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The great porn experiment | Gary Wilson | TEDxGlasgow

TEDx Talks · talk · Watch on YouTube

Mental health & neurodiversityNeuroscience & the brain

What it is

Gary Wilson's TEDxGlasgow talk argues that internet pornography hyperstimulates the brain's reward system and can cause symptoms that reverse when people stop. TED notes that several claims are not supported by respected academic studies.

Why Hacker News recommends it

HN commenters frequently recommend it as an eye-opening case against heavy porn use, though it is contested science.

  • 10 people recommended it
  • 11 different months
  • 4 strong recommendations
  • first 2012, last 2023

What HN commenters said

  1. “Why did it take me decades to find someone able to present that reasonably plausible reason”

    Plausible science-based reason to avoid porn

    Theodores, 2013-12 · Strong recommendation · in “The UK "Porn" Filter Blocks Kids' Access To Tech, Civil Liberties Websites”

  2. “This really opened my eyes to this problem for me..”

    Eye-opening and worrying points about porn

    cyberpunk, 2016-10 · Strong recommendation · in “UK Government proposes porn-viewing ID”

  3. “Great Ted talk on subject”

    Neural reward system effects of porn

    sizzle, 2018-11 · Strong recommendation · in “Ask HN: Resources for introverted devs to learn workplace politics?”

  4. “This presentation [0] on the physiological effects of porn consumption is very informative.”

    Very informative on physiological effects of porn

    PKop, 2022-02 · Strong recommendation · in “Inside Pornhub”

  5. “which provides some empirical grounding for the anecdote in the article”

    Empirical grounding for article's anecdote

    msluyter, 2013-01 · Recommendation · in “Did porn warp me forever?”

  6. “By withdrawing and resensitizing your dopamine circuits you might jumpstart your motivation”

    Suggests resetting dopamine circuits to regain motivation

    argonz, 2013-03 · Recommendation · in “Ask HN: Maybe not the best place to seek life advice but I trust you guys”

  7. “Have you seen this TED talk about porn addiction”

    Addiction effects on the brain like hard drugs

    diadara, 2014-03 · Recommendation · in “Hexagon 16384”

  8. “Theres some good TED talks on this which are easy to find.”

    Good TED talks on societal issues from porn

    trident1000, 2020-12 · Recommendation · in “Pornhub just purged all unverified content from the platform”

Excerpts from Hacker News comments, linked to the originals. Summaries and labels were written by a language model from those comments.

Topics: dopamine, addiction, internet pornography, neuroscience, tedx

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