The team from ASAP Science has compiled a short video we feel many of you will find interesting. For an invention that grants us access to all the information in the world, a quarter of all internet usage is for porn, leaving 75% of online activity dedicated to “not porn”. Explaining this is tricky – while a lot of us fall back on the “innate carnal desire inherited through our caveman programming” excuse, the research proves otherwise.
The below video is very tasteful and sensitive given the topic it discusses, and we swear the dude struggles to even mention the word ‘sex’. Using charming stick figures and other crude drawings, ASAP Science explain that rather than some primordial calling to *ahem* please ourselves, we’ve developed an addiction of sorts.
I’m no expert on the topic (well…not on paper, anyway) but our brain rewards us with some kick-ass dopamine every time we do something we enjoy. We eventually start working towards getting more of that sweet, sweet, dopamine by repeating the task that first released it. As it turns out, we enjoy internet porn, it gets us dopamine, so we want more. Works for me.
It’s not all good news though, as constantly watching this sort of stuff, much like boosting heaps of meth (again, no expert), will increase your tolerance. This may result in you venturing a little further down the categories list, but it will also make reality a lot less appealing.
Scary, huh? Well, fear not, as the video explains that the damage can be reversed, if you understand what’s really going on up there and, well, down there too.
Watch: The Science of Pornography Addiction
