Let me first say that humans are attracted to arousal, and not just the sexual kind. The human brain is like a gym rat that loves to workout and is only happy when its working or being stimulated by self-produced chemicals or externally introduced drugs. To deny the brain stimulation and work will lead to insanity or death. [Source] Not all arousal is sexual, simple mental stimulation counts. However where an individual brain draws stimulation from can go far to shape a personality. There is a saying, "you are a product of your environment" - that touches vaguely upon that, I wish to go a bit deeper (perhaps in another post, for this one there's 3 related things that mainly need to be covered).

"The end result of male socialization is a set of defaults that are programmed by society, culture, media, family, and religion. The typical male attributes are supposed to be: strength and self-reliance, success, no sissy stuff or don't be like women, sexual interest and prowess, active, independent, tough, aggressive, dominant, stoic, and never cries (Bem, 1974; Broverman et al., 1970; Herek, 1986; Zilbergeld, 1992). These defaults define a fanciful standard of masculinity." [Source] Aside from male bonding, nearly every other source of stimulus in a modern boy/man's life is going to cause an undesirable effect. Television has been feminized, the internet has been feminized, schools have been feminized, and even online forums such as reddit are rampantly dilluted. There are few places of masculine bonding, but men/boys need it more than ever. The existence of TRP is virtualized monument of that need. Social interaction with men is a positive experience and research by Phillip Zimbardo shows that men actually prefer the social company of men. This socialization causes a cortical arousal that has a direct effect on the [reticulating activating system] and leads to higher production of vasopression. This can be a determining factor on whether someone pursues the activities of an introvert or extrovert. [Source] There isn't yet a lot of research on this topic, but it's worth considering that 18 US presidents were fraternity members, and there is also this long list of unsourced statistics regarding fraternities reminding us that all of today's male leaders came from groups of men who socialize together. So where does arousal addiction and isolation play into this? It prevents it, and more.

It has been proven that humans will seek out the highest state of arousal that involves the lowest amount of work. [Source] This leaves both men and women in a state of addiction to whatever fleeting arousal they can achieve. For women it's often free male validation where I could use r\gonewild as a case study. Which activities do we see an epidemic of addiction towards among young men? Porn, video games, drugs, or a combination, all of which cause the brain to produce an easy and otherwise risk-free source of happy-chemicals. [Source]

Why is porn so addicting? Because visual erotica in particular arouses more than just genitals, it also induces a brain arousal (activation) level that is unseen with other forms of stimulation. [Source] This is particular to males. When a man sees a naked woman, parts of his brain activate that were otherwise not active. Hormones begin pumping through his body. His brain is on hyper-drive, and it likes it. But what good is that in isolation? And there is a lot of isolation going on, more than ever before. The average boy spends a minimum of 3650 hours playing video games by the time he is 19 years old. [Source] With the median being closer to 10,000 hours.. This isn't to say videogaming is a bad thing. Quite the opposite. Gamers have been found to be 25% faster to make decisions, and have improved eye-coordination. [Source]. Some would even say that "An Hour A Day (Gaming) Is Key To Success In Life" However the problem with the average gamer, is all of this is done in isolation. Skype and Teamspeak are no substitutions for physical socialization. Remote communication does not trigger the brain to produce the same chemicals. [Source] Gaming and porn (in moderation) aren't the problem, isolation created by overuse of these habits is the problem.

Does this scenario sound surprisingly familiar to the social anxiety experienced by many men (and women)? "In a later study on the effect of total isolation from birth, the researchers found that the test monkeys, upon being released into a group of ordinary monkeys, “usually go into a state of emotional shock, characterized by . . . autistic self-clutching and rocking.” Harlow noted, “One of six monkeys isolated for three months refused to eat after release and died five days later.” After several weeks in the company of other monkeys, most of them adjusted—but not those who had been isolated for longer periods. “Twelve months of isolation almost obliterated the animals socially,” Harlow wrote. They became permanently withdrawn, and they lived as outcasts—regularly set upon, as if inviting abuse." [Source]

This is a bigger issue for men because women can afford to have zero social skills on the sexual market. Women are pursued and can passively attract a mate. [Source] Women are more than capable of sharing a male from the top 20%. Women are not expected to lead in any substantial capacity. For men on the other hand social mastery is a necessary part of life and is essential for successful reproduction, unless literal rape were a viable sexual strategy. And men don't like to share their women with other men.

In conclusion, one could argue that because video games, the internet, and porn provide an easy source of stimulation that induces dopamine in the brain, people are less likely to go out and take other risks that would grant it. That can be good when it comes to avoiding things like heroin, but bad when it comes to innovating, learning, leading, and adventure-seeking. None of this is necessarily causation in one direction or the other, however the correlation is undeniable.

TL;DR - Male bonding is extremely important, especially for young boys/men. It produces essential skills/habits men need that will push them to the top 20%. Using a computer to communicate is still isolation, you need physical people; embracing, touching, even hitting one another. Arousal addiction doesn't help with the isolation problem. Physical isolation will kill your social skills, lead to depression, and many other negative effects even if you are receiving stimulation via the internet or other remote means.