All Too Human

Davecat leads an alternative lifestyle: choosing to dwell with both his wife and his mistress, he would on those grounds alone find himself outside of the mainstream of American society. But Davecat (he goes by one name) is a grown man residing with two lifelike dolls.

In a bizarrely intriguing interview in The Atlantic, the Michigan man describes his “technosexual” lifestyle, a subculture of men and women sexually attracted … to robots. Technosexuals in some sense exemplify the culture we are marinating in: they are attracted to beings that instantly gratify their every whim, with little effort and, having been reduced to commodities, are easily consumed.

Davecat himself is part of a more narrow set of technosexuals preferring robots that resemble humans, specifically “gynoids” — robots made to look like human females. Interestingly, he is not attracted to these dolls simply because they are artificial, but because they ostensibly embody all the good things about being human without, shall we say, the “malfunctions” of humanity. He says:

“…they don’t possess any of the unpleasant qualities that organic, flesh and blood humans have. A synthetic will never lie to you, cheat on you, criticize you, or be otherwise disagreeable. It’s rare enough to find organics who don’t have something going on with them, and being able to make a partner of one is rarer still.”

There is truth in his observation about human beings. They are finite, limited, and above all flawed. Anyone who has spent any time with his fellows knows they often disappoint and cannot meet every expectation we have. We ourselves do not even meet our own standards and principles. In moments of weakness we lie, we steal, and cheat. In other words, we sin (the ancient Greek word hamartia, translated as sin, means “to miss the mark”).

Despite the fact people (ourselves included) fall short of our ideals, most of us still find them worthwhile. Tragically, Davecat does not think so. He says:

“I figure that instead of chasing after an ideal person who either doesn’t exist in the first place, or is already with someone else, why not buy a Doll? I don’t gamble, and I’m not keen on taking emotional chances. We’ve all seen relationships where things start out fantastically, and then just end up falling apart. A friend of mine just got divorced after 17 years of marriage. That’s an enormous investment of time, money, and emotion, and I’m not interested in having someone in my life who may bail at any time, or who transforms into someone unpleasant. Ultimately, getting romantically involved with an organic woman doesn’t seem worth it to me.”

It is worth noting that Davecat things of relationship entirely in terms of himself. He doesn’t mention that through  service he might be of some use to another person, even if that inconvenienced him. He talks entirely about what he can expect to get out of a relationship. If any relationship can go sour or not satisfy his wants, then it is simply not worth the trouble. He adds:

“The way I see things, your spouse should be easygoing and a joy to come home to, in order to counteract having to deal with all manner of undesirables when you’re out and about. I think the best way to reach that goal is through humanoid robots. It’s like having your cake, and eating it too.”

Perhaps the most informative bit of the interview about the sickness of our particular age is when Davecat is asked if he thinks his love of dolls inevitably leads to the objectification of human beings. He dismisses this and I do as well. However, I disagree with Davecat because I think he has it backwards: it is because humans are already objectified in our day and age that something like loving a doll would ever occur to anyone as a possibility. For Davecat,  the fact that his dolls look like people is enough to dismiss anyone who would question his attraction. This only makes sense under an absolutely material view of what it means to be human. Human beings are just matter arranged in a particular way; if something else can be arranged into the basic shape it meets the criteria of humanity as well. If it is just the shape that makes the man, there is no reason a doll made to look like a person isn’t equal to a human being in worth (Davecat goes so far to say his dolls are actually superior because they have none of the “weaknesses” of being human). However, anyone who spends time with people knows that we are more than just a certain shape of matter. Despite his flaws, there is something essential to man that is greater than the sum of his parts.

And while I pity Davecat, I find him unsurprising. In a world of social media, pornography, and casual hook ups, instant gratification is at everyone’s fingertips. When elation is so cheap it is no wonder that something artificial would seem like the path of least resistance compared to real human interaction. However, this is exactly why meaningful relationships are worthwhile; they require hard work and sacrifice. Unless cultural conservatives can convey that human beings are worth that sacrifice, expect more people like Davecat.