Porn and Sugar
Tags: opinion
I’ve begun to notice how similar porn and sugar are. Both deliver the same kind of instant hit, that cheap thrill. They hijack the brain’s dopamine pathways, leading us not toward lasting joy but toward fleeting bursts of satisfaction.
Sugar was my first victory. My mother was diagnosed with high blood sugar, and together we gave it up. I realized then that I am more committed when I am not alone—when I’m either competing or walking a path alongside someone.
It reminds me of the time I went skydiving. I was nervous beyond words, my heart pounding as the plane climbed higher. Fear gripped me so tightly I almost backed out. But then my colleague jumped first. In that moment, it was impossible for me to remain behind, watching. I closed my eyes and leapt. The rush of air, the earth rushing closer, the strange serenity in the free fall—it was one of the best decisions of my life. It taught me something about myself: I overcome resistance more easily when I am not doing it in isolation.
Now I no longer crave sugar. In fact, I’ve grown to dislike it when I taste it unknowingly.
Porn, however, is different. I still find myself slipping into that abyss, that hidden corner where one steals a quick puff of smoke. It is not the moral question that troubles me. I am not here to debate whether it is right or wrong.
As Viktor Frankl once said:
"When a man can't find a deep sense of meaning, they distract themselves with pleasure"
Science, too, points to the damage. Neuroimaging shows how heavy porn consumption dulls regions of the brain responsible for motivation and decision-making. And unlike sugar, porn is omnipresent—ubiquitous as air, always just a click away.
Even Gandhi, in his experiments with celibacy, sought to wrestle with human urges. He did so in an era without the relentless flood of digital stimuli. Osho, on the other hand, saw masturbation itself as dangerous—not for moral reasons, but because it risks turning one inward to the point of disconnection, to the illusion of self-sufficiency without love1.
Both sugar and porn are not simply about appetite. Neither offers true nourishment; nothing essential is lost if one abandons them. They are illusions of need, not needs themselves.
When I gave up sugar, my mother walked the path with me. That companionship made the struggle lighter, almost natural. When I went skydiving, I only jumped because my friend did first, and I couldn’t bear the thought of staying behind. Even going to the gym is easier with a workout partner who pushes you and shares the struggle.
But porn is different —it is hidden, private, carried in silence. There is no comradeship. And that makes the challenge more isolating.
Footnotes
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