Thursday, October 17, 2013

I'm in Lust (Love?) with a Sexbot

I figure in the long-run technology will be so advanced that sexbots will be a viable option, like in the movie, Cherry 2000, or like the guy in Serenity, who married one.

If (or perhaps I should say when) lovebots become viable options, just how popular will they be? Not very, I think, but some guys will exercise that option.

For one, the kind of guys who are utterly unpopular, the kind who are treated with contempt and ignored and rejected. These men have been dehumanized, and when a man is dehumanized he can become a monster. There are, however, various degrees of monstrosity. These guys are considered disposable.

It must be bizarre, to say the least, to consider yourself so disposable that you'd rather spend your money on a sexbot than put up with the monster some modern single women have turned into.

I've written before about the root of the word "monster" - it's "monstrum' and "monere"— which does not only mean to warn, but also to instruct, and forms the basis of the modern English "demonstrate." The monster is also a sign or instruction. This benign interpretation was proposed by Saint Augustine, who did not see the monster as inherently evil, but as part of the natural design of the world.

So when you see "monstrous" things, it can be a warning of worse to come. Few listen to that warning, that demonstration of "wrongness."

Here's an example: in Japan there are what are known as "Herbivore Men." Says Wikipedia: "Herbivore men is a social phenomenon in Japan of men who shun marriage or gaining a girlfriend. They are characteristically described as frugal, and interested in personal grooming. Under this categorization scheme, men and women are either herbivore type or carnivore type.

"As of September 2010, 36% of Japanese men between the ages of 16 and 19 perceived themselves in this way. Additionally, two surveys of single men in their 20s and 30s found that 61% and 70%, respectively, considered themselves grass-eating men. This phenomenon is viewed by the Japanese government as a leading cause in the nation's declining birth rate, prompting the government to provide incentives for couples that have children, including payouts and free health care."

I wonder if these guys have been treated as disposable, so they're Going Their Own Way.

There are been warnings over here, and for a long time. When I was in my early teens I read a famous story by Lester del Ray called "Helen O'Loy," written in 1938. Again, from Wikipedia:

"Two young men, a mechanic, Dave, and a medical student, Phil, collaborate on modifying a household robot, originally meant only to cook and clean. They are more successful than they intended; despite the robot's household programming, it develops emotions. The robot, named "Helen O’Loy", falls in love with Dave. Dave initially avoids her and rejects her advances, but after some time he marries her and they live together on his farm.

"Over the years Phil assists her in artificially aging her features to match the changes that occur in her human husband. When Dave inevitably dies, she sends a letter to Phil asking him to dissolve her metallic structure and bury her remains with her husband. She begs him not to let anyone discover their secret. In the final line it is revealed that Phil, who had been narrating the story, had secretly been in love with her the whole time."

It never occurred to me, being 12, that he might have been having sex with Helen. But science fiction, as usual, predicted the future. That includes "The Twilight Zone."

It has got to the point for a fair number of men it is crushing when trying to find a relationship. I noticed it starting when I was in college, when I saw guys who had simply crushed by it all. Some weren't crushed but some of them were utterly alone and sat in their rooms watching TV on Friday and Saturday nights. I didn't see these things in high school.

Some guys are apparently considered completely irrelevant and disposable. Hell, not apparently. Are. If they didn't feel they were, much of the Manosphere would not exist, and the prophetic art I just wrote about would have never existed...even all the way back to 1938.

By the way, if this ever happens, it's going to put a serious crimp in prostitution.

2 comments:

Glen Filthie said...

Hmmmmmm.

Think of it from the Dark Side, Bob.

Consider the average hairy chested feminist: bad haircut, floppy, sagging boobs, an ass two axe handles wide and an attitude that could turn a man of flesh and blood to stone.

A male porn-bot for her would be a godsend. It could be programmed to lust after her as real men lust after beauties and cuties. And if it can do that - no doubt it will be able to do the housework too!

Our gal could stuff her face with M&M's, watch soap operas on TV, covered in Cheetos...and summon her sex slave when she gets horned out by the program!

Our future could be potentially...icky!

let it burn said...

don't date robots futurama clip.