Soon after printing technology developed and books became commonplace in homes, the first literary pornography began to be mass-produced and distributed. Pornography also closely followed the development of photography, film, and now the internet.
This illustrates the long-running corruption of sexual integrity throughout history, and we could talk about the impact that has had, but for today’s lesson we’ll focus on internet pornography and why it’s like nothing experienced before in human history.
Dopamine. It’s what it’s all about. The desire and motivation to do anything stems from the little part of our brain that provides dopamine. It’s a reward system that’s run our neurology for generations.
There are two things that stimulate dopamine above all others:
1. Novelty
New car, new movie, new phone. As we adjust to what we already have, our brains get a kick out of something new.
2. Supernormal Stimulation
They found you could trick mother birds to favor fake eggs over their own by making the eggs bigger and brighter. Likewise, humans get huge doses of dopamine from stimulation that goes beyond what we experience in the everyday.
Evoke Strong Emotions – Even fear, disgust, embarrassment; strong emotions typically tied to porn use spike dopamine.
Encourage “On The Hunt” Mentality – Anticipation drives the entire reward circuit that dopamine relies on.
Go Beyond Expectations – Shock, surprise, getting more than you could have imagined; this is typical of porn use.
Novelty and supernormal stimulation. These are the two qualities that drive dopamine in our brains and what have made pornography such a potent stimulant.
What the internet did was bring porn to a new level.
All the way up to porn on DVD, pornography was something you had to go out and get. Then, when you finished you had to go out and get more. Internet porn is unlimited and instantly accessible. Not only that, it often chases after you. Many people’s first exposure to porn was an innocent misstep on the internet.
This combination of qualities created a hyperstimulant that the human brain isn’t designed for.
Long use of internet porn over-saturates your brain with dopamine. Nothing else in the world can offer that high a hit for such a prolonged period. Your brain, constantly on the lookout for more sources of dopamine, is compulsively drawn back to what gave it that first hit.
We hope that gives you a short glimpse of the tsunami of changes that worldwide internet porn use has started. We’re just beginning to recognize the impact it is having on people’s brains.
The information for this lesson comes from Gary Wilson’s work at Your Brain On Porn.
If you want to learn more, this is Gary’s “Start Here” article on the effects of internet porn use on the brain.
