Japan: Are You An App?
What if the slogan “Cool Japan” accurately represents Japanese culture?
In that case, we can expect some of the dominant trends in Japanese popular culture to evolve and strengthen.
Consumerism, conformity, dehumanization will all merge as Japanese people substitute individually created identity for off-the-shelf virtual representations. All will be "tatemae" (socially 'given'); nothing will be "honne" (individually true).
Text becomes talk. Emoticons become emotion. Selfies become Self. People become avatars.
No wonder the Japanese don’t have sex. It’s messy. Flesh and bodily fluids…ugh…. And that trend will get worse.
The Japanese population is officially projected to decline to just 100 million by 2050. However, this is an official projection -- and it could easily be much worse, as you can see by the graph above. Just 38 million by 2100?
An issue in a country that does not welcome immigrants.
But no problem.
As the dwindling population becomes increasingly an extension of its smartphones - increasingly robotic – the answer is simple create real robots.
Just as Japanese manufacturing achieved its greatest successes by supplanting human labor on the production line with robots, Japanese culture will just replace its human avatar population with manufactured robotic avatars. Who will know the difference? And if they do, will it matter?
In an age when dildos are often preferable to penises , you just know that robots are the future.
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/31/erica-the-most-beautiful-and-intelligent-android-ever-leads-japans-robot-revolution
In that case, we can expect some of the dominant trends in Japanese popular culture to evolve and strengthen.
Consumerism, conformity, dehumanization will all merge as Japanese people substitute individually created identity for off-the-shelf virtual representations. All will be "tatemae" (socially 'given'); nothing will be "honne" (individually true).
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| Virtual girls in a virtual world |
Text becomes talk. Emoticons become emotion. Selfies become Self. People become avatars.
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| Otaku 'r us |
No wonder the Japanese don’t have sex. It’s messy. Flesh and bodily fluids…ugh…. And that trend will get worse.
 |
| How to deal with overcrowding |
The Japanese population is officially projected to decline to just 100 million by 2050. However, this is an official projection -- and it could easily be much worse, as you can see by the graph above. Just 38 million by 2100?
 |
| No, she won't have sex with you |
An issue in a country that does not welcome immigrants.
But no problem.
As the dwindling population becomes increasingly an extension of its smartphones - increasingly robotic – the answer is simple create real robots.
 |
| Robot is on the right ...maybe |
Just as Japanese manufacturing achieved its greatest successes by supplanting human labor on the production line with robots, Japanese culture will just replace its human avatar population with manufactured robotic avatars. Who will know the difference? And if they do, will it matter?
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| Is the conversational ability any different? |
In an age when dildos are often preferable to penises , you just know that robots are the future.
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| Better than human! Pneumatic! |
http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/31/erica-the-most-beautiful-and-intelligent-android-ever-leads-japans-robot-revolution
Erica enjoys the theatre and animated films, would like to visit south-east Asia, and believes her ideal partner is a man with whom she can chat easily.I am sure that the average Japanese guy or gay girl will really be able to get off on Erica 2.0.
She is less forthcoming, however, when asked her age. “That’s a slightly rude question … I’d rather not say,” comes the answer. As her embarrassed questioner shifts sideways and struggles to put the conversation on a friendlier footing, Erica turns her head, her eyes following his every move.
It is all rather disconcerting, but if Japan’s new generation of intelligent robots are ever going to rival humans as conversation partners, perhaps that is as it should be.
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| Ex Machina |
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