Plastic Youth

Of all the arenas of human development, the sexual is the most foundational as it relates directly to the family and progeny. This area of development must be carefully researched and considered. It is imperative to approach this aspect with care, due to its potential for destruction or creation. The current mainstream Christian approach to sexual development is one of damage control. With the introduction of delayed marriage in modern Westernism, programs of abstinence have become the norm. The current approach of avoiding negative sexual imprinting should be replaced with an approach of creating positive sexual imprinting, thus a powerful marriage bond.

Early youth is a “critical period” as described in psychology as a time of heightened sensitivity to environmental stimuli. An organism develops in particular ways during this time as the brain goes through a massive reorganisation. If the initial coitus occurs within the critical period, the resulting sexual bond becomes foundational for all other sexual experiences. If coitus does not occur, any other sexual experiences become the dominant input into the plastic brain. As sexual habits form, this hardwired neurology is carried throughout the lifetime.

Due to the plasticity of the critical period, this window of time becomes ideal for the consummation of a sexual bond, only if the bond is intended to be a lifelong one. The dominant sexual activity, as well as the mate, is cemented into the hypothalami as the mating pair exits the life stage of early youth. This generation of mating pair has the greatest chances for survival from the perspective of successful child-rearing and the subsequent raising of grandchildren. The strength of their sexual bond has a direct bearing on that of their offspring.

From a neurological perspective, the perfect mate is the one who is hardwired into the hypothalamus during early youth. The behavioral and physical characteristics of this mate is so engrained, completely encompassing the sexual identity of the other. The result is a neurologically complimentary pair, almost two halves of the same brain.

Because sexuality is at the deepest level of our humanity, the marriage bond is the strongest type of human bond possible. Far more than a living arrangement, a marriage bond is biologically based. Considering this, the strongest type of marriage bond is the one that begins in early youth, when neurological growth is most active.