Viewpoints: The Miracle of Cyber Sex

For millions the Internet has become their information, communication, trade and entertainment medium of choice - a wellspring from which money, meaning, power and instant gratification flow. Some have found fame, fortune, financial security and self-actualization on-line. For still others cyberspace is their virtual God. And as though that were not enough, you can have sex, too.

Although the use of the Net for sex is nothing new, the number of people engaging in cybersex is growing exponentially. For those unfamiliar with this form of high-tech sexual activity, it is the Internet equivalent of telephone sex popularized by the Clinton White House.

With cybersex your only commitment is to your own sensual pleasure. Anything goes. You neither see, hear, touch, taste nor smell your e-mail partner. The relationship can be ended with the click of the mouse.

In addition to the erotic pleasure provided by cybersex, reproductive biologists have discovered an important unexpected side benefit. Cybersex has the potential virtually to eliminate several sexually related scourges including AIDS, venereal diseases, unwanted pregnancies and abortion.

All cybersex is safe sex. Even if you don't use a condom, the risk of contracting AIDS or some venereal disease is zero. Birth control pills are anachronisms of the low-tech past for cyber enthusiasts. Indeed, no contraceptive whatsoever is necessary. Since pregnancy, whether wanted or unwanted, is not an option, abortion is a moot point.

The political implications of this latter development could prove to be profound. Since the United States Supreme Court's 1973 Roe v. Wade decision concerning legalized abortion, pro-life advocates and abortion rights activists have been locked in a never-ending, sometimes violent feud over abortion. Cybersex renders this conflict irrelevant.

The Roman Catholic Church, which opposes abortion and all forms of contraception, has yet to weigh in on cybersex.

Sexually explicit magazines such as Gallery, Hustler and Penthouse, which routinely publish accounts of cybersex exploits, are enjoying windfall gains. Everybody is doing it.

Politicians who engage in extramarital affairs are particularly attracted to cybersex. If caught in the act, a male politician can truthfully say, "I did not have sex with that woman."

Cybersex provides international public health officials and population policy-makers at the United Nations, USAID and Planned Parenthood with renewed focus. Their challenge is to make as many laptop computers available as possible for sexually active men and women living in the Third World. Their aim is to reduce the incidence of AIDS and stabilize population growth.

Recognizing the enormous financial potential of the cybersex revolution globally, so-called dot-com companies are anxious to jump on the bandwagon. The Gates Foundation will no doubt want to support the introduction of PCs into as many third World countries as possible. AOL, Cisco, Del, IBM, Intel, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems will not be far behind.

Cynics who claim that old fashioned, low-tech sex is more fun than high-tech cybersex are obviously Luddites who are out of touch with reality.

Thomas Naylor is profesor emeritus of economics at Duke University and co-author of The Technological Manifesto, to be published by New River Press, Woonsocket, R.I.