The Porn Circuit | Covenant Eyes Internet Accountability and Filtering

CHapter 1: Your sexy Plastic Brain
Committed to Sexual Integrity. Porn not only leaves out the spirit and soul, but also the
tenderness and love expressed through a spouse’s body, their words, their giving, and on
and on.
Unlike real intimacy, there are multiple parts missing from the pornography puzzle. A common
gripe among porn users is that it is not ultimately satisfying, and they are left wanting. There is
so much missing. Many find looking at porn is not enough and seek ways to act out what they
see in porn. It should be no surprise that pornography use is correlated with a 318% increase in
infidelity. 2
So, why are so many people engrossed by what leaves them unfulfilled while bringing harm to
their relationships?
The answer is rooted in the neural pathways of our incredible brains. Through experiences
in youth, adolescence, and adulthood, we consciously or unconsciously map routes in our
brains that allow for arousal and pursuit of a reward, even if that reward becomes less and less
fulfilling.
Learning what you like
Believe it or not, men are not born ogling the boobs of big-breasted brunettes or blondes or
whatever a man fancies. Nor were women born excited by erotic stories, videos, or whatever a
woman finds compelling.
Have doubts? Then why in some cultures do women walk around uncovered from the waist
up and men couldn’t care less, while in most cultures cleavage is considered immodest or
sexually tempting? The same is true of fetishes, which are essentially objects, such as a shoe,
a foot, or lace or fur on a garment. Why does one person find an item of clothing or an object
uninteresting, while others instantly think of sex?
It is learned.
You learn to associate sexual arousal with specific stimuli, writes Dr. Norman Doidge in The
Brain That Changes Itself.
Doidge explains that “human beings exhibit an extraordinary degree of sexual plasticity
compared with other creatures.” 3 By “plasticity” he means that our brains and our sexuality
are molded by our experiences, interactions, and other means of learning, which is why people
vary in what they say is attractive or what turns them on. The brain actually creates neural
pathways that label a specific type of person or activity as arousing.
What we find arousing cannot merely be explained by evolution. Biological explanations are
often too simplistic, Doidge argues. Strong muscles on a man might predict he can protect his
offspring, but a woman may find a man’s voice more attractive than the surface of his body.
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