Don't think about SEX (sex on the brain)

Advertisers who absolutely knew what they were doing and did it anyway

(Cheeky Crab) [Oops. Just saying. Mere coincidence. Who knows? Who can say? Prove it. Sometimes things just align without intention.] Welcome back to Cheeky Crab. Enjoyed these observations? Please leave a like and subscribe for more. Thanks. For copyright matters, please contact: namkend@gmail.com

We must have sex on the brain

Binky meditates (Matt Groening/Life in Hell)

It isn't enough that we try to keep a lid on it, control ourselves, exercise restraint, be good, and mind our Ps and Qs, but advertisers and marketing departments have to work against us.

There's such a thing as "subliminal seduction," the use of images too fast to notice consciously that are nevertheless noticed by the subconscious, entering the unconscious mind to bubble up into consciousness without any apparent reason. It's like brainwashing or using stealth suggestion in hypnosis.

The Hacking of the American Mind (Dr. Lustig, MD)

Weak mindfulness will make us conclude that we must be some kind of sick puppies. But it isn't that. They really are doing it, exploiting our natural human curiosity that seeks sensual pleasure (epitomized by sex) here and there, elsewhere and everywhere.

The human plane of existence is within the Sensual Sphere (kama loka). It is hard to rise above. That is to say, it is difficult to not start seeing everything the way Beavis and Butt-Head do. Huh huh huh...

Mara Devaputra (Buddhism's Cupid, Kamadeva, Eros, and Tempter figure) is a tricky spirit out to keep us rapt in this dense sphere of hidden danger. It's like wandering onto a honey trap. Very sticky, hard to extricate ourselves before we realized our predicament.

It does NOT get worse with meditation. It only seems to. This is because it becomes more apparent to us when we sit calmly and pay attention to the movements of mind/heart. We are otherwise usually too distracted and inattentive.

Nu-metal Limp Bizkit did it all for the uncensored "Nookie"

I did it all for the [dopie]!

Dopamine Nation (Dr. Lembke, MD)

Mindfulness employed correctly -- with radical acceptance, unwavering attention, and seeing all things as impersonal -- is excellent medicine. But it is easy to think we're doing it correctly only to be doing harm:

As soon as we resist, drift off, or start taking things personally, we're in for a world of hurt. Going about with mindfulness and clear comprehension (sati-sampajjana) is a better way to be. It tends toward calm and enlightenment so we can begin to see things as they really are, without bias or preconception. But it takes practice, coming back again and again.

Matt Groening went on to create The Simpsons

And who's got time for that? We want to live and enjoy everything all the time on a dopamine binge! Dopamine's a neurotransmitter. But, oh, the hangover, when we come down, we might, just might, seek a way out.

Then it's good to read some Dharma, good to grab Dr. Robert Lustig or Dr. Anna Lembke's book to see that these things really are happening on purpose. Corporations hired psychologists to develop products (iPhones, junk foods, etc.)

It's no accident that there are ringing bells and bright moving colors or that most foods are now spiked with high fructose corn syrup. Chemicals and sugars are added to everything nowadays to make them as addictive as ultra-processed products.

• Revenge of the Pink Panther clip (1978); Cheeky Crab, 2022; Limp Bizkit; REACT; Dhr. Seven, Ananda (Dharma Buddhist Meditation), Ashley Wells, Sayalay A (eds.), Wisdom Quarterly COMMENTARY