How Much Is It Worth?

Some people are disgusted by the thought of pornography and its associated behaviours, others are indifferent. But there is a growing number of men, and surprisingly perhaps, women too, who regard it as a harmless distraction. Porn videos probably seems like any other YouTube video when the pressure is on and the viewer needs a few moments of relaxation. What appears to be ‘free’ entertainment, a perk of the job with a computer, an oasis of fun in an otherwise stressful environment, can end up costing them a lot…their jobs.

Such may be the fate of certain employees at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) in the United States according to a report last week on ABC News.[1] The SEC is the watchdog of the financial industry, looking for crimes such as Bernard Madoff’s Ponzi scheme.

“A new government report has concluded that some senior employees spent hours on the agency's computers looking at porn sites as the financial crisis was unfolding. One senior attorney at SEC headquarters in Washington spent up to eight hours a day accessing Internet porn, according to the report, which has yet to be released. When he filled all the space on his government computer with pornographic images, he downloaded more to CDs and DVDs that accumulated in boxes in his offices…

One (female) SEC accountant attempted to access porn websites 1,800 times i;;n a two-week period and had 600 pornographic images on her computer hard drive.
Another SEC accountant used his SEC-issued computer to upload his own sexually explicit videos onto porn websites he joined.

And another SEC accountant attempted to access porn sites 16,000 times in a single month…
The investigation, which was conducted by the SEC's internal watchdog at the request of Sen. Chuck Grassley R-Iowa, found 31 serious offenders during the past two and a half years. That's less than 1 percent of the agency's 3,500 employees but 17 of the alleged offenders were senior SEC officers whose salaries ranged from $100,000 to $222,000 per year.”

To the average Joe earning a great deal less than those salaries, anger and moral indignation towards those highly paid civil servants would be a common reaction. But everything is relative and comprehension of this event may be more a matter of understanding the power of the biological drives to which we are all prone, than condemning a simple moral choice.

Imagine the stress involved in supervising people who earn more in a month than you do in a year, that is before the bonuses are added on, and, to make matter worse, hold you in barely-veiled contempt. “Let’s face it,” said one hedge fund manager, formerly of Goldman Sachs, “if they were any good, they wouldn’t be in the public sector, and what’s more, they know it.” An uncomfortable reality, especially when the public mood is volatile and looking for scapegoats. So, how to relieve the stress? The freely available images at the end of a computer terminal maybe just too convenient.

What starts out as a harmless distraction can quite quickly become a habit, then a slide into addiction, without us even realising it has taken control of our attention. “Just one last time then I’ll give up,” we promise ourselves. The danger with any addiction is that it tends to affect our judgment detrimentally.

Why do we do what we ‘know’ is not in our best interests? Because forbidden fruit tastes sweetest? Because rebelling against authority gives us a modicum of power and control? Because we just want a taste of pleasure, especially when we feel unloved, unappreciated or the underdog?

We rationalize: “it can’t do us any harm,” “everyone does it”, “no one will see me”, “it’s a free country and I can do what I please,” “I’m anxious/depressed, a few moments on my favourite sites will help me concentrate again,” “ I deserve it,” “It’s fun and I’m not hurting anyone…” The more we give in to its demands, the more powerfully our chose "medication" snares us.

Even when we try to exert our will, we can still be defeated, especially in the absence of knowledge of what is going on at a deeper brain level, and without a preplanned strategy to quell those siren calls.

So how can viewing porn change our perception and choices? It probably works by desensitizing the reward circuitry in the limbic or mid brain so it doesn't feel satisfied. This primitive region of the brain colours how we see the world. When it's in balance we tend to see things with greater clarity and optimism. When it's out of balance our impressions are often distorted and our ability to control impulses, a function of the long-term strategic- thinking neocortex, or new brain, is hijacked. we want relief. at any price.
However imbalance sneaks in, our focus, priorities and even our values can shift—all without our awareness. In the case of too much stimulation, the shift is in the direction of overvaluing superstimuli. As biologist Robert Sapolsky explained in Why Zebras Don't Get Ulcers:

"Unnaturally strong explosions of synthetic experience and sensation and pleasure evoke unnaturally strong degrees of habituation. This has two consequences. As the first, soon we hardly notice anymore the fleeting whispers of pleasure caused by leaves in autumn, or by the lingering glance of the right person, or by the promise of reward that will come after a long, difficult, and worthy task. The other consequence is that, after awhile, we even habituate to those artificial deluges of intensity. ... Our tragedy is that we just become hungrier. That insatiable hunger in the emotional mid brain drowns out the sounder judgment of the new brain. We are all susceptible to grabbing for superstimuli until we learn to stay in balance. "

Today, advertising and commerce constantly bombard our minds with enticing "rewards." Taking back control can be tough. We can start by finding what works for us. Is it vigorous exercise? Daily mindfulness meditation? Friendly interaction with others (instead of cutting ourselves off)? Less sugar? More affectionate touch? All of these help keep the mid brain in balance.

Sadly, it looks as if increasing numbers of people will lose a great deal before those lessons are learned.

[i]http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/sec-pornography-employees-spent-hours-surfing-porn-sites/story?id=10452544.)