Geoff's Miscellany

The recent Chili Peppers album is very very good. This song is one of many catchy experiments.

But this line caused me to reflect on other issues:

“I want to thank you and spank you on your silver skin, robots don’t care where I’ve been.”

Now, when Anthony Kiedis writes lyrics, it’s nearly impossible to pin down an objective meaning. But the connotation is sexual.

And lately two trends have been coming together that don’t bode well for the world:

1. People staying out of the gene pool (or marriage/long term relationships all together). A good book on this trend and some of its cultural and even legal antecedents is Helen Smith's Men on Strike. Over all, the risk/reward calculation for most men appears to make relationships unappealing in comparison to videogames, money, or one night stands.
2. The invention of virtual reality porn/sex robots. The technology media will have an article about lifelike sex robots, boyfriend/girlfriend emulator programs, and sex-VR about once a month now.

A pastor once said to a group of young college guys, "sure, you can have lots of sex, but there's always a woman attached." The point was to use disarming language to remind people that sex involves a person. The invention of internet porn made that only true for the actors. Now, it seems, that it won't require anybody but programmers and designers. This is a plus for people who want the pleasures of sex, but no responsibilities. The problem is that the pleasures of sex are pretty clearly meant to make us turn a blind eye to the risks and responsibilities. It appears that our technology may be about run way ahead of our biology.

So, enjoy the song, it’s pretty awesome. But stay away from romance robots. Honestly, they’re probably skynet.