I started playing guitar at nine years old and still do to this day (I’m 37 at the time of writing this). Moreover, I took up the guitar and started really getting into it in the mid to late ‘90s, right in the middle of the musical culture that led us to the Woodstock ‘99 fiasco.
And while I didn’t go to Woodstock (thank goodness), I loved modern rock and heavy metal. I remember listening to groups like Tool and Korn, and being fascinated and emboldened by those sounds.
My parents’ take on this was on-brand for a ‘90s Christian household: It was said to be wrong and harmful.
And, to an extent, they were right. But we didn’t know why, outside of the cultural rot behind it.
Fast forward to today, and we have a much clearer understanding of the link between dopamine spikes, attention spans, and pornography. While heavy music is not inherently wrong or damaging like pornography, it can produce a significant dopamine spike. This may be an unhelpful distraction that we need to understand and consider balancing with more helpful alternatives, especially for Christians trying to overcome pornography.
Modern Music and Pornography
In one of his YouTube videos on curbing bad habits and avoiding distractions, Iman Ghadzi said this: “Modern music is, well…demonic.”
Now, Ghadzi is a multi-millionaire turned social media icon who is still in his 20s. He’s not a pastor or parent, nor does he have any ties to Christian circles, at least not from the standpoint of his public persona.
So I was honestly shocked to hear him echo the sentiment that my parents espoused decades ago about modern music.
I’m not even sure if I totally agree with Ghadzi.
But the point is this: Even secular culture understands that music can have a hold on you that’s hard to control. Like pornography, it does this by causing a significant (albeit much lower) dopamine spike, which eventually causes your brain to want to revisit that dopamine threshold.
Again, music is not inherently evil or wrong, which I would say pornography definitely is. But I would liken modern, heavy, or phronetic music to something like a sweet dessert.
It tastes good and might be okay in moderation, but it doesn’t really benefit you in any way, and you should not have a steady diet of it. Particularly if you are trying to detox your brain from pornography, this kind of dopamine-charged music may be reinforcing the very patterns you want to break.
But there are plenty of encouraging alternatives that we can enjoy for a different reason, to help engage our mind instead of causing it to form another potentially low-value habit.
Encouraging Alternatives
If heavy, rhythmic, and phronetic music is the junk food of the music world, music that leads by melody and harmony is the lean protein and vegetables.
Melody is the part of music that our brains learn and acquire most intuitively. Sure, some of us are more rhythmically-minded, like myself, but almost everybody remembers and anticipates melody, whether they realize it or not. This engages our mind rather than causes us to become “addicted” in a sense.
For this reason, music that is led by melody and harmony also tends to be more calming. There are exceptions, and certainly, it depends on the person listening.
It’s also not always an issue of genre. Yes, some musical genres lend themselves more to melody like classical, gospel/traditional hymns, blues, and sometimes jazz, depending on the sub-genre. But you can find melodic and harmonic emphasis in any musical style, depending on the song in question.
Listening to more mentally engaging music that doesn’t simply give you a dopamine rush has a ton of benefits and offers a helpful balance for the music that your brain might keep wanting to go back to, simply for a high.
Staying Resolved
To be clear, dopamine isn’t bad.
However, if you’re trying to avoid temptation, of any kind, it’s wise to be very careful about things that can potentially weaken your resolve or even trigger a relapse.
If you’re trying to quit using pornography, it’s important to develop self-control in all areas of time-wasting, distraction, and non-beneficial activities that simply spike dopamine. In other words, you need to rule over your mind. Music, food, smartphones, and video games can all be good things, but you must rule over them as opposed to letting them rule over you.
For those trying to avoid pornography, developing this muscle of controlling, ruling, and engaging your mind in all areas will greatly increase your odds of succeeding.
If the music you listen to is impacting you in this manner, and you just keep going to it to feed a dopamine deficiency, dial things back. Reassess, and make sure you have control over your mind and your habits, regardless of the genre or style of music you prefer.
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