Sunday, December 3rd, 2017
Stephan: A few years ago I went to Japan and, while I was there I asked to be taken to a coffin hotel. No this is not a horror movie set, well not exactly. This is a kind of "hotel" made up of stacked fiberglas tubes about four feet high, by four feet wide, and 8 feet long. Young men rent and sleep in these spaces, and share common bathrooms.
After talking with the residents I was invited to go to dinner with eight of them, all in their 20s to early 30s, and was happily surprised to discover that several spoke English well enough to have a substantive conversation. For the rest I had my minder who translated for me. It was a very interesting evening for many reasons but the one that has stayed uppermost in my mind was the realization that the one thing they all had in common was that they lived basically in virtual reality through avatars.
They went to work, they hung out a bit together, but mostly they lived in virtual worlds constructed for them, or that they constructed with others. It was in that world that they had their meaningful relationships. Not one of them had a girl friend in real life, only a couple had even dated and, although I couldn't be sure, I think they were all virgins.
Since then I have been following what I have come to think of as The Gamer Trend. That is men, mostly, but some women, who live the meaningful part of their lives in the virtual world.
Studies in both Japan and America show that a significant portion of Millennials and what sociologists have begun calling Generation Z or Linksters -- roughly, it isn't precise -- those born after the Millennium -- show delayed sexual activity, or no interpersonal sexuality at all.
At the same time another new trend is showing up in the social literature -- Digisexuality. That is people, again principally men, whose sexual life is involved with gadgets, dolls, or even robots.
This report explains something of this growing trend.
Sexy cyborg woman posing on bed . Sci fiction and technology conceptual
Credit: Captblack76/Shutterstock
With the rise of technology, so too comes the rise of a new category of intimacy. Digisexuals, or people who primarily use technology for sexual satisfaction, could soon become more prolific in society, according to experts.
It is safe to say the era of immersive virtual sex has arrived,” said Neil McArthur, the director of the Center for Professional and Applied Ethics at the University of Manitoba and the author of a new scientific study on digisexuality.McArthur and a team from the university published a new report in the Journal of Sexual and Relationship Therapy detailing the need to be prepared for a rise in digisexuality.“As these technologies advance, their adoption will grow and many people will come to identify themselves as ‘digisexuals’ – people whose primary sexual identity comes through the use of technology, McArthur said, according to the Telegraph. “Many people will find that their experiences with this technology become integral to their sexual identity and some will prefer them to […]