Sep 28, 2026 · 35 min · 12 segments
In this episode, Sathiya dismantles the common but harmful practice of porn recovery streak counting. He explains why focusing on day-by-day streaks creates a counterproductive positive feedback loop…
And I say this as somebody who street counted for years trying to quit pornography.
So this is not me sitting in my high tower, throwing stones at all the peasants who don't have all the knowledge that I have.
And that's why I'm so frustrated by these mistakes, because well-meaning people like probably every single one of you listening to this podcast have done street counting thinking it was a really good method and a good strategy.
And one of the things that we learned early on, probably my first year of university, was this thing called positive feedback loops.
But back then, this was like elite information that you only got if you were an academic.
So the whole concept of a positive feedback loop is by doing something, it encourages you to do another thing more, and then the loop repeats itself.
If every time you and I have some kind of disagreement, you give me a cookie, that cookie is a reward.
And then it makes me want to get into disagreements more with you because I'm probably going to get a cookie at the end of the day.
And I say this as somebody who street counted for years trying to quit pornography.
So this is not me sitting in my high tower, throwing stones at all the peasants who don't have all the knowledge that I have.
And that's why I'm so frustrated by these mistakes, because well-meaning people like probably every single one of you listening to this podcast have done street counting thinking it was a really good method and a good strategy.
And one of the things that we learned early on, probably my first year of university, was this thing called positive feedback loops.
But back then, this was like elite information that you only got if you were an academic.
So the whole concept of a positive feedback loop is by doing something, it encourages you to do another thing more, and then the loop repeats itself.
If every time you and I have some kind of disagreement, you give me a cookie, that cookie is a reward.
And then it makes me want to get into disagreements more with you because I'm probably going to get a cookie at the end of the day.
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