[Yaelle]

The article says nothing about the self pleasuring toys that exist and the virtual reality experiences that are on the way. I am actually very interested in what will happen to society when men discover the ultimate bodily pleasure from these new pleasurers, combined with the realistic sense from the virtual reality, with the gorgeous woman of their choice.

Will men never want real women again? Will women be more considerate of men because of it? Will it be good for society if men are spending a lot of their time in “ecstasy,?” Will they be more or less focused on saving the world and making homes for their families? Will removing the “need” to find sex partners make men appreciate the reality of companionship more? Or say “Aw, fuhgeddaboudit”?

These are really serious societal questions. We may not like it, but women have shaped human development because men wanted us. I believe it was good for civilization. I wonder how this will affect it, and this is coming now. Whoops, didn’t mean to end on a pun.

[A Navy Vet]

You make a couple good points. However, even though many young women now want the freedom to emulate the natural immaturity and idiocy of young men, I don't see a time in my future that female sensuality/sexuality will not resonate with normal men. We are a hunka, hunka burning Hound Dogs. Ha!

Power to the Heterosexuals!
Power to the Feminine Mystique!
Power to the Masculinity!

[rlmorel]

"...We may not like it, but women have shaped human development because men wanted us. I believe it was good for civilization..."

I have always regarded this as an under-appreciated observation.

Women have a civilizing effect on humanity. Doesn't mean they are better or worse, but that is an effect they have because they take the edge off of men. There has been many a wild man who was tamed by his love of a woman, and the ongoing effort by women to work with their men on behalf of improving the lives of their families that over the centuries that has been a tide that lifts all boats.

Call me old fashioned, but I believe that in my heart.

And it is one of the reasons that putting women into combat is abhorrent to me, apart from the obvious issues. I view it no differently than a farmer eating his seed corn.

[21twelve]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a9BJ7I33dqs

A pastor talks about “Incredible sex”. He talks about focusing on the woman. And also talks about how destructive porn is, as well as pre-marital sex. He said most men don't have orgasm's anymore. Oh sure - they ejaculate - but not the orgasm with all of the associated release of endorphins, etc.

And, with porn you are training your body (like an athlete does) to a certain stimuli. But then when you are with an actual woman - you can't perform! (There is some medical term for it even!)

Pretty eye-opening. He doesn't do much preaching - it is more of a pyschological discussion. He spends time on helping the woman understand the needs of the man as well.

[Scirparius]

Will men never want real women again? Will women be more considerate of men because of it? Will it be good for society if men are spending a lot of their time in “ecstasy,?” Will they be more or less focused on saving the world and making homes for their families? Will removing the “need” to find sex partners make men appreciate the reality of companionship more? Or say “Aw, fuhgeddaboudit”?

These are really serious societal questions. We may not like it, but women have shaped human development because men wanted us. I believe it was good for civilization. I wonder how this will affect it, and this is coming now. Whoops, didn’t mean to end on a pun.

I think this is really a more significant issue than most people realize. It goes far beyond sex, although the sex would be a significant factor.

Already, we have the capability to monitor someone's brain activity and detect activity in certain identified areas, such as the "pleasure center" etc. Combine that with the increasing advanced interactive software programming that we are continuing to develop. The chatbots are mentioned in the article, but voice-activated technology is also increasingly more developed.

Take those and place them inside a relatively realistic, anatomically functional android. The android would be able use relatively simple behavioral programs to "key" to a specific person, and determine whether those behavior patterns "please" that person or not. Then it could adapt accordingly. Over time, it would be able to build on these interactions and become more "pleasing".

And, again, I don't just mean sex. The chatbots that are so popular in the East are proof of that. The multiple examples of people have "internet" relationships with people who don't really exist is another example. Even the way people anthropomorphize their pets is an corollary. Perhaps initially the sex aspect would be the most important feature, but as the interactive programming developed, it would be the social and interpersonal aspects that would become more and more prominent.

Humans have an amazing ability to fool themselves, to adapt to scarcity and get their needs met in unexpected ways. Just as an example: children who act out and misbehave. We know they are crying out for attention, and to someone starved for attention, even bad attention is better than no attention.

In the same light, robot attention will be better than no attention. Even more so, in our increasingly narcissistic world, "customizable" robot interaction will be better than "unsatisfactory" human interaction.