menace or benefit or combination

Don Quixote

Don Quixote

cancer survivor
Contributor
'Sex Chip' Creates Pleasure in Brain, Could Treat Disease


are we setting the stage for 'wire heads'

Researchers on both sides of the Atlantic are developing what the media has dubbed a 'sex chip,' according to the Daily Mail.

The implanted chip, which stimulates the brain's pleasure points, has already been used in the United States to treat Parkinson's disease and, in England, is now being studied as a potential treatment for anhedonia, a disorder that blocks pleasurable sensations like those in sex and eating.

Oxford University fellow Professor Tipu Aziz said of the chip, "A few years ago a scientist implanted such a device into the brain of a woman with a low sex drive and turned her into a very sexually active woman. She didn't like the sudden change, so the wiring in her head was removed."

That being said, Aziz thinks the chip needs more work, forecasting ten more years of development.

Ten years should give us enough time to sort out the ethics of robot sex, so that we can safely move on to ponder the ethics of chemical sex.

In the meantime, try pondering the future of cyborgs ('a bionic human,' according to Merriam-Webster, with one too many chips in him/her) with our gallery of famous cyborgs -- some sexy, some not -- from movies and TV shows below.
[From: The Daily Mail]
 
There's a disease that makes sex bad already, it's called marriage... why'd they have to invent a new one that also takes away eating? It's just not right!
 
One of my favorite Sci-fi writers wrote about wireheads. Damo, who was it, do you remember?

This is not nearly as close to reality as this article makes it seem. Moreover, there are extremely serious ethical considerations. The prior effort using the woman with low sex drive simply illustrated how thoughtlessly simplistic that approach was. The ventral tegmental area, which is the region they're talking about, responds to all stimuli, both positive and negative, and seems to be critical for goal directed behavior. It's a lot more neurochemically complex than simple electrical stimuli can deal with.

Electrical stimulation can indeed help with Parkinson's symptoms, but not forever; it's symptom relief, not a cure. To attempt to stimulate neurons in this fashion to address a specific behavior or perception is ridiculous, unethical, and irresponsible.
 
Thorn said:
One of my favorite Sci-fi writers wrote about wireheads. Damo, who was it, do you remember?

This is not nearly as close to reality as this article makes it seem. Moreover, there are extremely serious ethical considerations. The prior effort using the woman with low sex drive simply illustrated how thoughtlessly simplistic that approach was. The ventral tegmental area, which is the region they're talking about, responds to all stimuli, both positive and negative, and seems to be critical for goal directed behavior. It's a lot more neurochemically complex than simple electrical stimuli can deal with.

Electrical stimulation can indeed help with Parkinson's symptoms, but not forever; it's symptom relief, not a cure. To attempt to stimulate neurons in this fashion to address a specific behavior or perception is ridiculous, unethical, and irresponsible.
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That's going to bug me for a bit. I just recently read some of those books. There are several writers who use the idea. I can't remember the author that I read those books from though.

Koontz has written about it too.
 
Damocles said:
That's going to bug me for a bit. I just recently read some of those books. There are several writers who use the idea. I can't remember the author that I read those books from though.

Koontz has written about it too.
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larry niven
 
"A few years ago a scientist implanted such a device into the brain of a woman with a low sex drive and turned her into a very sexually active woman."
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This should be mandatory for all women, IMHO.
 
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DonQuixote said:
larry niven
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Thank you. Was it part of the Ringworld series?

BTW he and a coauthor have begun a prequel series to Ringworld; how humans, Puppeteers, and the other species became "acquainted", etc. The first is called "Fleet of Worlds". It's not bad.
 
Thorn said:
Thank you. Was it part of the Ringworld series?

BTW he and a coauthor have begun a prequel series to Ringworld; how humans, Puppeteers, and the other species became "acquainted", etc. The first is called "Fleet of Worlds". It's not bad.
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yes and by itself (in anthology if i remember)

i am a member of LASFS (LA SCIENCE FANTASY ASSOCIATION, BURBANK CA)

it was founded by niven and pournelle + others

Robert A, Heinlein was a member
 
hey ask the party of one. You know the guy who votes Democratic every election and comes on this board to rip Republicans only until he is called out and then claims otherwise.
 
Don Quixote , why don't you capitilze the first letter of the word on every post. It makes you look childish when you dont?
 
DonQuixote said:
yes and by itself (in anthology if i remember)

i am a member of LASFS (LA SCIENCE FANTASY ASSOCIATION, BURBANK CA)

it was founded by niven and pournelle + others

Robert A, Heinlein was a member
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Fantastic! (no pun intended). Do you mind if I pick your memory from time to time? I'm great at remembering content but often have source amnesia. Then when I'm looking for an author I'm occasionally completely lost. There's a short story whose origin has been bugging me for quite a long time. I thought it might be in Dangerous Visions but it isn't.
 
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