Scientists Achieve Mental Body-Swapping

SpaceAdmiral notes the news that scientists have succeeded in convincing experiment subjects that a mannequin's body is their own, and even feeling at home in the body of someone of the opposite sex. The effect could prove useful in virtual reality applications and in robot technology. Here's the paper on PLoS ONE.

Comments

Re:Ghost in the Shell

[KillerBob]

I'd venture that being uncomfortable with your own homosexuality shouldn't be acceptable, either. Getting *way* off-topic here (and Mods, feel free to mod me down), but I think the world would be a much healthier place if people could just get past all the idiotic programming society puts in place. There's no earthly reason for people to feel discomfort with who they are, and yet that's exactly why issues like transgenderism have such a high suicide rate. Embrace who you are, and be comfortable with it. Be proud of it, and for crying out loud, if you're queer, come out of the damned closet and enjoy your life. (it's a bit of a personal issue... I've had trans and gay friends kill themselves because of that kind of personal discomfort and shame as a result of society's programming telling them that they're wrong.)

Re:Ghost in the Shell

[clone53421]

If you're uncomfortable with gayness, I would submit that you aren't actually gay. [...] it would be ludicrous to expect a straight person to be comfortable with the idea of themselves doing gay things, just as it would be ludicrous to expect a gay person to be comfortable with the idea of themselves doing straight things.

True and true. Too often people get accused of "homophobia" when they're just expressing the fact that they aren't gay and no, they don't want that creepy guy hitting on them any more than a woman would want a creepy straight guy hitting on her.

I'm occasionally ok with giving other guys hugs – as long as it doesn't seem gay (there are a few people I can think of who this applies to). If it does seem gay to hug someone, then I won't hug them, because I'm not gay. IMHO this isn't any different than a girl not hugging a guy who she thinks is "creepy".