Homo Sapiens Cybens

Hal 9000 From 2001: A Space Odyssey, photo: Cryteria

In an Op-Ed piece entitled “Weiner’s Woman,” (NYT, 7/30/13), Susan Jacoby remarks that women who participate in internet sex are “not victims of men like Mr. Weiner… but full and equal participants” though she finds it “infinitely sad to imagine a vibrant young woman sitting alone at her computer and turning herself into a sex object for a man... she doesn’t know, even if she is also turning him into a sex object.” Jacoby also remarks that women are still getting the lesser end of the stick since  “men are more interested in and aroused by pornography than women” and “women who settle for digital pornography are lowering their expectations and hopes even more drastically than their male collaborators are.” What Jacoby doesn't realize is that the Weiner scandal is just the tip of the iceberg. It merely gives us a portal into the fate of mankind. If the future of the human race lies not in the body which will become an anachronism when the sun dies and the world falls apart, it certainly exists in cyberspace, where Homo sapiens cybens will be the new species--as mankind preserves the great accomplishment of consciousness while shedding its bodily form the way the butterfly escapes its chrysalis. Politicians like Anthony Weiner will be sending images of their “selves,” or avatars since there will literally be nothing else. The neurogenic pathways of sexual desire will be preserved as a memory even if there is no brain to house them and consciousnesses starved for contact will gratefully welcome cybersexual advances. One thing is certain, life in cyberspace will be far less cruel than it is here on earth where love is still a meat market and humans imprisoned in their bodies pay more attention to outer appearances than they do to the beauty of the mind. Looking at it this way, Anthony Weiner like millions of other people who enjoy cybersex, is a pioneer, a tragic figure way ahead of his time. He would have been the perfect mayor for the cyber version of New York that will undoubtedly replace our city millions of years from now.

The Erection: Myth or Reality?

When you think of it, the erection is an odd device, representing just a moment in the evolution of mammalian reproduction. This on-again off-again means by which insemination is facilitated requires the creation of stimulation, which is not a simple matter when it comes to the human being, who at any given moment may have other things on his mind. Some mammals become erect simply by virtue of pheromones, which are produced in anticipation of copulation, but in Homo sapiens the highly developed cerebral cortex complicates matters, creating the need for a state of temporary insanity that produces a nimbus around the potential object of desire. For some men, simply saying the word “French” will accomplish the job, opening a Pandora’s box of lingerie ads from Marie Claire and Elle, along with insinuating both French kissing and the possibility of fellatio, which is also known as a French. For others infatuation takes on a more tortuous course. The erection is also one of the odder-looking contraptions that nature has come up with. In some males with large endowments, it’s easy to mistake for a baseball bat, and there have been cases when erections are grabbed at by those who are stepping up to the plate. Oouuch! Erections also look like everything from towel racks to pastry rollers. Having an erection is a responsibility, since a hard-on is a weapon as well as a lovemaking aid, and there have been people and animals who have alternately been suffocated or torn apart when the protuberance is under the influence and begins the violent pumping mechanism that accompanies ignition, ending in happy inanition. The caveman’s club, immortalized by cartoon figures like Fred Flintstone, may be one of the most potent representations of the erection in the history of culture, but does it not augur the impending obsolescence of what will one day be deemed a historical footnote, the passing of which will only be lamented by the most  hardened of souls?