Blog #9

Annotated Bibliography


Levy, David. Love and Sex with Robots. New York: HarperCollins, 2007.

As an internationally known artificial intelligence expert and the International computer games association, David Levy seems to represent…something not offensive. Stereotypically, his audience is not widely known for their social skills. As his subject involves future intercourse with robots, this stereotype may hold true. Levy graduated from Acadia University in 1972 and received his masters in English from Queens University in 1979. The author’s audience is targeted at anyone who has an interest in technology in general, or specifically robots. The demand of Levy audience is the curiosity in just how far technology can go. Author David Levy is primarily trying to address the things that technology bring us to today, showing how absurd the new ideas that people create are. A main argument that Levy makes is that what we may have imagined never happening, could happen a lot sooner than we think, or could already be happening right before our eyes. For example in briefly describing what the book is about, Levy states: “Love, marriage, and sex with robots? Not in a million years? Maybe a whole lot sooner.”

Just the term, “Robot-human sexual intercourse” is a controversial issue. It’s no question sex in society has been a constantly changing argument, for centuries views have differed and changed by public opinion. But even in today’s society where sex seems to be a little less taboo, (even if no one wants to admit it but advertisements can publicly resemble at pin up poster) it’s unclear how people will react to sexual relations with inanimate objects. Considering the openness of the subject, it’s hard to tell if the author is “cropping out” certain topics. It’s possible that these robots might turn on their masters or become some sort of undercover devices for the government. A threat to privacy could be eminent, but that’s the risk you run with dating a computer. The idea of being able to have a real relationship with a robot in and of itself, is interesting; thinking that someone can have real feelings for an object hardly considered anything but programmed. I think Levy’s main purpose in talking about this issue, is to make us aware of how technology is literally changing the world. This source could prove as very useful in terms of our final research papers, because it not only helps us to see the different affects technology has on us in just this aspect, but it opened our eyes showing us that it can relate to more topics than just our own.
Klugman, Craig M. "From Cyborg Fiction to Medical Reality." Literature and Medicine 20 (2001): 39-54.
With masters in both anthropology and bioethics, Craig Klugman has the credentials to back his essay on the future for cybernetic medicine. Obviously, he has no education in the technical aspect of cybernetics but he does have education in both history and medical ethics, which make him a good foreteller of the coming changes in science. He acts as almost a third party to the human race, narrating the current changes happing in our society. His narration feels like an address to everyone, a simple enlightening into the not so distant future. He analyzes the possibilities of different cyborg combinations in literature and reality and their various outcomes. Using both negative and positive examples, Klugman acts as a fair bioethicist showing the different faces of medical experimention. He writes mainly on the relationship of cybernetics and medicine, which is understandable because that’s what he essay is on. He doesn’t try to comment much about the possible social effects of cybernetics relating to crime and justice but rather on the psychological effects on the social surrounding the physical changes.
Geertsema, Henk G. "Cyborg: Myth or Reality?." Zygon: Journal of Religion & Science 41.2 (June 2006): 289-328
As a professor of Reformational Philosophy at the universities of Utrecht and Groningen and of the Dooyeweerd-chair at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam, Henk Geertsema still teaches for the English master programme Christian Studies of Science and Society. As a professor of philosophy, it’s fitting that Geertsema writes about the thought that humans and machines are separate and cyborgs are the future. He suggests that we are already integrated with machines in both physical and mental levels.

Through my sources I've learned about factors I didn't foresee when I started this project. Most are from fiction but still hold a small amount of fear in my mind. Factors like a disconnect from the human world were things I didn't think about. I have seen a lot of the same sources used by my sources, gives me more to look up for paper. Most of the root sources are older, which find interesting. Sources like Rene Descartes, whose over 400 years old. The fact that the thought has gone back that far is something to write about.