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§3. Cybersex and Reproduction
The Explosive Paul and the Implosive Marry
Fortunately, the sexual contact between male and female
human beings still falls under the category characterized by the
loop shown in Figure 2.2. Combined with an interactive VR process,
two persons of the opposite sex will be able to finish, aided by
manmade apparatus, the physiological process on the actual
level, and be sensually and emotionally fulfilled on the virtual
level.
Let us see how a sophisticated cybersex arrangement might
work. On the female side, there will be an artificial male mouth
(lips, teeth, tongue, saliva, etc.) and artificial male genitalia,
both imitating male flesh as closely as possible, but planted
with micro-sensors all over the surface, and moved by motors
connected to the computer (the Engine). The penis should be able
to be in states of arousal and non-arousal and somewhere in
between, and can ejaculate semen-like stuff at the right moment,
of course. On the male side, there will be an artificial female
mouth, and artificial female genitalia, both planted with highly
sensitive micro-sensors and moved by motors connected to his
computer. As for the sense of touch from other parts of the
body such as breasts and hands, the regular VR clothing will do
its job there as usual. Now what would happen when a sexual
encounter occurs between a female and a male partner? We can,
if we choose to, describe the process separately on two levels,
the virtual/experiential and the actual. But in order to see
the immediate correspondence between the two, I will choose a
mixed discourse of the virtual and the actual in my description
as follows.
Let's call the female Mary and the male Paul. In the
virtual world they meet for the first time here in a concert
hall. Jaron Lanier, the Lord of VR, will play his "Music of
Changes." Mary and Paul are seated next to each other mutually
unknown. As soon as Jaron begins to play, Mary and Paul
immediately feel sort of synergy going on between them in the
way they respond to the music. Now it is time for an
intermission. They strike up a conversation about the music and
Jaron, and very soon romance develops: during the second half
of the concert, they hold and squeeze each other's hand
following the ups and downs of the music. When the concert is
over and as they step out of the concert hall, their passion
bursts out like a storm...
They manage to set up a private room on the spot
(assuming they can do that in the virtual world), and their lips
and tongues begin to explore and search each other passionately
and their naked bodies intertwine and struggle like a hurricane.
As their mutual stimulation escalates to the peak, they are
ready for the intercourse. "Mary, you are my dream," Paul gasps;
"You are my reality, Paul," Mary murmurs in return, as their
bodies move back and forth in a harmonious rhythm... Finally,
as Paul pours his passion with an explosive ejaculation, Mary
screams with an implosive contraction.
Copulating and Procreating
For all the alleged physical and emotional intensity,
we should not forget the fact that Mary and Paul are only
having intercourse in the virtual world. On the actual level,
the lips, the tongues, the saliva, the genitalia, etc., are all
artificial surrogates for the receiver of the opposite sex. How,
on the one hand, can the artificial organs expand and contract
and move, etc., in exact correspondence with the actual in a
remote place? And how, on the other hand, the biological process
of procreation can be carried out in addition to the fulfillment
of the sexual desire and emotional needs of both partners?
Keep in mind, as all other parts of the VR outfit, these
artificial sex organs are not only stimulators, but also
sensors at the same time. So when Paul inserts his erect penis
into the artificial vagina, for example, the opening of the
artificial vagina immediately responds and measures the size
and shape of the penis. The information will be transformed
and transmitted to Mary's facility and the artificial penis
will be, guided by the information, inserted into her vagina
almost at the same moment, and its size be adjusted accordingly
to imitate Paul's as precisely as possible. At the same time,
the artificial penis will measure Mary's vagina in a similar
way, and the information will be transmitted and used to adjust
the artificial vagina Paul is dealing with. Of course, the
back and forth movement will be controlled in a similar fashion.
Because this is a real-time dynamic process that keeps going
from the beginning to the end of the sexual encounter, the
described rhythmic coordination will be felt just like an actual
encounter in the actual world.
Now we have to deal with a tough and critical issue,
that is, how Paul's sperm can be ejaculated into Mary's vagina
in such a process if they want to have a child. As we know,
since Paul and Mary are far apart actually, what Mary feels
ejaculated into her vagina cannot possibly be the same thing
that Paul ejaculates actually at that moment. Therefore,
their first affair after the concert cannot lead to Mary's
pregnancy by Paul's sperm. But Paul's semen is nevertheless
ejaculated into the artificial vagina. We also know another
fact: sperm can be kept alive outside the human body as has
been done for many years in a sperm bank. So now if Mary and
Paul decide to have a child after their first intercourse, they
can, through the control mechanism discussed in the last
section, have Paul's sperm transported to Mary's actual place
and be ejaculated from the artificial penis next time they make
love, and so on and so forth. Or, if they prefer, they can
utilize the technique of artificial insemination so as to
totally separate reproductive process from sexual intercourse.
In such a case, Mary may choose any semen-like milky liquid
or whatever she likes as the substitute for the semen to be
ejaculated into her vagina during the intercourse. She can
even choose to use another man's semen to get herself pregnant
when she has cybersex with Paul, if Paul has no legitimate
reason against that. The last option is that they actually
travel to meet and have intercourse actually and put away the
artificial sex organs while still being totally immersed in VR
perceptually in the whole process. Therefore, we can just
understand reproduction through cybersex as a special case of
the combination of the process of interaction between
participants to be analyzed in Section 5 on the one hand, and
that of manipulation of the physical process from cyberspace as
analyzed in Section 2 on the other.
The Erotic Ontology
After the baby is born, what can Mary and Paul do upon
her if they want her to be a member of the virtual world? They
can let her wear the VR outfit as early as she begins to have
meaningful perceptual experience. How are they going to do it?
They will do it again, of course, by that inside-out control
process using robots.
Michael Heim in his The Metaphysics of Virtual Reality
offers a very stimulating discussion of what he calls "the
erotic ontology of cyberspace." As he understands Eros as a
drive to extend our finite being, he can indeed do justice
to his sensational presentation of virtual reality as
fundamentally erotic. Here, we have also seen how our love
affair with VR must reach its pinnacle when cybersex becomes a
necessary part of our virtual engagement.
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Gil Markle has interesting ideas about VR too!
Send me comments please?