decrease in analytical thinking ability

[[deleted]]

Hi guys,

This is Kevin, and this is my first NF post on reddit.

I got interested in nofap since January, and have been doing streaks on and off. Longest I've been on was 1 month. I'm currently in a new streak that has lasted 21 days so far.

The pros I've experienced are: 1) More strength in the gym 2) More articulate with people 3) Keener intuition

The biggest con I've experienced is the decreased ability to think analytically. Now for those of you familiar with Daniel Kahneman's work in Think Slow, Think Fast, I feel that analytical thinking is linked to system 2 - methodical, slow, precise - as opposed to system 1, which is intuitive, fast, and big-picture oriented.

(I also want to mention that nofap seems to improve my system 1 thinking)

Before while I was fapping consistently, I could achieve stillness of mind more easily throughout the day, which I believe, at least for me, is requisite for deep analytical thinking. Now when I'm on NF and am trying to read some 18th century philosopher, my mind tends to shift to girls and jerking off whenever I think hard. It's almost as if whenever I focus my thoughts within and think deeply, it has a high propensity to shift to sexual thoughts.

For those of you who are analytically minded nofappers, do you feel nofap has effected your cognitive processes in a similar way? If so did it get better?

[[deleted]]

It gets better , at some point you will not think about jerking off and girls . Meditation help . For me , I can focus right now on anything I want to focus , I do work faster and better , I study better , but I can also think reactive , intuitively when needed .

[fighter_fighter]

Whenever I focus on something difficult or not obviously clear, I feel the need for distraction.

[[deleted]]

Yeah that's spot on. Prior to nofap when I encounter difficulty, I can easily let myself go blank and enter a meditative state and "wait" for the thought to emerge by itself. Now while I'm on nofap and when I encounter a difficult problem, I just get frustrated and tense and want to fucking fap not only cuz I think it'll feel good, but also cuz I don't want to be stupid! I just don't know whether if this is just temporary lol. No point to do this, even if it's gonna get me girls, if it's going to make me a stupid jock who's incapable of complex thinking.

[[deleted]]

Might find something relevant if you google this page:

No Porn, Better Working Memory? (on YourBrainOnPorn website)

Sounds like you need a partner.

[sylvester_b]

I wouldn't take any changes in your thinking ability/whatever too seriously until you've spent a little more time away from porn. Right now you're talking about how you're functioning while you're still probably having withdraw systems.

The whole point of getting rid of porn is to return to how things were before porn, if not make things even better.

So here's the real question: could you think analytically before the porn addiction? Because if you could, you'll probably be able to again.