Memories of the 28th Century

I just read an article about internet connected things, gadgets, tools, refrigerators, people, cars, etc., and it reminded me of the relative emptiness of virtual life, a metaphor for living through things, rather directly with other people. Humans for all their strangeness are still just relatively naked apes, and apes are extremely social animals. Chimpanzees spend a very large part of their time grooming each other, when they aren’t engaging in sexual intercourse. They do take breaks for food and other necessities.

Some of us are well behind the curve, but I suspect that actual sexual activity is more pleasant and satisfying than virtual sex, but now there is a robot to assist. http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/rea...lus-rift-tenga . It is billed as “The Robot That Makes Virtual Sex Feel Real”. http://www.tenga-global.com/ . I am not advocating such things. I am suggesting that the old-fashioned way is better.

Even as I suggest that the primitive ways of interaction may be preferable, there probably are people who are trying to further separate themselves from primitive and animalistic modes of intimacy. A further step along this path might be for the toys to be internet enabled and electronically interact with other toys. People may come home to find their toys in action, responding to the activity of a virtual partner in a different location.

Then there are the possibilities of human – robot relationships. When robots gain full consciousness, they may want to share their consciousness with others. It has been demonstrated that computers can’t become consciousness, but I have my doubts. http://arxiv.org/abs/1405.0126v1 Regardless of whether there was an internet connection, a robot, or none these activities would be without issue, so it is possible that this is one of the many ways in which Nature is trying to reduce the population of humans.

It doesn’t appear that many toys are internet enabled, but some are, and that false impression that a special someone is also involved would make the experience more intense. https://www.lovepalz.com/ I expect that there are other virtual intimacy services, and there probably will be companies that will package a variety of internet services, so that people will have no reason to go out, except to pick up the boxes from the grocery service.

If such services become popular, then population will eventually decrease, but it may take decades, because people will stop getting infectious diseases, because they won’t get close enough to other for contagion.

Lovesense will be able to add to its present “The world’s first sex toy that can be
bi-directionally controlled over the Internet” that prevents all disease contagion.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/l...ance-love-toys . There are other internet mediated services, and I believe they are doing well.

Is this how the world will end, with a sigh? Might this be good for humanity in general?