Why the “Mind” is a “Mine Field” – A Neuroscientific (and Not Religious) Treatise

Addiction, Neuroplasticity, and the Spiritual Strategy You Never Saw Coming

I have come to understand, and often teach others, that much of the validity of the existence of God can be understood through neuroscience. While the pastor can provide theological grounding to God’s text, neuroscience often reveals the love that this God has for humanity.

I don’t say this evangelistically, but strategically. To understand the brain, is to understand the fragile makeup of the human system, and the statements that God has made to circumnavigate its inherent failings or to celebrate its best function.

In fact, without adding God into the mix of many things neuroscientific, you leave both God and Science devoid of its greatest amount of context, and therefore little ability to be strategic. And who suffers? It’s not the church-going community, or the pastor’s potentially shrinking congregation, but humanity itself, as you will soon discover.

This post isn’t meant to be a religious conversation, but to understand what I am about to say, I must delve in there a little bit. Don’t worry, I’ll do it right here up front and then stay mostly scientific for the rest of this article.

While the impact of this insight will pertain to all readers, it has far more deliberate impact of those of faith… but it isn’t a faith talk either.

Confused?

Certainly. Therefore, let’s start with two scriptural verses and then add a Jack Johnson lyric to the mix. It is in Jack’s lyric, yeah, that laid-back singing surfer dude, that all of this unlocks.

Here we go:

“Submit to God, resist the devil and he will flee from you.” New Testament Axiom

“As a dog returns to its vomit, so is a fool in their folly.” Insight in Proverbs

“It will defeat you, then teach you to get back up, after it takes away all that you’ve learned to love.” Jack Johnson, HOPE.

Okay, let’s lightly unpack the first verse “submit to God…”.

This is more than just a theological request; it’s a neuroscientific insight.

We know that when we engage in any activity, we build up a synaptic path that corresponds to that activity. This can be the smelling of a flower, a workout routine, or the time reading a book.

The body initially WANTS to move back to that activity, because the synaptic path is fresh, making it easier to engage again and again. This is the brilliance of neuroplasticity and the foundation of habit creation.

But certain activities can add more strength to a synaptic path, some through beneficial and some through harmful ways. The good would be someone praising you for “looking hot” right before you leave the gym. This can create neurochemical release, and the brain “rewards” the activity, and makes the path stronger.

This can also happen, if you say look at porn for example. The time build up in the scanning of images creates the expectation, which often builds with every new search. It is the thrill of the search for that “perfect” image or video, that can continually build neurochemicals. Should the person self-pleasure themselves at that final perfect image, the path strengthens further, as that built-up neurochemical mix releases.

BUT… if you engage in an activity like porn viewing and self-pleasure, and then decide through will power, prayer, change of heart, whatever, you can eventually starve off that pathway, but it often takes another stimulus stronger than the inciting incident to divert the brain from its currently desired course of action.

This is the grounding of the “submit to God” verse – at least from a neuroscientific perspective. It is also why addiction treatment centers encourage patients to engage in new hobbies, work at a homeless shelter, volunteer at an NGO, etc.

So far, this may be somewhat new to you, but it’s well-known to most neuroscientists, behaviorists, and addiction counselors.

Now, let’s add Jack Johnson to the mix.

“It will defeat you then teach you to get back up, after it takes away all that you’ve learn to love.” Jack Johnson, HOPE

WHO IS THIS “JACK JOHNSON?”

The song, “Hope,” is an amazing song it itself. It starts by the singer talking to a religious skeptic in a direct conversation: “Do you think that you’re not alone?” Instead of arguing for the existence of God, he takes the opposite approach and discusses “the shadow.”

“Your shadow walks faster than you, do you really think that you’re immune to it?”

This is basically the negative spiritual forces against you. What Steven Pressfield, in The War of Art, would call “Resistance.” What the Bible calls references with the devil.

Even Pressfield would say that this force, this “Resistance,” is designed to thwart your purposes. That you could do great things in the world, but those forces would block you from accomplishing them.

That’s also obvious to most religious laypeople and scholars. But Jack says something that few Neuroscientists discuss, at least not in mainstream social contexts:

“It will defeat you… THEN TEACH YOU TO GET BACK UP.”

I’ve listened to this song for years, and I understood this meaning clearly after a few months of listening/studying these lyrics. But it wasn’t till the robustness of ChatGPT, and its ability to search endless studies, journals, and data that I could finally ground what I am about to share.

Why would it teach you to “get back up?”

Why would Resistance, or whatever you want to call it, WANT you to attempt to gain victory over something that it will soon help to fail at once more.

It’s more than shame. Though shame is powerful. Shame can lead to remorse, or it can lead to apathy and self-defeat.

Until about 50 years ago, that is about where we could ever go with this insight.

A HISTORY OF NEUROSCIENCE

In 1976, the first fMRI machine was unveiled, and although limiting at first, this new tech allowed us to peer into the brain in REAL TIME with a functioning human brain and observe what’s been going on in there. Since then, we’ve developed greater technological advancements in the field of neuroscientific study, and with AI added to the mix we have discovered even more.

Jack’s lyric was written nearly twenty years ago, so he was probably thinking on the shame front as well. But I wouldn’t refute that Jack wasn’t on the forefront of neuroscience either. Jack is far more profound that nearly anyone gives him credit for… but that’s another story (and you can read it here!)

Again, why “teach you to get back up?”

Why would negative forces, designed to thwart your purposes and opportunities, want you to start to improve first?

THE NUANCES OF ADDICTION

While addiction is a thing… it doesn’t function linearly or repeatedly in the same manner. Like anything else, it has nuance.

Let’s take vaping for example. Vaping is a hyper addictive activity. If we people-watch, we can see a person in public take a hit, and then ten seconds later take a another one. It’s a quick hit-and-reward addiction.

From a neuroscientific perspective, continuous exposure to substances like nicotine can lead to receptor desensitization. Chronic nicotine use has been shown to desensitize nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, reducing their responsiveness over time.

This desensitization may dampen the reinforcing effects of the substance, potentially requiring increased consumption to achieve the same effect, but not necessarily leading to stronger synaptic potentiation.

In layman’s terms, it creates a pattern in the brain, that builds and then reduces the impact of the “high” associated with that pattern so that it takes more hit for less effect.

But it is often immediate reinforcement. It’s predictable, it becomes commonplace. You “naturally” become an addict. Is it easy to get out of this? Certainly not. But it’s not the same effect as Porn consumption, where the “reward” is the dopamine release through self-pleasure.

The power of this is DIRECTLY RELATED to the extended timeframe between activity.

INTERMITTENT REINFORCEMENT AND SYNAPTIC POTENTIATION

Intermittent exposure to addictive stimuli can produce more robust synaptic changes compared to continuous exposure. For instance, studies on cocaine use in animal models have shown that intermittent, binge-like administration sensitizes dopamine signaling in the nucleus accumbens more than continuous use. This heightened sensitization is associated with stronger craving and relapse behaviors.

This phenomenon aligns with the principles of Hebbian learning, where "neurons that fire together wire together." The unpredictability and variability of intermittent rewards can enhance synaptic strength, making the associated behaviors more deeply ingrained.

The phenomenon of Self Pleasure is fascinating, because it is both a flood of release and a satiation of the desire. From that moment, the body is “satisfied” – for an undetermined period of time. The porn user can go days, weeks, and even months before engaging again… at least at first.

In that timeframe, the synaptic path MAY start to lose its power. But, if you engage again, through physiological (or beyond) “encouragement” you build that path EVEN STRONGER than the repeated hit of vaping. This form of addiction doesn’t just take over the body through the brain, it changes the brain itself.

Research indicates that such behaviors can lead to structural changes in brain regions associated with reward processing, such as the nucleus accumbens.

You are not just engaging in addictive behavior. You are creating a new “thing” in your brain. And… just maybe… could that new thing give tangible access to Resistance? In other words, is this a supernatural tactic that goes WAY BEYOND shame and self-defeat?

But it’s a far worse “doom loop:”

The unpredictability inherent in intermittent reinforcement schedules makes the associated behaviors more resistant to extinction. This means that once established, these behaviors are more challenging to modify or eliminate - intermittent patterns may lead to more entrenched and persistent addictive behaviors.

Again, it’s not just the activity, but the unpredictability of engagement timelines, that creates the weight and impact of the addiction.

It’s not a phenomenon.

It’s a strategy.

“It will defeat you then teach you to get back up, after it takes away all that you’ve learned to love.”

When I started this article, I went to the religious. And for many that was the immediate turnoff and tune out. I get that. I understand that. But through the insights of neuroscience combined with what many would consider dogmatic jargon (that deserves little scrutiny or cultural acceptance), I just revealed a danger that transcends both realms and puts you in crosshairs that you probably never saw coming.

As Einstein stated, “Religion without science is blind; science without religion is lame.” That “lameness” is far more chronic that we could ever imagine. Both institutions need to come together for solutions, not shallow apologetics.

In a world driven by shortcuts to dopamine, maybe what we need isn’t just self-control — but self-awareness. Once we understand that our failures aren’t just weakness but neurobiological vulnerabilities waiting to be hijacked, we can stop moralizing_

and start healing.

The strategy against us is real. But so is the science — and the spiritual wisdom — to reclaim the design we were meant to live from.

For your own study:

1. Everitt, B.J., & Robbins, T.W. (2005).
   Neural systems of reinforcement for drug addiction: from actions to habits to compulsion.
   Nature Neuroscience, 8(11), 1481–1489.
   ➤ Establishes how repeated reinforcement (especially intermittent) transitions behavior from voluntary to compulsive, mediated by synaptic potentiation.
   https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1579

2. Kalivas, P.W., & O'Brien, C. (2008).
   Drug addiction as a pathology of staged neuroplasticity.
   Neuropsychopharmacology, 33(1), 166–180.
   ➤ Describes the pathophysiology of addiction as rooted in altered synaptic plasticity and potentiation pathways.
   https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.npp.1301564

3. Wise, R.A., & Koob, G.F. (2014).
   The development and maintenance of drug addiction.
   Neuropsychopharmacology, 39(2), 254–262.
   ➤ Clarifies how intermittent drug exposure results in stronger long-term reinforcement pathways than continuous exposure.
   https://doi.org/10.1038/npp.2013.261

4. Robinson, T.E. & Berridge, K.C. (2003).
   Addiction.
   Annual Review of Psychology, 54(1), 25–53.
   ➤ Introduces “incentive sensitization theory” which shows how unpredictable reward heightens future motivation and relapse risk.
   https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.psych.54.101601.145056

5. Nestler, E.J. (2005).
   Is there a common molecular pathway for addiction?
   Nature Neuroscience, 8(11), 1445–1449.
   ➤ Explores how addictive behaviors rewire brain circuits through repeated stimuli, including compulsive behavioral loops.
   https://doi.org/10.1038/nn1578