited access to age-restricted material, which, quite evidently, has become a global challenge in the digital world we live. With so many digital touchpoints all around us, and easily accessible material over the internet, it has become really hard for parents and guardians to keep our children away from adult content, and this challenge will only increase if we do not do something about it at a social, moral and global level.
Thank you for your comment. I was not aware of that soldiers were permitted to perform such acts though I am aware that it did happen. I chose not to get to deeply involved in the dark side of the matter, the whole story of how the pill was developed and approved is scandalous and one or more of the inventors seemingly engaged in a number of unspeakable sex orientated experiments. My aim was just to highlight a few points. I think another big problem in society is television, I have deliberately not owned one in over five years. I don't have any children of my own yet but have my first one on the way in five and a half months all being well, and although i would never wish to be dogmatic about anything, I hope to hugely restrict their viewing of television in favor of more social activities.
That is correct.. all the different forms of media did play a huge role in promoting and marketing such content, which surely did have negative impacts, too. However, the negative aspects are never informed as it would adversely affect their businesses and all the money involved in this sector.
And congratulations in advance for the new addition to your family in a few months! :) Although I don't have one either, but I do believe that parenting has become a far greater challenge in this era than it ever was.
Thank you
great content! Not to mention the industry behind it, the abuse, the trafficking, the leading figures … etc.
Porn is a heavy subject. I really don't know how to convince people to get rid of it.
Hang on you are stating that masturbating damages your brain, actual brain damage? Please show me an unbiased scientific study that backs up this claim. When I say unbiased I mean a true study not one that has its roots in puritanical thinking.
In terms of neuroplasticity any learning changes the pathways of the brain, brain damage may seem like a bold statement but the "damage" that can happen as a result of continued porn use parallels the brain changes found in such addictions as gambling addiction. There has been a correlation between cognitive function regarding the prefrontal cortex and hours per week of viewing porn, although this may be a chicken or the egg situation. There are many accounts of men who explain the changes that occurred in their general quality of life as a result of quitting porn yourbrainonporn.com provided much of my current understanding on the subject and yes some of these studies can be questioned with regards to certain control variables.
Also this damage is reversible as is the damage seen in other addictions.
How Porn Affects the Brain. (VIDEO)
I hadn't seen this particular video so thanks.
Interesting.good work.some points noted.thanks