Gary Bruce Wilson (May 12, 1956 – May 20, 2021) was an American writer and anti-

pornography Pornography (colloquially called porn or porno) is Sexual suggestiveness, sexually suggestive material, such as a picture, video, text, or audio, intended for sexual arousal. Made for consumption by adults, pornographic depictions have evolv ...

campaigner.

Biography

Wilson was a writer who lived in

Ashland, Oregon Ashland is a city in Jackson County, Oregon, United States. It lies along Interstate 5 in Oregon, Interstate 5 approximately 16 miles (26 km) north of the California border and near the south end of the Rogue Valley. The city's population w ...

. He was formerly an

adjunct professor An adjunct professor is a type of academic appointment in higher education who does not work at the establishment full-time. The terms of this appointment and the job security of the tenure vary in different parts of the world, but the term is gen ...

of biology at

Southern Oregon University Southern Oregon University (SOU) is a public university in Ashland, Oregon. It was founded in 1872 as the Ashland Academy, has been in its current location since 1926, and was known by nine other names before assuming its current name in 1997.Kre ...

and also taught at vocational schools. Together with his wife, Marnia Robinson, he was an instructor of

karezza )( "collect ''yin'' and replenish ''yang''") for men and ''caiyang buyin'' ( zh, c=採陽補陰, p=Cǎi yáng bǔ yīn ) ("collect ''yang'' and replenish ''yin''") for women, and was involved in Taoist sexual practices such as ''huanjing bunao'' ( z ...

, and the couple shared an antipathy towards

orgasm Orgasm (from Greek , ; "excitement, swelling"), sexual climax, or simply climax, is the sudden release of accumulated sexual excitement during the sexual response cycle, characterized by intense sexual pleasure resulting in rhythmic, involu ...

s. He became widely known from his 2012

TEDx TED Conferences, LLC (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is an American-Canadian non-profit media organization that posts international talks online for free distribution under the slogan "Ideas Change Everything" (previously "Ideas Worth Sprea ...

talk entitled "The Great Porn Experiment" in which he argued exposure to pornography changes brain chemistry. The talk has been viewed over 16 million times. Wilson started the website YourBrainOnPorn.com with his wife which argues that pornography is an addiction the same as

overeating Overeating occurs when an individual consumes more calories than the energy that is expended via physical activity or expelled via excretion, or when they consume food past the point of satiation, often leading to weight gain and often obesity. O ...

compulsive gambling Problem gambling, ludopathy, or ludomania is repetitive gambling behavior despite harm and negative consequences. Problem gambling may be diagnosed as a mental disorder according to DSM-5 if certain diagnostic criteria are met. Pathological ga ...

. Four years after the site's launch, he published the book ''Your Brain On Porn: Internet Pornography and the Emerging Science of Addiction'', on the same topic and had it translated into Arabic, Dutch, German, Hungarian, Japanese, and Russian. Wilson argued, counter to relevant experts in the subject, that porn addiction is a

public health Public health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals". Analyzing the de ...

issue, and said it led to negative effects such as depression and

erectile dysfunction Erectile dysfunction (ED), also referred to as impotence, is a form of sexual dysfunction in males characterized by the persistent or recurring inability to achieve or maintain a Human penis, penile erection with sufficient rigidity and durat ...

. According to Jason Winters, a lecturer on human sexuality in the department of psychology at the University of British Columbia "There is no research showing that Internet pornography causes mental disorders — none". Wilson's material prominently undergirds the internet fads "

NoFap NoFap is a website and community forum that serves as a support group for those who wish to give up pornography and masturbation. Its name comes from the slang term '' fap'', referring to male masturbation. While reasons for this abstinence va ...

" and "

No Nut November No Nut November, also known as and abbreviated to NNN, is an annual internet challenge of sexual abstinence and not masturbating during the month of November. It originated in 2011 and grew in popularity among male users of social media during a ...

", with his TED-X talk often linked in relevant fora in spite of the note posted by TED at the top of the recording: “This talk contains several assertions that are not supported by academically respected studies in

medicine Medicine is the science and Praxis (process), practice of caring for patients, managing the Medical diagnosis, diagnosis, prognosis, Preventive medicine, prevention, therapy, treatment, Palliative care, palliation of their injury or disease, ...

and

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

. While some viewers might find advice provided in this talk to be helpful, please do not look to this talk for medical advice.” According to historian Brian M. Watson, Wilson "with no scientific training or background ...has made a career peddling

pseudoscience Pseudoscience consists of statements, beliefs, or practices that claim to be both scientific and factual but are incompatible with the scientific method. Pseudoscience is often characterized by contradictory, exaggerated or unfalsifiable cl ...

." At the opposite end of the spectrum, Paula Hall has praised Wilson's insights about addiction. This gist of his argument is the

Coolidge effect The Coolidge effect is a biological phenomenon seen in animals, whereby males exhibit renewed sexual interest whenever a new female of reproductive availability is introduced, even after sex with prior but still available sexual partners. To a less ...

(desensitization due to seeing many new naked bodies), but scholars have expressed doubts that it applies to humans. Wilson died on May 20, 2021, after years of illness.

Publications

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wilson, Gary Bruce 1956 births 2021 deaths 21st-century American male writers Anti-pornography activists Opposition to masturbation Writers from Ashland, Oregon Southern Oregon University faculty