The Effects Of Pornography On The Human Mind

It's been a while since I took my first step in a quest to discover the culprits behind the decreasing IQ of the general population. The journey has so far been downright fascinating. It took me to places I least expected to find the answers. For instance, one of the culprits is sound (exposure to all kinds of sounds, from city noise to electro-rap). I'll talk more about it in the upcoming series of messages. According to the International Journal of Psychophysiology (Volume 120, October 2017, Pages 96-107), the environment determines an individual's cognition (i.e., attention span, memory & working memory, judgment & evaluation, reasoning & computation, problem-solving & decision-making, comprehension & language, and perception). It is the determining factor in the development and maintaining the health of the prefrontal cortex, a brain region without which we have no self-control (underline that "no self-control").

In this case, the environment includes the people that surround you, the type of architecture you're exposed to, the culture (dress code, sound & music, religion & religious practices), landscape & amount of greenery, radio waves & more.

The prefrontal cortex is often mistaken for the third eye. It has the following functions: 👇🏻(Made available by Mr. Charles Ganaprakasam & The Researchgate)👇🏻

👆🏻(Made available by Dr. Dan Siegel)👆🏻

Therefore, once the prefrontal cortex gets hijacked or heavily impaired, the person loses self-control and becomes impulsive, violent, and insensitive to other people's sufferings. As you'll discover later in the article, pornography not only impairs the prefrontal cortex but also shrinks the volume of the gray matter. Before we get into that, let me remind you of a man we have all heard of. Ted Bundy's confession and dire warnings about pornography should not be neglected.

Ted Bundy stated that most inmates claimed that exposure to pornographic content (literature, videos, and so forth) shifted their minds. In other words, the world of pornography is a zombie factory. Such people (like Ted Bundy) should not be "put away" before their minds are thoroughly studied and analyzed for the effects of pornography. Otherwise, the dealer will go unpunished, and more people will suffer the fate of Bundy's victims.

Even though pornography belongs to a category of behavioral addiction (e.g., gambling & internet addiction), it has a similar effect as substance addiction (e.g., cocaine). Unlike cocaine, which is quite expensive, hard to get, and illegal, pornography is widespread, free, available on demand 24/7, and legal in most countries.

As every man has the prefrontal cortex, regardless of the race to which he belongs, every man is a potential case of the new Ted Bundy. Don't overestimate yourself and think, "that can't happen to me." Every individual has limits, and every individual is fragile. Some are more easily broken down, and others require more repetitive action, but the end product is the same: a heartless murderer. That's one of the reasons why, through the utilization of psychopolitics (propaganda, hypnosis, and affirmations), a peaceful man is quickly transformed into a war machine.

Consider this: the use of pornography has exponentially increased in the last ten years, thanks to the entertainment industry and the mainstream media outlets that tirelessly promote all kinds of immorality. Most people were brainwashed to the point where they think of pornography as normal, fun, and harmless. The influence of sexually explicit material upon young generations is apparent while the rates of violent crimes are going through the roof. What used to be unthinkable and unheard of has become a part of our daily lives. Is that a sheer coincidence? I'll leave it up to you to discern.

Scientific Data

I used Mrs. Kendra J. Muller's paper as a reference point. Her dissertation is comprised of many well-founded scientific works. Even though pornography causes immediate changes in the brain, this paper is focused on the consequences of prolonged exposure. The full version can be downloaded from the Archive: https://archive.org/details/pornographys-effect-on-the-prefrontal-cortex

Note: to score a hundred percent precision rate in future analysis, we should separate subjects into three branches (Adamic, African, and Asiatic). Each branch should be divided into two groups (male & female). Each group should be separated into those who were and those who weren't exposed to pornographic material before getting involved with testing. That's crucial for a variety of reasons. First and foremost, male and female minds are distinct. The female minds are governed by emotions, unlike healthy male minds that are logical and analytical. On the other hand, Adamic, African, and Asiatic minds differ in design, volume, and modus operandi. They are wired differently.

Fundamentals: to understand how and why exposure to sexually explicit content affects the brain, we must learn the basics of the modus operandi of the rewarding mechanism, the driving force behind most actions. Dopamine is the most prominent neurotransmitter through which the human brain seeks a reward. When subdued by addiction (including sugar!), the brain no longer seeks natural rewards but is rewired to crave the particular (risky & harmful) behavior. Dopamine increases the rate of neuron firing when pleasure is experienced. It can be released, and its production increased naturally. For instance, as mentioned in one of the previous articles, cold baths increase the production and release of dopamine by 250%. Other healthy examples are physical exercise and prolonged fasting. Pornography also stimulates the reward system, but unlike healthy sources, it triggers the production and release of abnormal amounts of dopamine that flood the limbic system. The brain gradually becomes dependent on abnormal levels of dopamine (and the cerebral blood flow) and starts to associate pornography as the only source thereof, as no other activity can result in spikes as drastic.

Just as physical substances increase blood flow to the prefrontal cortex, so does pornography, but in even greater amounts. Whenever an addict engages in pornography, there is a surge in regional cerebral blood flow and a decrease in gray matter. The prefrontal cortex eventually becomes accustomed to abnormal regional cerebral blood flow, thus, creating the continuous demand for unnatural amounts of cerebral blood flow to keep up with the newly accustomed levels. The only way of meeting its needs is by engaging in pornography, as there is no other way to increase cerebral blood flow as much. Once the stimulation is over, the gray matter will decrease due to overstimulation, leading to dreadful consequences (such as the loss of neurons & synapses, the loss of all functions of the frontal cortex, including self-control, the ability to discern right from wrong, safe from risky, moral from immoral, and so forth). Therefore, pornography triggers the same reactions in the brain as substance addictions (such as tobacco, methamphetamine, and cocaine), increasing dopamine when behavior is engaged with, and decreasing the tissue volume (gray matter), thus, causing impairment of the prefrontal cortex by deactivating several essential mechanisms needed to live a healthy life.

Post-Effects: once the binging is finished, the prefrontal cortex regrets the deed and associates this phase of the cycle with psychological and physiological stress as the levels of dopamine plummet. This may be considered the beginning of the withdrawal phase. Symptoms are as follows: depression, grief, feelings of unworthiness, and lack of self-esteem. The only way an individual can escape suffering is by raising dopamine back to previous levels, i.e., engaging in another session of pornography, thus, creating a vicious cycle. As the brain's structure is being rewired, the addict losses self-control, self-awareness, and the ability to think straight. Pornography obliterates the ventrolateral prefrontal cortex, whose primary purpose is to keep us out of trouble (prevent us from engaging in risky behavior). That's one of the key reasons why pornography, drug use, and crime go hand in hand. Addicts are unconscious of their actions.

Have you ever wondered why smokers smoke even though they know the dangers of smoking? Well, now you know.

The good news is that, albeit slowly, the brain can fully regenerate due to neurogenesis and synaptogenesis. More info can be found in my recent articles on ways to increase IQ. The dangers of pornography should not be neglected. Stay away from that filth.

(Note: this picture was downloaded from FreePik! I want to thank Mr. @Kjpargeter for his contribution!)