Unceremonious return
It's been nearly a year to the day since my last update, making this the longest hiatus I've ever taken from blogging. I could make excuses or promise that I'll never do this again, but since this is a hobby and not a profession, I don't feel beholden to anyone. I update when I feel like it, and if any of my friends look forward to my blog entries enough to join my reader base, they know where to locate them.
A few weeks ago, I posted a question on Facebook that was asked of me in Detroit: Become Human - specifically, "Would you consider having a relationship with an android that looks like a human?" Of the 39 people who responded...
- ...22 (56.4%) voted yes.
- ...17 (43.6%) voted no.
- ...23 (59.0%) were male.
- ...16 (41.0%) were female.
- ...14 (60.9%) male respondents voted yes.
- ...7 (43.8%) female respondents voted yes.
This meant there was a little less of a positive slant than I noticed in the in-game poll (where approximately two-thirds of respondents said they would consider such a relationship), and men were more likely than women to respond affirmatively. I'd be interested in learning more about everyone's rationale for giving affirmative and negative responses, but since I'm not seriously considering going back to school and getting a graduate degree in statistics or biorobotics, I think conducting and analyzing the results of that survey would take more time than I'd be able to invest before boredom set in.
What I can and will do is offer the rationale behind my response. I was one of the people who responded affirmatively to this question, though I do have some caveats. I'm assuming that the androids referred to in the question are similar to the ones that appear in the game: physically indistinguishable from humans apart from an LED light on their temples, with biocomponents analogous to human organs and the capacity to reason, feel emotion, and engage in abstract thought as humans can. Yes, it would be impossible for us to procreate, but I'm more concerned about finding a partner whose appearance, intelligence, and personality are attractive to me and whose interests and goals are compatible with mine. As long as I knew an android with these qualities had free will and could choose to be in a relationship with me, I would be willing to consider entering into a relationship with her. (It would still need to resemble a human female in order to pique my interest, so the term "gynoid" may be more appropriate here.)
Aside from being unable to have children with the android (which is something I decided several years ago is important to me), there would be one other hurdle I'd have to overcome to make the relationship work. While the androids in Detroit: Become Human are cognizant and sometimes afraid of "shutting down," I haven't seen any evidence that they're sensitive to the changes in human bodies as they age. A Detroit-style android would be effectively immortal, able to continue functioning indefinitely as long as its battery and any worn-out biocomponents were replaced every few years, and would not physically change as it aged. Barring an earth-shattering medical breakthrough, I would continue to age and grow increasingly feeble until I died, and I'm not sure how a timeless lover would react to watching me fall apart over the course of several decades. If she knew and could accept that I would not be around forever and that my physical and mental functions would gradually deteriorate as I aged, then a relationship between us could potentially work.
Yes, dear readers, I am living in the wrong universe. No need to point it out, thanks.
In other news, I'm still working at Houston Community College and continuing to adjust to the new set of responsibilities that comes with being a lead instructor. I'm now involved with lesson development, training, and scheduling to such an extent that I thought I was starting to lose my edge when I taught a Level 1 class this summer. One student in particular, while she was very friendly and sociable, had a dreadful combination of atrocious listening comprehension skills and outspokenness - she criticized everything from my handwriting to the pacing of the class (which I slowed down specifically to accommodate her) and my decision to skip over textbook material that wouldn't be covered on the tests. She became indignant when I asked her if she'd taken any intro-level courses, and I was tempted on more than one occasion to tell her that she needed to (re)take them to properly prepare for Level 1. She had her daughter call me a few times to discuss her performance in the class and ask for some study tips, and while she wound up passing by a narrow margin, I gave her daughter my professional opinion that she should retake the class to get some additional practice. Level 2 doesn't get any easier, especially in the new editions of the textbook we started using this summer, and I can't teach at the level of the lowest common denominator without doing the rest of the students a disservice.
That unpleasant experience aside, the last few months have provided me with some fine opportunities for professional and personal enrichment. I flew to Chicago for the 2018 TESOL International Conference on HCC's dime, where I ran into two people I first met in South Korea, attended several fascinating presentations (including one by a woman who was inspired by her grandmother's stories about Hull House to write a play about Jane Addams), and spent two evenings exploring the city with my cousin Chris, one at a lavish party hosted by a textbook publisher, and one at a comedy club with one of my colleagues and her son. Back in Houston, I played unofficial tech support for Andrés Ruzo and delivered a well-received presentation on student engagement activities (i.e. games) at HCC's faculty in-service. In my spare time, I ran three sessions of Little Fears for the Wednesday night gaming group, during which the players reinforced one of Murphy's laws ("Every activity takes more time than you have.") as they ruined the life of the neighborhood bully and saved the other neighborhood children from a pack of gremlins and their gluttonous king. The system is easy to learn and encourages collaborative storytelling, but I'll need to clarify or possibly tweak some of the rules related to Belief if and when I run my next game.
For the first time since I started working at HCC, I decided not to teach during the second summer session and have instead been using that time to write, travel, and recenter myself. I've done precious little writing of any sort, unfortunately, but I do have some exciting travel plans: at the asscrack of dawn on Thursday morning, I fly to China to meet up with a good friend I've known for the last two years. It'll be a short trip and our first time ever to see each other in person, so if she runs screaming in the opposite direction as soon as she sees me, I'll only have to figure out how to spend two days in Shanghai before I fly home. Considering that the consulate issued me a multiple-entry visa that's good for the next 10 years, I can fly back later if I have a burning desire to visit China again.
And don't worry, I'll post pics aplenty when I return. Stay awesome, dear readers, and keep fighting to make the world a better place.