From: Robert J. Bradbury (bradbury@www.aeiveos.com)
Date: Sun Aug 22 1999 - 08:39:04 MDT
On Sun, 22 Aug 1999, phil osborn wrote:
>
> I wasn't argueing against computers having orgasms. I just haven't heard
> any indication that anyone in the discussion knows what an orgasm is.
-- see below --
>
> For example, part of the loop for a human is through the imagery generated
> in the mind, in the case of masturbation, or through the emotional responses
> of another consciousness, as in sexual intercourse or assisted masturbation.
> + another paragraph
What is described in this message is the process of "arrousal"
or "excitement" (see below), *not* the process of "orgasm".
The New Lexicon Webster's Dictionary:
orgasm: the climax of excitement in sexual intercourse
|| an instance of this
>From "Understanding Human Sexuality", Hyde, 4th ed.
-- a standard college text on the subject.
"In the male, orgasm consists of a series of rhythmic contractions
of the pelvic organs at 0.8-second intervals. ... in the first
stage ("ejaculatory inevitiability"), there is a sensation
that ejaculation is just about to happen and cannot be stopped ...
in the second stage, the urethral bulb and the penis itself
contract rhythmically, forcing out the semen. ...
In both males & females, there are sharp increases in pulse rate,
blood pressure and breathing rate, ... muscles contract throughout
the body.
... orgasm in females is basically similar to that in males...
series of rhythmic muscular contractions of the orgasmic platform.
The contractions generally occur at about 0.8 second intervals;
there may be three or four in a mild orgasm or as many as
a dozen in a very intense, prolonged orgasm. The uterus also
contracts rhythmically, with the contractions moving in waves
from the top of the uterus down toward the cervix. Other muscles,
such as those around the anus, may also contract rhythmically.
... In one study, college men & women gave written descriptions
of what an orgasm felt like to them (Vance & Wagner, 1976).
Interestingly a panel of experts (medical students, obstetrician-
gynecologists, and clinical psychologists) could not reliably figure
out which of the descriptions were written by women and which by men.
This suggests that the sensations are quite similar for males and females."
There is a lot more covering the four stages of sexual response:
"excitement, plateau, orgasm, resolution". From the perspective
of what an orgasm "is", it would appear it is a collection
of "sensations" driven at a very low level in your brain
by signals out (to contract muscles, alter BP, etc.) and
signals back (from the nerves and other body systems) that
provide information regarding the external, and to some extent,
internal environment.
Perhaps the point of Phil's message was that a conscious mind
plays a critical part in managing the excitement/plateau
phases. This is probably true since our conscious mind
can have a significant amount of control over most of our
subconcious or built-in drives (hunger, thirst, breathing, etc.).
If you are a follower of Minsky's "Society of Mind" school,
then you may have "subconscious" subroutines that take
over certain aspects of becoming arroused that you are
not consciously aware of (or even able to control).
At any rate, getting the thread back on track, in an upload
all of these things should be able to be experienced (if the
upload is provided with the proper inputs). The upload
doesn't need the outputs (so sex should be much less messy).
Robert
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