Having sex on the bonnet of your car when the car is a HUGE SENTIENT ROBOT

[jack]

Who'd have thunk the Transformers movie would raise interesting philosophical etiquette questions? You're probably tired of "So, can we eat sapient alien" questions, so let's have a different one.

Does privacy apply between species? Does it go with intelligence or compatible biology/mores?

I mean, me, I don't like having sex in front of cats or inflatable penguins, because I'm (most of the time) very private. Being naked in the flat is an occasional luxury rather than the norm. So it doesn't apply to me.

But if the aliens don't place any importance on sexual reproduction or pair bonding, and are friends, and don't gossip, does it matter?

You'd naturally think it does. In the Mote in God's Eye (insofar as Larry Niven is an authority on alien contact) the humans have to explain some aspects of privacy.

OTOH, in books where the sapient alien is pet-like, or an artificial intelligence, sometimes people don't care.

What actually would happen? Can we ever know until we *do* find sapient aliens?

Comments

[saraphale.livejournal.com]

That part did seem a little creepy. I think I'd be embarassed regardless of the nature of the intelligence, because embarrassment is an internal expression. Whether it matters or not is another thing.


Pop culture reference:
http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=241

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

But if the aliens don't place any importance on sexual reproduction or pair bonding, and are friends, and don't gossip, does it matter?
You'd naturally think it does.

I don't think it would bother me, actually. I don't care if our cat sees me naked, or on the toilet, or having sex - what does it matter to a cat? Although with an intelligent alien, I guess I'd have to add the requirement that it shouldn't make comments about technique, duration etc.!

requirement that it shouldn't make comments about technique, duration etc.!

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

LOL. Yes, I was going to mention that. It's assumed it's dispassionate. Obviously anything else, eg. innocent curiosity, would be excessively offputting :)

[sonicdrift.livejournal.com]

Er, is that a spoiler? I get I'll find out tonight :)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Oh, technically. But you don't know who with whom, nor on whom, nor when, and you already know some transformers look like cars. And it's TRANSFORMERS, spoilers don't make it worse :) (OK, sorry, I was a touch cavalier there, but I really hoped it wouldn't make a difference and cutting it would be hassle to everyone, who I bet reads it anyway.)

[miss-next.livejournal.com]

Well, if I had sex, I don't think I'd want to have it in front of the cats. But then Minsky's seriously intelligent and Heidi is a little purrvert...

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

:)

Without meaning to barge in with classical references (again)...

[rochvelleth.livejournal.com]

You should have been watching Rome. Then you could have all this debate about whether you mind slaves watching you have sex :)

Serious point 1: It's not all of humanity that doesn't want to be watched having sex, is it? I don't mean there are aberrant individuals from a general trend, but that there might be (I think there are or have been, not counting porn films or situations where the person watching is often a lower of different status as with the slave example) societies in which it's perfectly acceptable to have sex in front on someone not joining in. So if it's not applicable to *all* of humanity, then maybe there's something to sort out before you get to sapient aliens...[1]

[1] A (human): Would you excuse me and C? We're about the have sex.
B (human): Oh, go ahead. In my culture it's OK if you watch people having sex.
A and C (both human): ...
D (alien who suddenly turns up): Can I watch too?
A: Aargh, go away and come back in a hundred years when we've worked out whether it's OK for anyone to watch other people having sex!

Serious point 2: Who can watch what all depends on who has the power in society :)

Re: Without meaning to barge in with classical references (again)...

[robhu.livejournal.com]

Serious point 2: Who can watch what all depends on who has the power in society :)
Well, that and how good your telephoto lens is.

Re: Without meaning to barge in with classical references (again)...

[(Anonymous)]

sexy

Re: Without meaning to barge in with classical references (again)...

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

LOL. OK, well, I didn't got on with Rome :( But yes, that's a good analogy. And glorious footnote :)

Yes, good point. It doesn't *have* to be private. But I think (assuming some things are private) the question of whether it would apply to aliens is interesting, though obviously that question cross-fertilises with the question of why something is private in the first place.

So, *did* people mind slaves seeing them having sex? Was it normal not to, or to, or personal preference, or we don't know?

In that case, it's because you don't see the slaves or animals as mattering, or at least, not making a difference to them whether you do or not. The question is, is it because they're *lesser* in some way, or because they're *different*?

I'm trying to think of a good analogy. Maybe if good friends A and B are both really good at maths, B watching A puts him off. But if friend C who doesn't care is there, A doesn't mind?

(OK, yes, I compared maths to sex. Drop it :))

Re: Without meaning to barge in with classical references (again)...

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

I have a wonderful vision of us treating the voyager probe as a badly worded answering machine message and sending a faster probe after it to destroy it or apologise for it, "No, sorry, false alarm. We come in peace, but can you please come back in 500 years when we've decided if we mind you watching us have sex or not..."

Re: Without meaning to barge in with classical references (again)...

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

Oh, and please do continue with classical references. They're invariably informative, relevant, funny or at least sexy :)

[bugshaw.livejournal.com]

I presume that during the sex the humans would be ignoring the sapient being they're sitting on, which doesn't strike me as terribly polite ;-)

[bouteillebleu.livejournal.com]

I suppose it depends on whether the sapient aliens actually care. The car in question didn't seem bothered; the other one who was standing off at the side soliloquising certainly didn't seem at all bothered.

I think it just sort of amused them. :)

I think it just sort of amused them. :)

[(Anonymous)]

You do what for fun? :)

[cartesiandaemon.livejournal.com]

You do what for fun? :)

[pogodragon.livejournal.com]

I'd think it depends both on whether the sapient alien cares/notices that this specific activity is qualitatively different to say, eating, which most humans are happy to do with others around/watching them, and also on how the humans involved in the sex feel.

I don't particularly like the cat being around when I'm having sex - if nothing else she's a critic of technique and tends to make her objections felt, with her claws.

Hmm, my answer seems to be - it depends.