So I saw a flier for a speech that was supposedly about the problem of child sex trafficking when I was coming out of English today. It said FREE LUNCH in big, bold letters near the bottom. Apparently, not only was it being suggested that we needed to be goaded into addressing the serious issue of sex crimes with sandwiches and sugary sodas, but it was also assumed that everyone would be able to maintain their appetite while imaging sweaty businessmen deflowering various 8 year olds. Those two laughable and mildly offensive thoughts aside, I started thinking idly on the concept of pedophilia, and from there murder, rape, slavery -- really any and every personal injustice. And then...
I thought, what if it didn't hurt anyone? How could it not? What about androids? What about people... but without the physiological and neurological pieces that facilitate the concept of identity, pain, maybe even natural memory? A sort of human analogue that would never care or even know that it was being hurt.
I'd hit that.
So how do you feel about it? Would pedophilia be such a crime if the "child" the person was "abusing" was some sort of test tube baby (think the clones from Star Wars) that would never feel the pain because it's brain won't process it, would never be able to suffer mental/emotional scars because it has no capacity for complex thought, would never even remember it happened? If we could make these sorts of beings, should we have them work for us? Use them in combat training? Dangerous medical procedures? Maybe sell them commercially as "stress relievers" to what are now society's closet sadists? Aside from the problem that they might be difficult to maintain, being fragile as humans are, I don't see why not.
TLDNR
The principal question here is what defines humanity. What's the difference between a "person" and a sack of meat? Would you be alright with someone skull-fucking a baby if it didn't have a brain?
EDIT: Ok, I can see why, but I think people are focusing a little too much on the pedo thing here. What about using brain dead (er, at least altered) clones to test out dangerous new medical procedures? I thought that one was pretty interesting.
Also, blanket statement while I'm editing. I don't think having "real" sex dolls would eliminate or even necessarily help with sex crimes. I'm really questioning the morality of the analogues themselves. And how can you say a person's desire to do something is wrong if the expression of that desire doesn't hurt anyone? Think about (oh god I'm gonna get hate for this) video games; I love beating the shit out of dudes in GoW, or coming up with humiliating and brutal ways to murder soldiers in MGS games. Just because it makes a neat fantasy doesn't mean it's going to leak into reality (IMO, these analogues do not constitute "reality" in the sense I'm using it). That's Jack Thomson logic.
I thought, what if it didn't hurt anyone? How could it not? What about androids? What about people... but without the physiological and neurological pieces that facilitate the concept of identity, pain, maybe even natural memory? A sort of human analogue that would never care or even know that it was being hurt.
I'd hit that.
So how do you feel about it? Would pedophilia be such a crime if the "child" the person was "abusing" was some sort of test tube baby (think the clones from Star Wars) that would never feel the pain because it's brain won't process it, would never be able to suffer mental/emotional scars because it has no capacity for complex thought, would never even remember it happened? If we could make these sorts of beings, should we have them work for us? Use them in combat training? Dangerous medical procedures? Maybe sell them commercially as "stress relievers" to what are now society's closet sadists? Aside from the problem that they might be difficult to maintain, being fragile as humans are, I don't see why not.
TLDNR
The principal question here is what defines humanity. What's the difference between a "person" and a sack of meat? Would you be alright with someone skull-fucking a baby if it didn't have a brain?
EDIT: Ok, I can see why, but I think people are focusing a little too much on the pedo thing here. What about using brain dead (er, at least altered) clones to test out dangerous new medical procedures? I thought that one was pretty interesting.
Also, blanket statement while I'm editing. I don't think having "real" sex dolls would eliminate or even necessarily help with sex crimes. I'm really questioning the morality of the analogues themselves. And how can you say a person's desire to do something is wrong if the expression of that desire doesn't hurt anyone? Think about (oh god I'm gonna get hate for this) video games; I love beating the shit out of dudes in GoW, or coming up with humiliating and brutal ways to murder soldiers in MGS games. Just because it makes a neat fantasy doesn't mean it's going to leak into reality (IMO, these analogues do not constitute "reality" in the sense I'm using it). That's Jack Thomson logic.