SPIRIT: Technology vs. humanity

Would you like to have sex with a robot? Do you think you could fall in love with one?

Author Damon Levy says that sex with robots will be possible within 5 years and love with robots will be possible by mid-century. Levy made these claims while promoting his book "Love + Sex with Robots" on the "Colbert Report". While Colbert whole-heartedly mocked him, I couldn't help but think there would be a market for hot 'droid nookie and, worse yet, for R2-D2 lovin'. And it made me sad. Because what are love and sex besides spiritual experiences? Yes, yes, sex feels good and you can have it with someone you don't love - a stranger or a client or a rapist. But, even then, it is an interaction between two human beings that leaves both changed. And, when there is love with sex, it is one of the most uniquely human experiences we can have. If you take one of those spirits out of the equation and replace it with a pre-programmed pile of metal and plastic, you eliminate the spiritual element. In which case, how are you any different than a robot?

With all that on my mind this weekend, I began watching "Children of Men," an apocalyptic film in which the human race has become infertile and the last generation is living a bleak, hopeless, dead-end existence in a chaotic world. And, that's when it occurred to me what was so disturbing about sex with robots: What is beautiful about sex is not just the thrill, the feel or the kink - it's the miracle of it, the humanity, the possibility of new life it brings. For generations and generations, it has never failed to continue the human race. It is like the sun rising or the sky being blue or gravity - you take this daily miracle for granted. And, with this regeneration comes renewed hope for a better future. But this miracle comes with strings attached - emotions, obligations, etc. That's where technology steps in - it can make things easier for us, entertain us, occupy us, and, according to Levy, even love us. It's easy; it's clean; it's free of the complications that are intrinsic to human beings. But, in our quest for ultimate efficiency, are we sacrificing our humaness? Our ties to each other? In "Children of Men," one young character sits at the dinner table, strapped into an electronic gizmo, so immersed in technology that his father has to shout into his face for him to hear - and, even then, he glances up with resentment at the human intrusion. In another scene, the young woman the film centers around, Key, misses an introduction to someone because she has her headphones on - her face clearly says she does not appreciate the interuption. I couldn't help but wonder if the people in the movie had become so immersed in technology and so detached from each other that that's why the miracle of life had been taken away from them. But, something wonderful happens. Key becomes pregnant - the first person to do so in years. She explains that she didn't even think about pregnancy as a possibliity when she had sex with so many men. But when she felt the baby kick inside her, she knew the miracle of life was real. Alive and kicking inside of her were humanity and hope for the future - something technology cannot replicate.

You are the product of a miracle, as am I. So, in parting, I say namaste - I honor the divine in you.