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A review by pistachios42
Turned on: Science, Sex and Robots by Kate Devlin
4.0
This a book about sex, robots, and sex robots. It's a lot of fun.
Aside from a lot of the ideas in this book, I thought the tone was really well-balanced. Sex robots are funny, and Devlin writes about them as the funny and embarrassing topic that they are. Compared to a lot of dry, ponderous and meandering non-fiction that I've read on this course, this is incredibly readable and a joy to read. Devlin understands the impression of academics as dry and stuffy writers, and stuffs her writing with anecdotes, jokes and comments creating a unique relationship with the reader.
I also think that although a lot of the book is building up the science and historical ideas around both sex and robots. But when we get to the novel's final chapter we get a sense of what kind of future Devlin envisions. Devlin describes a workshop she held where an array of artists and scientists were put into teams to design futuristic sex robots. What came out of it were about a dozen objects that resembled nothing like what we have now. Devlin's future is a sex positive one where technology can enhance pleasure for whoever wants it, in a healthy and inclusive way. I think it's a pretty great one.
Aside from a lot of the ideas in this book, I thought the tone was really well-balanced. Sex robots are funny, and Devlin writes about them as the funny and embarrassing topic that they are. Compared to a lot of dry, ponderous and meandering non-fiction that I've read on this course, this is incredibly readable and a joy to read. Devlin understands the impression of academics as dry and stuffy writers, and stuffs her writing with anecdotes, jokes and comments creating a unique relationship with the reader.
I also think that although a lot of the book is building up the science and historical ideas around both sex and robots. But when we get to the novel's final chapter we get a sense of what kind of future Devlin envisions. Devlin describes a workshop she held where an array of artists and scientists were put into teams to design futuristic sex robots. What came out of it were about a dozen objects that resembled nothing like what we have now. Devlin's future is a sex positive one where technology can enhance pleasure for whoever wants it, in a healthy and inclusive way. I think it's a pretty great one.