Observational studies from an article in New York Magazine entitled “He’s Just Not That Into Anyone,” author Davy Rothbart cites plenty of anecdotal evidence to back up his contention that men are literally “losing it” to their online escapades. He cites numerous interviews with men who can no longer get stimulated by real women. The thing is, it isn’t only in the area of sex that technology has moved into the territory of human intimacy, there already are pet robots in circulation as comfort toys in nursing homes and scientists currently are working on creating mechanical nurses.
Observational studies from an article in New York Magazine entitled “He’s Just Not That Into Anyone,” author Davy Rothbart cites plenty of anecdotal evidence to back up his contention that men are literally “losing it” to their online escapades. He cites numerous interviews with men who can no longer get stimulated by real women. The thing is, it isn’t only in the area of sex that technology has moved into the territory of human intimacy, there already are pet robots in circulation as comfort toys in nursing homes and scientists currently are working on creating mechanical nurses.
Hi Jon — Synchronistically,
Hi Jon — Synchronistically, someone shared these two links with me today. One is to an article that describes a woman who thought she was married to the Berlin Wall: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2035996/Woman-married-to-Berlin-Wall-for-29-years.html — and the other is to an entry on Wikipedia that discusses Object Sexuality, the very thing you are talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_sexuality . I agree with you that face-to-face relationships are preferable, but several people I know and I also feel that it’s not quite as easy as saying “go hug a friend.” Our families, and our so-called “friends”, are often controlling, abusive, and/or disrespectful of boundaries. Bullying and domestic violence are also on the rise, and it’s not healthy to maintain a “relationship” with a bully or a perpetrator. A power struggle is far different from a healthy conflict. And exchanging English is far different from communicating. So it’s a bit of a circular argument. We can’t *really* have a healthy, mutual relationship with a robot, any more than we can with a controller or abuser whose goal is to dominate or establish superiority over us. And when these are the two options, yes, sadly, many people will choose the robot — not because they’re lazy, but because they don’t trust the other person and don’t want to be abused.
Hi Jon — Synchronistically,
Hi Jon — Synchronistically, someone shared these two links with me today. One is to an article that describes a woman who thought she was married to the Berlin Wall: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/2035996/Woman-married-to-Berlin-Wall-for-29-years.html — and the other is to an entry on Wikipedia that discusses Object Sexuality, the very thing you are talking about: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Object_sexuality . I agree with you that face-to-face relationships are preferable, but several people I know and I also feel that it’s not quite as easy as saying “go hug a friend.” Our families, and our so-called “friends”, are often controlling, abusive, and/or disrespectful of boundaries. Bullying and domestic violence are also on the rise, and it’s not healthy to maintain a “relationship” with a bully or a perpetrator. A power struggle is far different from a healthy conflict. And exchanging English is far different from communicating. So it’s a bit of a circular argument. We can’t *really* have a healthy, mutual relationship with a robot, any more than we can with a controller or abuser whose goal is to dominate or establish superiority over us. And when these are the two options, yes, sadly, many people will choose the robot — not because they’re lazy, but because they don’t trust the other person and don’t want to be abused.