SoylentNews

Ethanol-fueled's Hairy Palms writes:

The Independent reports: [independent.co.uk]

Psychologist and professor emeritus at Stanford University Phillip Zimbardo (who led the team of researchers who conducted the Stanford Prison Experiment [wikipedia.org]) has made the warnings, which form a major part of his latest book, Man (Dis)Connected.

Zimbardo says (in this [youtube.com] TED talk) there is a "crisis" amongst young men, a high number of whom are experiencing a "new form of addiction" to excessive use of pornography and video games. Citing the research he and his team conducted for the book, he says: "It begins to change brain function. It begins to change the reward centre of the brain, and produces a kind of excitement and addiction."

An article [psychologytoday.com] from Psychology Today, however, argues that there are no demonstrable scientific links between porn consumption and the disputed phenomenon called 'Porn-Induced Erectile Dysfunction.'

Could this [dyndns.org] problem be manifesting itself [wikimedia.org] as the rise of the Hikikomori? [wikipedia.org]

---

Original Submission