Yuna1000 : There is a very real reaction in the brain when humans watch pornography. The physiology behind it is fascinating and the same areas of the brain light up with dopamine and other chemicals in the brain that act very much like heroin. They hit the reward/pleasure spots in the brain.

So, when you feel excited or happy at beating a video game or seeing something go well, porn does the same thing, times about 1,000. People have that feeling, they get used to that feeling, and then when it happens again, it's turned down a bit. So they need more.

It's an addiction in that the stimulus is required to great those same feelings. Males especially have a hard time having the natural reaction when they're not watching porn.

Try doing some reading or watching online. It's fascinating stuff, the effects of porn in modern society.

yoshirulez! : Actually you https://i.gyazo.com/8b7144457f91ca12d6588a9cb1590a13.png

Anyway, I'm not a supporter of it. It screws up the lives of so many people. The loves of both the addicts, and the prosti--I mean legitimate actors in a legitimate carreer get so screwed up by what porn does to you. It leaves people mentally screwed up for years to come, and makes it especially difficult to find love, or have a healthy relationship. Although denying that it exists, or being overly prudent in that regard can cause different issues too. But porn is a nasty, unhealthy, morally degenerate industry that profits off of damaging people. I cannot in my right mind be supportive of such things. All because you can do something, or make money off of it, doesn't mean you should. But people are trying to kill morality and decency now, and this is just another slow fade.

Ghostbear1111 : Okay. I guess as long as I'm just reading what people write about porn but not actually watching any "example" videos of it or anything, that should be fine. =) If you don't mind me asking though, do you think the effects of porn on society as a whole have been beneficial or detrimental (so far)?

TED Talks are educational lectures in the idea of discussions with facts, numbers, and interesting speakers. There's nothing smutty or sexual about it in the least. They're fascinating and they cover topics like "How to be Funny," "How to tell a good story," "How to solve Inner City Poverty," "How to solve racism" and more. They are meant to be panel discussions. There's no nudity or sexuality outside the discussion. It's adults talking about important topics.

I wouldn't drive anyone to anything offensive.

I think the effects of pornography on society have a profound impact on how we live our lives. There is currently a generation of people, males mostly, who are growing up with instant access to porn, sexuality, and they're exposed to it at a very early age. I'm in my 30s and I grew up before the internet was readily available. We didn't have the resources for human sexuality the way kids do nowadays. They have tried studies, at least in the United States, and no one has successfully found a male over the age of 18 who has never seen porn before.

So, it's pervasive in that everyone can get to it. It's almost like McDonalds.

The negatives are that with instant gratification and sexualization of relationships, males these days don't have the same expectations as females. I think kids and college age people are so far apart on what they expect, male vs. female, in a relationship sexually, they aren't as successful in the dating world. It's tough when I'm a kid and I see what pornography depicts as normal, than I date two or three girls who are horrified at the idea of what I've watched.

And the more interesting part is that young men are having more and more difficulty becoming aroused by routine sexual encounters since their brains become desensitized to 'normal' sex, they suffer from early onset erectile dysfunction. More and more young men can't maintain their performance because their brains and their bodies are bored with what's happening. They need more and more stimulus visually and there's no corrective action available because they don't know life without out it.

But, pornography can be traced to drops in sexual violence. Studies show countries with readily available porn have lower instances of sexual assault and rape. Men are so busy interacting with computers, they don't go out and take their control issues and power issues out on real women.

It's a double edged sword. I don't anyone knows what will really play out over the next forty or fifty years. I think I'll be an older man and I will be able to outclass younger guys because of how I grew up.

I don't know what the next generations' problems will be. It'll be interesting to watch what happens.

So, both detrimental and beneficial. I think the long run will be simply different because it's culture as a whole that's changing anyway. Who am I to say something is good or bad?

I watch it from time to time, but I don't spend hours since I have more productive things to do.

As for its "morality": as long as what's happening inside the videos is between consensual adults (vital emphasis), then its existence shouldn't bother anyone. If you don't like it, don't watch it. Of course, many would need some education to remind them that porn is fiction and that what is depicted is highly unrealistic - I read some articles saying that filming a scene can last several hours and that the final video is (usually) NOT filmed in one shot. So guys, don't despair if you don't last as long; neither could the "actors" without pauses.

Ghostbear1111 :  

Do you think part of the problem is how children are being educated nowadays in public schools (they often end up attending a few of those sex education classes early on, whether they like it or not)? Or is it that because porn is usually "forbidden," and the child hides what they're watching/doing so their parents don't even know to tell them that what they see in porn isn't really how things are in real life (and thus they end up with certain expectations of how males and females should act or behave while dating or in relationships, but those expectations don't actually work or match up with what happens in real life)? From the way some people have been describing porn in this thread (that it affects the same pleasure centers in the brain that drugs and alcohol affect), it almost seems like people are no longer taking porn seriously anymore, or at least, the reasons for watching it has evolved over time somehow...? I've heard that the actors and actresses used to make those films to become famous and to get to know their fans better, but if everyone has access to those films now (because they get copied and uploaded to obscure sites online), those actors and actresses will no longer know who is even watching them, and they won't make as much money either.

Yuna1000 : Societies and sexuality change and evolve over time. Certain periods of Roman history showed a wide-open sexual history where people would just enjoy relationships with whomever, males with males, females with females, males with females, and so on. It wasn't taboo and it wasn't bad to be nude or to enjoy physical pleasure.

Other cultures, predominantly Muslim, stress a very conservative background with sexuality and they have various levels of covering hair, faces, and bodies for women especially. That's their culture.

The Japanese are extremely conservative with their human sexuality but they also have a culture of public baths where any number of strangers are simultaneously (and sometimes mixed gender) naked, showering and then roasting in steam baths. It's all public and it's no big deal. But their beaches are strict regarding wearing bathing suits or bathing costumes.

American culture is one of strong religious backgrounds. The Puritans came over to escape certain aspects of the Church of England. Other religious groups, like the Catholics of Spain, explored and developed present day southern United States and out west.

We're a country of generally restrictive sexual norms. That includes watching porn. But the past twenty years, since the late 1980s even, have shown a trend of open dialogue. When I was a kid, the biggest insult was to call someone 'gay.' Now, every television show has at least one homosexual character. It's not nearly as big a deal as it was 20-30 years ago.

Porn, and the access to it and availability, make it more mainstream. I can google image search something and get it in .041 seconds. I'm now watching porn. It's that easy. 10 year olds can figure it out. Before the availability of porn, yes, it was frowned upon and only accessible in creepy stores or wrapped up in plastic in gas stations. Now, it is prevalent and anyone can get to it.

I don't think school education has anything to do with this particular conversation. Parents, not teachers, should be the ones having open conversations with their children regarding sexuality.

And porn has gone from high-quality shoots of famous people to just about anyone. One of the most popular sites, I won't say names, is basically YouTube but with nudity and sex. It's normal, every day people who are filming themselves or taking pictures and uploading them. They don't make money off it and they're doing it for the fun. There aren't many big money adult movie stars any more because the whole thing has evolved with technology.

It's interesting to see the progression. I'm curious as to what it looks like in 10 more years with all the technology we'll have at that point.

I'm very opposed to it. It's quite interesting reading scientific studies conducted on the effects of pornography. Originally, it was thought to be harmless on the body, however there are studies linking pornography use to depression, anger, memory loss, and even smaller frontal lobes. I even saw a website called Fight the New Drug a while back. It explained how porn works like a drug and it shows how addictive it is. They even claim that there is correlation to porn usage and sex abuse. Quite interesting. We honestly should study its effect more. An interesting subject. Thanks to the OP for bringing up this controversial topic!