>>513849493 (OP)
There is no "synthetically generated dopamine". Dopamine does what it does regardless what triggers its release or production. Porn doesn't "flood the brain with dopamine", porn activates virtually all neuronal and hormonal circuits involved in copulation, androgens/estrogens for males/females respectively, serotonin, oxytocin, adrenaline, acetylcholine, dopamine, endocannabinoid, endorphins, etc. etc. etc.
What "feels good" is not dopamine, it's endorphins. Dopamine makes you want something, and when you get it, your body releases endorphins which feel good. If you want to imagine why heroin feels so good, it's because it basically stimulates the endorphin system without the prerequisite effort you need to exert to activate it. Imagine all the effort you would need to do as an actor to learn your craft, go to theatre school, build a career, immerse yourself in stories/characters/scripts, evoke emotions and ideas, until eventually you win an Oscar. Feels really good, because it took years of work and hardship to accomplish the very pinnacle, and when you get it, you get an appropriate amount of endorphin release. Now imagine just being able to inject that feeling with a needle. That's heroin. That's also what porn does to a certain degree.
Dopamine receptors don't get damaged, they can't get damaged. They can desensitize when they get stimulated too much. There are plenty of ways of increasing dopamine receptor density and sensitivity.
Porn doesn't disconnect the viewer from reality, porn IS the reality. Human beings are an extremely sexual species and this society does not do a very good job of taking that into account. The power of human sexuality is infinitely stronger than any law, religion or social norm can ever hope to regulate. It's like a pressure cooker without a vent, either you let the hot air out, or it's simply going to burst. Porn addiction is a symptom of a society issue, not a societal issue in and of itself.
t. neuroscientist