About two weeks ago, GQ published an article entitled "10 Reasons Why You Should Quit Watching Porn," which discussed the results of a recent Reddit survey of the members of their NoFap sub-community.

To give some background, the NoFap community represents a safe haven for people seeking support for porn addiction or committing to stop watching porn for at least a week.These Fapstronauts, as they are called, share advice, personal experiences and articles relating to porn and how to escape its treacherous, sexy clutches.  

According to UrbanDictionary.com, the term “Fap” is the "onomatopoeic representation of masturbation” (the sound made when masturbating), which is why NoFap suggests abstinence. The Fapstronauts willingly engage in this period of celibacy in pursuit of the ultimate goal: “the surge,” a peak in energy, vitality, libido, and overall happiness that occurs after one to two weeks. 
I commend anyone who exercises self-discipline and sets their mind to achieving a goal, especially when that goal includes resisting their fundamental biological impulses and avoiding, according to projectknow.com, the 420 million pornographic web pages. That takes a whole new level of dedication. Mind over masturbation at its finest.  

The reason I find fault with the GQ article comes, primarily, from my education as a psychology major and preoccupation with science, rather than sensationalism. I think you'll see what I mean as I refute each point. 
1. For those addicted to porn, arousal actually declined with the same mate, while those who regularly found different mates were able to continual their arousal. It's known as the Coolidge Effect, or novelty-seeking behavior. Porn, after all, trains the viewer to expect constant newness. 
However, the Coolidge Effect has nothing to do with porn addiction. The effect is a widely known phenomenon that applies to everyone and even other animals. Back in 1956, researchers Beach and Jordan were studying how male rats, seemingly exhausted after copulating copiously with a particular female, would suddenly get right back to thrusting when a new female was placed in their cage. And this makes perfect sense for people, as well. Why do couples need to spice things up in the bedroom? The reason, according to Eliane Hatfield, PhD., who's been studying love for over 40 years, is that “romantic, passionate love is fleeting... Passionate love provides a high, like drugs, and you can't stay high forever.” Thus, this “novelty-seeking behavior” is present in healthy, married people, as well as porn addicts. That's why the divorce rates are so high! The urge is ubiquitous because it's actually the inevitable consequence of finding a steady sexual partner. 
2. One in five people who regularly watch porn admitted to feeling controlled by their own sexual desires. Considering that this is apparently an article trying to demonize watching porn, I'd like to point out how apparently only 20 percent of the people actually fit the definition of being addicted to porn. 
Addiction, according to the Merriam-Webster dictionary is “compulsive need for and use of a habit-forming substance.” In this case, the habit-forming substance is porn (or masturbation, more specifically) and apparently only one in five people actually form the habit to the point that they are controlled by it. 
Furthermore, I'll take this opportunity to remind the reader that the people being studied represent a very specific group of individuals. Since this study has a limited scope, it's extremely likely that the actual ratio of people who become addicted to porn, compared to the number of people who watch porn is much lower than 20 percent. I mean, these people are putting in a lot of effort to join a sub-community on Reddit in order to fix a giant problem in their lives, right? How many non-alcoholics do you see attending AA meetings? Better yet, how many alcoholics do you see at AA who haven't experienced a life-altering catastrophe as a result of drinking? 
3. Twelve percent of NoFappers report watching five or more hours of Internet porn every week; 59 percent report watching between four and 15 (!) hours of porn every week. This statistic is actually surprising. You would expect the people who are trying to quit masturbating to stop watching porn altogether. Or at least cut back from two hours a day! What ever happened to leading by example? 
Furthermore, if 12 percent report watching five or more hours of porn and 59 percent report watching between four and 15 hours, then 47 percent of these Fapstronauts must be watching exactly four hours of porn every week. That means they are keeping space logs of their sexplorations. Or, at least, they are timing themselves.  
4. Almost 50 percent of those on NoFap have never had sex in their lives, meaning their only experience with intimacy is purely digital. Again, I can only stress just how unique these people are and how it makes no sense to draw conclusions that apply to the rest of the population based on these findings.  

5. Forty-two percent of male college students report visiting porn sites regularly. This is exactly why you should start and/or continue watching porn. Clearly, all the cool kids are doing it when they aren't throwing parties and having real sex. And, if you want to stay cool, you need to have meaningful contributions to the conversation when Ron Jeremy, Peter North, Alexis Texas, Keisha or even the topic of favorite sex positions comes up. Who cares if you've never actually performed the Mongolian Smurf or didn't actually hook up with that person last night?  
6. Fifty-three percent of the NoFappers developed a regular porn habit between the ages of 12 and 14. An alarming 16 percent said they started watching before they were 12. Why is any of this information “alarming?” There are 420 million websites relating to porn and most parents just give their kids open access to the entire internet through a computer or smart phone. I'd be more surprised if there was a statistic that people hadn't seen any porn before the age of 14. 
According to Anna Arrowsmith, pornography is a great way to learn about the human body in the absence of proper sexual education. Most people learn about the locations of the female clitoris, G-spot and A-spot through porn, especially the lesbian ones. Personally, I would've loved for my sex ed curriculum in middle school to involve all the top 10 videos on YouPorn's website. I can guarantee you that class would have had my undivided attention.  
7. Sixty-four percent report that their tastes in porn have become more extreme or deviant. Here's a fun fact: in 2008, researchers Hald and Malamuth discovered that “respondents construed the viewing of hardcore pornography as beneficial to their sex lives, their attitudes towards sex, their perceptions and attitudes towards members of the opposite sex, toward life in general, and over all.” Additionally, they found that watching more hardcore pornography increased the extent of this effect! 
Similarly, Milton Diamond reported in 2009, after reviewing several previous pornography studies, that as people watched more sex scenes their tendency to commit sex crimes drastically decreased.  So, if people start meandering down Robert Frost's proverbial road less travelled, they might actually be happier as a result. Why? Maybe because by watching these fetishized sexual acts, you learn to come to terms with what you find appealing and attractive. How much easier is it to accept that you find feet incredibly sexual when there are hundreds of videos glorifying them? You no longer need to hide behind a veil of normalcy and a preference for vanilla sex.  
8. Among 27 to 31 year olds on NoFap, 19 percent suffer from premature ejaculation, 25 percent are disinterested in sex with their partner, 31 percent have difficulty reaching orgasm and 34 percent experience erectile dysfunction. According to Men's Fitness, the statistics of the overall population of men who “suffer” from premature ejaculation is 33 percent. That's right. And other sources agree that about one in three men deal with this condition. 
The 25 percent who are disinterested in sex with their partner are probably also, in part, the virgins who are afraid of crossing that line and would rather stick with the comfort of their hand and some lotion. Either that, or they need to find a new partner who is more appealing. 
Of the 31 percent who have difficulty reaching orgasm, I wonder how many are women. They are notoriously hard to get off. On the other hand, the men who have trouble reaching orgasm are probably dealing with some kind of shame or anxiety about the thought of masturbation. I mean, why else would they subscribe to a site all about liberating you from addictive internet bosoms?  
To the 34 percent who experience erectile dysfunction: you are not alone. According to the researchers from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, erectile dysfunction affects 18 millions men over the age of 20 in America, alone.  
9. After committing to no masturbation/porn, 60 percent of those on NoFap felt that their sexual functions had improved. What sexual functions? I thought most of these people were virgins. Of course you will feel 100 times more horny and get hard with ease if you don't masturbate for a week. That's about as revolutionary as saying you're appetite will improve if you starve yourself for a week.  
10. Sixty-seven percent had an increase in energy levels as well as productivity. Duh! They stopped lying in a bed and staring at a screen for two hours every day. I sure hope that they could get more done with all that free time. That almost meets the requirements for a clinically depressed person. 
The best part of this article is that the author ends it by saying, “While the evidence may not be scientifically thorough, there's certainly enough to suggest that porn has a negative impact on our lives.” 
Well, I hope that my response has been scientifically thorough enough to persuade you that porn is actually a positive, beneficial activity that can enrich your life and relationships as long as you don't lie in bed for two hours every day watching it. But, that goes for about anything. 
Seriously, if you lie in bed for two hours a day doing anything, except maybe sleeping, then you need to reevaluate your priorities and spend some time outside.