C.H.O.B.I.T.S, will humans fall in love with robots?
13 Sep 2009 1 Comment
in Japan - Silly, Japan – Modern Trends, Japan – Pop Psychology, Psychology Tags: C.H.O.B.I.T.S, human and computer love, Japanese Manga, Japanese sci-fi, Manga
A female computer
Recently, I’ve been reading a Japanese manga series called C.H.O.B.I.T.S. Set in the future, it’s about a country bumpkin who moves to Tokyo to enter a college entrance exam preparation school. The story starts 6 months into his life in the city where he finds a female-formed computer laying in the trash (in the story, desktop computers come in the form of a human, the picture above, while notebook computers look like a miniature human that fits in the palm of your hand, bottom). From here this futuristic romantic comedy starts.
I think this story has a lot of interesting psychological and philosophical themes. Its an age where human-formed computers have replaced animals as pets; taken over most menial tasks; and human-robot love relationships are the norm. It also offers a glance into our not so distant future.
In modern society, some people have come to prefer the company of animals (Ex. cats and dogs) to humans. In addition, modern dogs and cats are treated as if it is a person’s own child or as little humans – heck, animals are even given human names and have their own beauticians and clothes rack. Like its modern counterpart the dog, the human-formed computers are also dressed by its human owner. In the book the popular theme for female-formed computers clothes were those typical of cosplay and normal clothes for its male counterparts.
The human-formed computer seems like a very plausible candidate to dethrone dogs as man’s best friend. In Chobits, computers play the role of companion, secretary – and sometimes lover. A person would not need to remember dates, names, and events. All the math you dreaded studying in high school would not be needed. In the Chobits world, the computer really does do everything: working in restaurants, offices, and supermarkets, the computer can be seen in all aspects of commercial life.
The theme of human and computer love is rampant in Chobits. The main character Hideki is constantly told by various characters to not fall in love with Chi (his female computer) and repeatedly hears of tragic cases where a human fell in love with a robot and the sadness it caused to the person and those around. For example, the wife, who’s husband locked her out of the home after falling in love with a computer; or the unfortunate baker who married a computer – not legally recognized – which later due to a malfunction, loses all its memory and with it any memories of the baker; and the computer genius who made a computer in the form and personality of his late sister.
However, not falling in love with a computer is much easier said than done in the Chobits world – where the only visible difference between a human and computer are ears. For this reason, Hideki is repeatedly reminded by friends that despite how human Chi looks, to not forget that it is a computer. This is also easier said than done as Hideki is gripped throughout the story over his relationship to Chi and whether or not its alright to fall in love or be aroused by a computer.
Two characters worth mentioning are Yumi, a high school girl and co-worker, who he is romantically interested, and the baker. For reasons unknown to Hideki at first, Yumi often asks if he likes female computers over human females and says more than once, “Its tough for her to compete with the perfection of computers.” The baker shares an opposite view to the anti-human computer love; he has no regret over his lost love and says, “Even though her (it) memory was erased, she stills exists in my memory.” This line plays a big part in the manga; it nudges Hideki towards overcoming his apprehensions of falling in love with his computer Chi.
Will there ever come a time where computers compete with humans and animals for a person’s attention or love? I think it is a highly plausible social outcome when the proper technology comes of age. Falling in love with a doll although hard to understand does happen and modern sex toys to pleasure ourselves can easily be purchased. In the future, a combination of the two in the form of a human-formed computer may appear.
I have not heard any cases of a man falling in love with a doll in the United States. However, it does, although rarely, in Japan (Click here). The video features a man who has fallen in love with a doll that doesn’t even talk! What happens when those dolls turn into computers that can communicate? How will our social, political, and economical constructs adjust to humans falling in love with computers? How will religion respond? Speaking as arm-chair anthropologist, I find this question quite interesting.
In the interplay of the story two legal questions come to light: Can a person legally marry a computer and can a person bestow property to a computer? Not included are questions like can a person be punished for the physical abuse of one’s own computer, and could a computer adopt a human child.
Already in several states, an owner can name a pet as the beneficiary of a trust (Pet Trust). Additionally, the abuse of an animal is punishable by law (animals are sentient beings) – maybe the next step will be a human marrying an animal?!
Some people will laugh, some people will cry, others will be flabbergasted and furious in response to these issues, however, if the time ever comes, how will society adapt to these issues?
A notebook computer
Lost children in Japanese super pools
09 Sep 2009 Leave a Comment
in Japan, Japan - Silly, Japan – Modern Trends Tags: Big Japanese pools, children lost in Japanese pool, Japan trends, Japanese pools, Japanese trends
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jackiew/3515824820/
Why do so many children get lost in Japanese super pools? The answer is obvious. There are so many people that you can’t even find your parents.
I was watching a Japanese morning news program and it had a special on a super pool in Tokyo. On the day of filming, there were over 8000 people at the pool. That’s a lot of people. When you see a clip of people swimming in the pool, it becomes obvious how crowded it is. Looking at the pool, you see more bodies than water. Imagine people packed like olives in a can, which is how swimming in that pool is like.
Since there is a swarm of people, you need to find a place that stands out and is easy to remember. However, this is easier said than done. Even if you wore bright colors, it would have null effect: everyone else is wearing bright colors as well. You would have to wear a Scottish kilt to ensure that you could be found easily – just avoid diving in the water. If you take your eyes off your children for even a second, they will disappear.
The news crew covered the lost children center: a division of the information center whose job was to reunite lost children and their parents. In the twenty minute special – I assume it was filmed in one day – helped around 10 lost children. A staff member, upon discovering a lost child, would ask if her or she is lost; if so, the staff would ask the child for their name and age and take them to the lost children center and announce it on the PR system. I give the staff credit, hard to listen to what a child is saying when the child is screaming at the top of their lungs.
In all cases but one, the child was crying at the top of their lungs. The one child who did not cry – the youngest of the 10 children – was a very cute 2-year-old girl. One thing that struck me as surprising: none of the parents seemed too worried and none panicked. Actually, most parents seem to think it was funny and cute. It could be that I have no sense of what is cute or have baseless fears, but I would be searching frantically,
hoping my child was not drowning.
If you happen to take your child to a super pool in Japan – one with all the works – be careful.
Random note: the news crew even covered the story of a mother who had trouble watching her two children because her husband wouldn’t help her. He was playing in the pool with two females and one male friend – according to the wife; one of the females was very cute. This has nothing to do with them being Japanese, but is funny because it made it past the editing board.
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