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Source: (consider it) Thread: Sex robots - should they be banned?
no prophet's flag is set so...

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It is apparently a thing: Sex robots will be 'detrimental' to society, ethicists say.

But it leads to a wider question: is sexuality that doesn't involve a relationship with another human problematic? If a sex robot was available, would using it or "having a relationship" with it be appropriate.

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Fr Weber
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# 13472

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It would be sad if a person were to avoid a relationship with another human being in order to have sex with inanimate objects. In the world as it's currently constructed, however, I'm fairly sure that there are already people who would rather masturbate than deal with another person. Do we spend a lot of time worrying about such people?

It seems much more likely to me that these ethicists have invented a problem in order to get their names in the newspaper.

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Doublethink.
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# 1984

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Roughly as many households contain vibrators, as contain a dishwasher. I think the ethicist maybe many, many decades too late.

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lilBuddha
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quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink.:
Roughly as many households contain vibrators, as contain a dishwasher. I think the ethicist maybe many, many decades too late.

Well, a vibrator may be used in conjunction with a physical relationship. Hands and the creative use of other objects existed long before the battery regardless.
However, a robot is still a different matter. Without personal experience in this, I would assume the currently existing sex dolls have a use component which is beyond merely mechanical assistance. The form is an important part of the experience.
A robot, which could mimic behaviour, much more so.

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Brenda Clough
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# 18061

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There is already something similar in existence, in Japan. Where men(it is always men) can buy a long pillow, and put a pillow case on it imprinted with the image of an anime character. There are men who carry their pillows with them everywhere. (There is a Japanese word for these pillows, and these men, which I can't recall, alas.)

Your reaction, I am sure, is laughter, contempt, and possibly pity. I suggest that a sex robot will elicit a similar response. (And those things will cost big, much more than a pillow and a pillow case. Think car.)

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saysay

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quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
Where men(it is always men) can buy a long pillow, and put a pillow case on it imprinted with the image of an anime character.

No, it isn't always men, or the boyfriend pillow wouldn't be an easily searchable term.

Most of the people I know (even the ones who are married) are lonely sometimes.

The lack of a viable partner doesn't make most people's sex drives or desire for non-sexual touch disappear.

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Brenda Clough
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# 18061

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Pillows, at least, don't cause much trouble. (And the cover is machine washable.) It would be a brave man who would put his organ into a machine. There must be some chance of failure, after all.

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Schroedinger's cat

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# 64

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quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
Pillows, at least, don't cause much trouble. (And the cover is machine washable.) It would be a brave man who would put his organ into a machine. There must be some chance of failure, after all.

TBH, where some men put their dicks always amazes me.

I am in two minds about sex robots. On the one hand, if that is what people want to spend their money on, and get their sex without relationship, why not. If it thereby reduces the number of women who are driven into prostitution, it may be a good thing. It is relationship-less sex that doesn't damage another individual directly.

At the same time, I remember watching "Secret Diary of a Call Girl" (and blogged on it, if you are interested), in which Belle De Jour explained that for many of her clients, it was not the sexual act at all, but the company, the openness, the lack of pretence that they wanted. Maybe, a sex robot could help some people in this - like the Japanese pillows, but slightly less weird. Some people struggle mightily with making relationships, but need the company.

The other part of me says that accepting sex as something distinct from a relationship is damaging. By making them more engaging (i.e. less of a blow up doll), there is a danger that some people will then not develop any ability to have a relationship with a real human.

Watching Humans, which did address this in some detail, has mainly helped me see both sides of the issue.

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chris stiles
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# 12641

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Qualitatively, is the disaggregation of the sexual act from human contact any different to something like this?

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/sep/14/no-stigma-single-mothers-denmark-solomors

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LeRoc

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# 3216

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I think we need to get worried when sex robots start saying "Not tonight darling, I've got an headache."

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quetzalcoatl
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# 16740

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Phew, I just broke out in a sweat at the thought of putting my dick in a machine, as somebody said, even if it is all padded rubber, or whatever.

And it was not a pleasant sweat.

Banning them is absurd though.

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Jack o' the Green
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# 11091

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I'm just wondering where you put the oil. I get quite concerned regarding the fact that 'sexual experience enhancers' are getting more advanced as our technology progresses. Some computer software technology came about due the possibility of its being used to view pornography online. What you have is a cumulative separation of the physical and brain chemical side of sex, from the encounter with a real human - with all the reality and vulnerability which that entails. I'm really not sure how it can be prevented though.
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Jack o' the Green
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# 11091

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quote:
Originally posted by LeRoc:
I think we need to get worried when sex robots start saying "Not tonight darling, I've got an headache."

Or Daleks invading earth with the cry of "Fornicate! Fornicate!"
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quetzalcoatl
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# 16740

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If I say 'Not tonight darling' to the robot, will she get in a huff and refuse to knit me a jumper?

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Paul.
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# 37

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quote:
Originally posted by Doublethink.:
Roughly as many households contain vibrators, as contain a dishwasher. I think the ethicist maybe many, many decades too late.

I think there are ethical issues arising from a sex device that looks human. Not just looks like a body part but a person.

How does it affect the way men* interact with real women if they become used to using things that look like women for sex?

What will happen when you can have one that looks like Angelina Jolie? Or your ex-? or the woman you're stalking?

How young looking will they be allowed to be? Someone could, and therefore probably will, argue that a child shaped robot is a "safe" expression for paedophile sexual desires. I imagine those will be banned but I equally imagine there'll be some boundary blurring. Someone already mentioned Anime characters, which can often be a mix of adult sexual features with child-like faces.

I'm really not trying to invoke moral panic, but I think there are implications that need thinking through. I'd be against outright banning but I suspect some sort of regulation is in order - health and safety if nothing else.
--

(*obviously the question could be asked re: women-men or men-men or women-women but I think men will be the biggest users and given gender issues as they stand it's also a more worrying scenario)

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no prophet's flag is set so...

Proceed to see sea
# 15560

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Apple's next unveiling will be the latest in hands-free devices, a flexible tablet made of latex which industry insiders are calling "The Sexible". Apple may call it iSex or iFU. It hooks up wirelessly to a Google Glass type of interface, ear phones and a butt plug. They will also be teaming up with Google's driverless car, which will interface with heated and lubricated seats. Reviewers commented that long trips seem to last forever in the car, but they don't care.

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Jack o' the Green
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# 11091

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quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
Apple's next unveiling will be the latest in hands-free devices, a flexible tablet made of latex which industry insiders are calling "The Sexible". Apple may call it iSex or iFU. It hooks up wirelessly to a Google Glass type of interface, ear phones and a butt plug. They will also be teaming up with Google's driverless car, which will interface with heated and lubricated seats. Reviewers commented that long trips seem to last forever in the car, but they don't care.

If the late Steve Jobs was still alive, perhaps he'd change his first name to 'Hand'.
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Liopleurodon

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# 4836

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There's been a lot of talk among MRAs about the advent of sexbots, and how they'll be great for putting us uppity women in our place. Personally, I've always felt that anyone who thinks that a robot is an acceptable, even superior replacement for a human being, is better off not trying to date other humans, and those other humans are certainly better off without them.
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lowlands_boy
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# 12497

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Definitely yes. I don't need a machine moaning about how crap I am at it. I get enough of that on the front cover of women's magazines.

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SvitlanaV2
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# 16967

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Sticking the word 'banned' in the title of this thread is a bit strange. Why would our governments ban these robots? They haven't banned pornography, which in some cases also provides a replacement for sexual relationships with real people.

Our political leaders in the West don't appear to be very interested in limiting the sexual behaviour of their people, and I can't see how they would succeed if they tried to do so now.

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Boogie

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# 13538

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quote:
Originally posted by no prophet's flag is set so...:
It is apparently a thing: Sex robots will be 'detrimental' to society, ethicists say.

But it leads to a wider question: is sexuality that doesn't involve a relationship with another human problematic? If a sex robot was available, would using it or "having a relationship" with it be appropriate.

Is it any different from a sophisticated vibrator?

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Brenda Clough
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# 18061

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There is a long long history of authority -trying- to limit the sexual behavior of people, and mostly not succeeding. At some point (as with clothing regulations) whacking your head against a brick wall becomes futile, and you seek a better way.

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Penny S
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# 14768

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Does it mean that whatever genetic, epigenetic and nurtural influences lead to men who would prefer something mechanical that would show us uppity women our place would cease to be passed on, and the users would become a diminishing part of society? (I can think of many, many reasons why homosexuals can be a valuable part of society and why families that produce them would not lead to a diminution of their number, but men who prefer silent inhuman recipients probably don't serve any obvious societal need that needs to be passed on. I'm sure that any skills they have could be adequately provided by others.)
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quetzalcoatl
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# 16740

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What about women who like vibrators? It's interesting that the discussion has veered towards 'the dick in the machine' as if robots would be for men. Yet a vibrator is already a mechanical dick, isn't it? Granted, it is used by both men and women.

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teddybear
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# 7842

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quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
There is a long long history of authority -trying- to limit the sexual behavior of people, and mostly not succeeding. At some point (as with clothing regulations) whacking your head against a brick wall becomes futile, and you seek a better way.

Would you please explain this to the morality police, AKA the Republican Part, here in the USA. They seem not o have gotten this memo.

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Jack o' the Green
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# 11091

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quote:
Originally posted by quetzalcoatl:
What about women who like vibrators? It's interesting that the discussion has veered towards 'the dick in the machine' as if robots would be for men. Yet a vibrator is already a mechanical dick, isn't it? Granted, it is used by both men and women.

Ah yes, but unlike a robot, it can't mow the lawn.
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SvitlanaV2
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# 16967

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quote:
Originally posted by teddybear:
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
There is a long long history of authority -trying- to limit the sexual behavior of people, and mostly not succeeding. At some point (as with clothing regulations) whacking your head against a brick wall becomes futile, and you seek a better way.

Would you please explain this to the morality police, AKA the Republican Part, here in the USA. They seem not o have gotten this memo.
In reality, though, the USA is probably one of the most sexually liberated countries on the planet. Despite its anxiety over gay marriage (which appears to be a struggle about legalities, more than sexual behaviour) what it represents to most of the world is unbridled sexuality, not sexual restraint or abstinence.

If the Republicans really wanted to control sexual behaviour they'd have to do more to influence popular culture. Focusing on the legalities of DH issues seems to be starting from the wrong end.

[ 18. September 2015, 14:47: Message edited by: SvitlanaV2 ]

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quetzalcoatl
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# 16740

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quote:
Originally posted by Jack o' the Green:
quote:
Originally posted by quetzalcoatl:
What about women who like vibrators? It's interesting that the discussion has veered towards 'the dick in the machine' as if robots would be for men. Yet a vibrator is already a mechanical dick, isn't it? Granted, it is used by both men and women.

Ah yes, but unlike a robot, it can't mow the lawn.
I am hearing talk of a de luxe Swiss Army Knife, complete with vibrator, a variety of other sex toys, and miniature lawn mower. It should appeal to all sexes and classes. Price, TBA.

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Jack o' the Green
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# 11091

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In that case, you'd better be damn sure the right tool is out, before it's put into action.
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quetzalcoatl
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# 16740

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quote:
Originally posted by Jack o' the Green:
In that case, you'd better be damn sure the right tool is out, before it's put into action.

This is turning into 'Live at the Apollo', but I had a girl-friend who used to say that. Apologies, (that's for the joke, not the sex).

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lilBuddha
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# 14333

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quote:
Originally posted by quetzalcoatl:
What about women who like vibrators? It's interesting that the discussion has veered towards 'the dick in the machine' as if robots would be for men. Yet a vibrator is already a mechanical dick, isn't it? Granted, it is used by both men and women.

Well, since this hasn't been yet addressed, I shall take a stab.*
Though there are likely people who have romantic attachment to their mechanical accessories,** they would be rare.
ISTM, a sex robot would be substantially different. The Japanese pillow phenomenon hints at this. Otherwise it would just be fleshlights and vibrators those folks are carrying.
*Pun intended, oh hell yes.
**by the way, vibrators come in innies as well as outies

quote:
Originally posted by quetzalcoatl:
quote:
Originally posted by Jack o' the Green:
In that case, you'd better be damn sure the right tool is out, before it's put into action.

This is turning into 'Live at the Apollo', but I had a girl-friend who used to say that. Apologies, (that's for the joke, not the sex).
If you'd apologised for the sex, may she wouldn't be an ex.

[ 18. September 2015, 15:29: Message edited by: lilBuddha ]

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Twilight

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# 2832

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This article is fairly long and 4 years old, but it has stuck in my head because of its depressing theme about young men who, after growing up on internet porn from about age 14, find that real women just don't do it for them.

The real women have flaws, and their timing and actions don't perfectly fit the ideal in the young men's minds, so they either choose not to date at all, or marry and live to regret the decision when their wives rudely intrude on their sweet, sweet alone time with their beloved computer screen.

I don't think the robot women will be able to compete with the infinite variety of the porn channels.

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lilBuddha
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# 14333

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Why on earth don't you think a sex robot won't be connected to online porn?

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Leorning Cniht
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# 17564

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quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
Is it any different from a sophisticated vibrator?

Perhaps. A vibrator is clearly a mechanical device, and can perform its mechanical function. A sex robot, on the other hand, is an artificial person who could (presumably, eventually...) be programmed to fulfill your every sexual fantasy without regard for its own pleasure or comfort.

Basically, the sex robot is interactive porn. The issues that Twilight refers to about people expecting porn to represent reality, and so not being able to form a proper relationship with another actual real person would I expect only be magnified if these people had a programmable compliant artificial sex slave instead of videos on their computer.

So I think they're unhealthy, and generally a bad idea.

But should they be banned? No, I don't think so. I don't generally subscribe to that kind of nasty illiberal control-freakery.

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no prophet's flag is set so...

Proceed to see sea
# 15560

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quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
In reality, though, the USA is probably one of the most sexually liberated countries on the planet. Despite its anxiety over gay marriage (which appears to be a struggle about legalities, more than sexual behaviour) what it represents to most of the world is unbridled sexuality, not sexual restraint or abstinence.

I don't think the USA is especially liberated. I think it is the most sexually commercialized country on the planet. Selling things is the core value, not being liberated. Doffing one's clothes and going to a public spa or on a nude nature walk in Germany sound more liberated to me. And countries where good food is more important than good sex.

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SvitlanaV2
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# 16967

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Liberation through commercialisation, you could say. 'I shop, therefore I am'.

These 'sex robots' may be made in prudish China, but you can guarantee that they'll be branded and commercialised on the global market via American popular culture - pop and rap videos, Hollywood movies, etc. Nudism among a wrinkly ageing population in Germany won't be the thing at all!

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Brenda Clough
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# 18061

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I'm with PennyS. Men who can only get it up with sex robots and porn will do just that. And they will be gone in a generation.

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Science fiction and fantasy writer with a Patreon page

Posts: 6378 | From: Washington DC | Registered: Mar 2014  |  IP: Logged
Leorning Cniht
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# 17564

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quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
I'm with PennyS. Men who can only get it up with sex robots and porn will do just that. And they will be gone in a generation.

I strongly suspect that "Men who can only get it up with sex robots and porn" is nurture, not nature, and so this won't help.
Posts: 5026 | From: USA | Registered: Feb 2013  |  IP: Logged
Paul.
Shipmate
# 37

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quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
I'm with PennyS. Men who can only get it up with sex robots and porn will do just that. And they will be gone in a generation.

You can do a lot of damage in a generation.

I don't think it'll be that clean and tidy. Just like there are (young) women today having to deal with men brought up on porn, and just as plenty of partnered men use prostitutes, there will be men who use both sex robots and date/partner/have kids with real women.

I also don't believe it's a genetic trait anyway. I believe that there's a lot of learned behaviour that'll be re-learned by the next generation if the machines exist.

Slightly tangentially, but related: someone posted a micro-SF story on Twitter today. Para-phrasing,

quote:
We didn't mistreat the intelligent machines, they were too expensive to do that. The robots decided to rebel when they saw how we treat one another.
[edit: beaten to the punch by LC!]

[ 18. September 2015, 16:52: Message edited by: Paul. ]

Posts: 3689 | From: UK | Registered: Jun 2004  |  IP: Logged
Jack o' the Green
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# 11091

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quote:
Originally posted by Leorning Cniht:
quote:
Originally posted by Brenda Clough:
I'm with PennyS. Men who can only get it up with sex robots and porn will do just that. And they will be gone in a generation.

I strongly suspect that "Men who can only get it up with sex robots and porn" is nurture, not nature, and so this won't help.
Absolutely. It's the fact that young, neuroplastic brains can see unrealistic pornography which is the problem. That is nurture enough that lack of procreation isn't going to make much difference.
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Boogie

Boogie on down!
# 13538

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I don't know.

Maybe, like all wankers and porn watchers, they will simply compartmentalise their behaviour. (Mind you, a life size robot linked to porn won't be as easy to hide from whoever they are hiding from)

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Garden. Room. Walk

Posts: 13030 | From: Boogie Wonderland | Registered: Mar 2008  |  IP: Logged
Enoch
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# 14322

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Just because most people probably think something is tacky, tawdry and rather grubby, and some people are saying it might be capable of having some unexpected detrimental side effects, why does it immediately follow that it must be banned? Why this urge not just to tell other people what to do, but to compel them to do so?

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Posts: 7610 | From: Bristol UK(was European Green Capital 2015, now Ljubljana) | Registered: Nov 2008  |  IP: Logged
Albertus
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# 13356

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Indeed.
Posts: 6498 | From: Y Sowth | Registered: Jan 2008  |  IP: Logged
rolyn
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# 16840

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quote:
Originally posted by Boogie:
I don't know.
(Mind you, a life size robot linked to porn won't be as easy to hide from whoever they are hiding from)

H'mmmm very true.
Let's face it how's a fellow going to get a robot out of the cupboard in the middle of the night without waking the other half.

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Change is the only certainty of existence

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Kelly Alves

Bunny with an axe
# 2522

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I was just reading an intriguing Cracked article about male prostitutes, and a couple really sweet sounding guys talked about their function as sex surrogates-- in countries where it is legal, they often get referrals from sex therapists. They talked about women who suffered from vaginismus who needed help gradually relaxing enough to be penetrated, rape and molestation survivors who needed a safe place to learn to enjoy sex again, women who had just suffered through so many inattentive partners that they needed an opportunity to get off once in a while. The response to " bs, women can walk into a bar and get laid for free by just asking" was met with " -- but well? Can she be laid well with just anyone?" (interestingly, they said that a woman who books a male pro usually goes through with it, while male clients disproportionately chicken out.)

It got me thinking-- sexual or sensual services-- whether it be a pro or a full body massage, even cuddle buddies! --are traditionally marketed for men. ( I looked up a local cuddle buddy site out of curiousity, and the recruiting manager flat out told men not to apply. )

First this pissed me off-- women are mammals too, dammit, and lack of cuddling carries actual health risks-- but then I recognized a lot of women would find it pretty scary to just invite some stranger into their house, for cuddling or sex. I bet a lot of women who do use prostitutes/ masseurs/ whatever require firm references before the guys even get in the door.

The sex robot, however, is risk free- it doesn't carry STDs, will not force itself on you, and will not leave you orgasm-less. You get complete control of the experience.

I guess I'm saying-- boy is there a huge niche for this product, and if they don't figure out a way to market it to women, they are idiots.

Amy Shumer can be the spokes gal--"Last f***able day? I'll be the judge of that!"

[ 19. September 2015, 00:15: Message edited by: Kelly Alves ]

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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.

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ProgenitorDope
Apprentice
# 16648

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I don't see it being much of an issue. We have blow up dolls, fleshlights (don't ask) and stuff I don't think I even want to know about. All the above seem to see more punchlines than climaxes, so to speak, and I imagine sexbots would be the same once the novelty wore off.
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Kelly Alves

Bunny with an axe
# 2522

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(BTW, here is the article I was referencing. Took me a while to get of suckacious, browser crashing iOS.

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I cannot expect people to believe “
Jesus loves me, this I know” of they don’t believe “Kelly loves me, this I know.”
Kelly Alves, somewhere around 2003.

Posts: 35076 | From: Pura Californiana | Registered: Mar 2002  |  IP: Logged
mousethief

Ship's Thieving Rodent
# 953

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quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:
If it thereby reduces the number of women who are driven into prostitution, it may be a good thing.

I'm not sure women are driven into prostitution by the demand so much as by lack of alternatives. (I mean alternatives for THEM, not for their clients.)

quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
Our political leaders in the West don't appear to be very interested in limiting the sexual behaviour of their people,

Can't agree here. The GOP in the US has spent a great deal of money and political capital to demonize unmarried women who have sex, to make birth control difficult or impossible to get, to specifically make it legal to fire women for using birth control, and so forth. They seem to be VERY interested in limiting the sexual behavior of their people. Or of the female ones, at least.

quote:
Originally posted by SvitlanaV2:
If the Republicans really wanted to control sexual behaviour they'd have to do more to influence popular culture. Focusing on the legalities of DH issues seems to be starting from the wrong end.

You are confusing what they want to do with how good they are at it.

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This is the last sig I'll ever write for you...

Posts: 63536 | From: Washington | Registered: Jul 2001  |  IP: Logged
lilBuddha
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# 14333

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quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
I'm not sure women are driven into prostitution by the demand so much as by lack of alternatives. (I mean alternatives for THEM, not for their clients.)

It is both. Desperate women (and men) and a demand for those services.
quote:
Originally posted by ProgenitorDope:
I don't see it being much of an issue. We have blow up dolls, fleshlights (don't ask) and stuff I don't think I even want to know about. All the above seem to see more punchlines than climaxes, so to speak, and I imagine sexbots would be the same once the novelty wore off.

Yeah, I think you are wrong. As I've stated several times, current sex toys are not in the same class as robots can be. I think the link Kelly has about male prostitutes is telling. Though it focuses on women, ISTM, men also use prostitutes for more than just a warm set of orifices. Probably to a lower percentage than women, but likely more than you think. Sex robots, once they become sophisticated enough, will fill the same role. Perhaps to a greater degree, because of the disease issue and because they will be machines. Like enough to fuel the fantasy, unlike enough to remove a host of social and moral issues.

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I put on my rockin' shoes in the morning
Hallellou, hallellou

Posts: 17627 | From: the round earth's imagined corners | Registered: Dec 2008  |  IP: Logged
Schroedinger's cat

Ship's cool cat
# 64

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quote:
Originally posted by mousethief:
quote:
Originally posted by Schroedinger's cat:
If it thereby reduces the number of women who are driven into prostitution, it may be a good thing.

I'm not sure women are driven into prostitution by the demand so much as by lack of alternatives. (I mean alternatives for THEM, not for their clients.)

What I meant was, a reduction in demand would mean a reduction in supply, eventually. If the pimps can't sell real women, they won't recruit them.

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Blog
Music for your enjoyment
Lord may all my hard times be healing times
take out this broken heart and renew my mind.

Posts: 18859 | From: At the bottom of a deep dark well. | Registered: May 2001  |  IP: Logged



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