Brain Heart World: Fight the New Drug is a well-researched ebook about what porn does to the brain—particularly to the adolescent brain. Porn functions just like a drug—as it relates to the brain. Porn, just like drugs, activates the reward circuitry of the brain. One of the most sobering parts of the paper is that during adolescence, when the brain is reformulating and pruning, it is very malleable and developing new neural pathways. The sexual conditioning is to a screen, rather than to a person. Those addicted to porn exhibit more violent tendencies toward women and are much more lonely and isolated.
In The Coauthored Self: Family Stories and the Construction of Personal Identity, author Kate McLean describes how the hippocampus of the brain is where we store our memories and stories of who we are—identity. Our personal stories—self-defining memories, low points, high points, and turning points—are all part of our identity. But so are our parents’ stories and the cultural stories that we get from others, the media, books, movies, etc. The book is excellent. If you are wondering how you came about your own stories, you may wish to read this book.
