Interesting article I caught from the Sydney Morning Herald. The author claims that fears of a virtual online world taking over from the real are overblown, and evidence from the latest web 2.0 sites such as Twitter suggests that people are becoming less anonymous and impersonal than in the earlier days of the web.
The author seems to think this is a very good thing – particularly in the context of advances in virtual sex, which clearly he, as well as many others, feel could sacrifice and depersonalize the ultimate act of intimacy.
What all this adds up to is a heartening re-affirmation that what makes us human will always take primacy over the world of machines.We cannot escape the consequences and benefits of our humanity simply by “going virtual” and neither should we be able to. Teleconferencing, cybersex and Facebook “friends” will only ever be a simulacrum of the real thing, no matter how sophisticated the technology becomes.
A good thing? I think so.
Eric White, inventor of an early virtual sex machine, makes an interesting point in the comments section below the article. Virtual sex, he says, will allow the masses to enjoy experiences they would never have previously been able to enjoy. I agree. We’re probably less than a decade away from being able to log on at anytime to have LIVE virtual sex with a beautiful porn actress. And it’s the duty of everybody in the virtual sex community to present these revolutionary developments, that will no doubt be bitterly opposed by certain groups, in the most positive light possible.
