# orgasmatron finally here **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 8, 2001, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624 "2001-02-08T15:24:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![frolix8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f04885/32.png) [@frolix8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frolix8)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/1 "2001-02-08T15:24:03Z")
According to this: [orgasmatron](http://www.cnn.com/2001/HEALTH/02/07/orgasm.device/index.html) someone has finally invented the orgasmatron, a device that will let women have orgasms using a button on a remote control. What kinds of restrictions are needed on such a device, which appears to have at least as much potential for “abuse” as many outlawed drugs? I would guess that this technology, if it works as stated, could be used to replace many psychoactive drugs, including recreational drugs. If there are no significant side effects will society allow such devices to be sold on demand, or will the same arguments that are used to justify the restrictions on recreational drugs be used to restrict these devices as well? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/2 "2001-02-08T15:38:11Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by frolix8 \* > a device that will let women have orgasms **using a button on a remote control.** That’s one hell of a remote control you’ve got. Mine won’t even work my VCR. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/3 "2001-02-08T16:02:19Z")
Um, beg to differ. Has **not** “been invented”. **Is** “in the process of being researched” if he ever gets any funding. Notice the words “could offer”, “could allow”, “could begin”, and “could be”. > [@](#): > > A medical implant in the works could offer women a chance to experience orgasms with the press of a button. > > For the electronic orgasm device to work, a physician would implant electrodes into the spine and a small signal generator in the skin under the buttocks. A patient would then control the sensation with a handheld remote control. > > Stuart Meloy, the North Carolina doctor seeking a patent for the device, thinks it could allow women with orgasmic dysfunction to resume normal sex lives. > > Reports of similar medical cases convinced him that the phenomenon could be reproduced. > > Clinical trials could begin later this year if Meloy receives funding from a major medical implant manufacturer. Scientific studies have already demonstrated the safety of the device, he said, since it uses off-the-shelf technology. > > Meloy has not tested the device on men, but said it should work the same way for them as for women. We now return you to your regularly scheduled debate on The Ethics of the Orgasmatron. People have known for years that you could implant electrodes in rats’ brains and teach them to push the lever to get an orgasm, and that they’ll keep on pushing the lever to the exclusion of all else, until they starve to death. So what’s new here? Installing it in women? Ooo, the wonderful myth of the cyborg nymphomaniac, except that in this variant of the story, she doesn’t need a man, she needs a battery… I can see where that would be very threatening to the male power structure, so no, I don’t see this gadget coming into widespread use at all. As a matter of fact, I seriously doubt it’ll ever get much farther than the CNN story. Speaking as a female, I’d like to point out that IMHO, half the fun of an orgasm is getting there. An orgasm isn’t something like taking a vitamin pill, where you check it off your list for the day. “Push the button, okay, I’m done, what’s next?” And as for installing it in men, it was my understanding that after a guy \ experiences orgasm after a certain number of times in a row, it just starts to hurt. Do you guys really want to come so much it hurts? So I’m putting myself in the shoes (so to speak) of a woman who’s in bed with a guy with one of these installed. Nice, huh? All he has to do is push the button and he’s done. But the article doesn’t say, “Push the button and you’ll have a nice long-lasting erection and can go all night”, it says, “Push the button and you’ll ejaculate, boom.” So from my perspective, what’s the point? Why should I go to bed with this guy? Oh, sure, if he’s the hubby with ED problems, I’ll be grateful that modern science can come up with a way to let him have his fun, too, but for the Girl On The Street (so to speak), what’s in it for her? And for the guy without ED, again, why would you want one? Mother Nature pushes the button for you. It doesn’t say anything about delaying ejaculation, only triggering it. I’d also like to point out that the article doesn’t say, “This will give a woman an orgasm”. What it says is: > [@](#): > > Patients in such operations remain conscious to help surgeons place the electrodes in the best locations to relieve chronic pain. And in this case the woman exclaimed emphatically when Meloy missed the right spot. > > “I asked her what that was and she said, ‘You’re going to have to teach my husband to do that,’” he said. This doesn’t sound like an orgasm to me. It sounds like “about one-third of the way up Eve’s Mountain” to me. I don’t merely “exclaim emphatically” and then say mildly, “Oh, you’ll have to teach my husband to do that”, when I \ experience an orgasm. I think that this Dr. Meloy’s just stumping for research funding, and CNN is happy to assist him in his quest. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/4 "2001-02-08T16:16:11Z")
Cross-wire the Orgasmotron with the TV remote and wives would encourage their husbands to channel-surf. Imagine that the devices become widespread and someone brings a remote to the office. Or a PTA meeting. Or to church. ---
**Author:** ![slortar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/6bbea6/32.png) [@slortar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slortar)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/5 "2001-02-08T17:46:40Z")
I plan on getting one and wiring it to my dreamcast’s game controller. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Beadalin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Beadalin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beadalin)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/6 "2001-02-08T18:13:39Z")
It was my understanding from reading the article that the implants would be, you know, implanted under very specific circumstances. The procedure costs $15,000, which ain’t exactly pocket change, so it will be a while at least before this would become as common as the vibrator. I got the impression that this surgery would be performed only on people who are sexually dysfunctional, not on anyone who coughs up the cash. I think this compares better to, say, getting a pacemaker than getting LASIX. We’re talking about electrodes _implanted along your spine_. That’s pretty serious stuff. When other measures have failed, this would become an option. That said, I don’t think this has all that much more potential for abuse than other sexual devices. It appears to offer more or less instant gratification, but so what? If someone’s in the mood to get off, they’ll find a way to do it, implants or no. And the benefits of allowing people to obtain or resume a more normal sex life outweigh, in my opinion, the dangers of a person deciding to come whenever they want. ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/7 "2001-02-08T20:17:55Z")
Duck Duck Goose wrote: > [@](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > Patients in such operations remain conscious to help surgeons place the electrodes in the best locations to relieve chronic pain. And in this case the woman exclaimed emphatically when Meloy missed the right spot. > > > > “I asked her what that was and she said, ‘You’re going to have to teach my husband to do that,’” he said. > > This doesn’t sound like an orgasm to me. It sounds like “about one-third of the way up Eve’s Mountain” to me. I don’t merely “exclaim emphatically” and then say mildly, “Oh, you’ll have to teach my husband to do that”, when I \ experience an orgasm. I think that this Dr. Meloy’s just stumping for research funding, and CNN is happy to assist him in his quest. My 1983 _Introductory Psychology_ textbook contains a section describing what happens when experimental subjects had electrodes implanted incertain areas of their brain and were allowed to press a button to send a small electric current down the electrodes. One subject pressed his button over and over again, and when the researchers asked him about it, he said it was giving him a sensation similar to **approaching** an orgasm. He said it was quite frustrating because he never got all the way there. If this new device produces an effect like that, there are going to be **more** frustrated women out there, not less! ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/8 "2001-02-08T20:45:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by frolix8 \* > **I would guess that this technology, if it works as stated, could be used to replace many psychoactive drugs, including recreational drugs.** Why? People don’t smoke pot or drink alcohol because it feels like an orgasm, after all. If that’s all they wanted, they’d masturbate instead. > [@](#): > > If there are no significant side effects will society allow such devices to be sold on demand, or will the same arguments that are used to justify the restrictions on recreational drugs be used to restrict these devices as well? Well, I don’t think it’s really any of “society’s” business, but I have no doubt that it would be illegal in some places. After all, dildos are illegal in Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/9 "2001-02-08T20:47:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by frolix8 \* > **I would guess that this technology, if it works as stated, could be used to replace many psychoactive drugs, including recreational drugs.** Why? People don’t smoke pot or drink alcohol because it feels like an orgasm, after all. If that’s all they wanted, they’d masturbate instead. > [@](#): > > If there are no significant side effects will society allow such devices to be sold on demand, or will the same arguments that are used to justify the restrictions on recreational drugs be used to restrict these devices as well? Well, I don’t think it’s really any of “society’s” business, but I have no doubt that it would be illegal in some places. After all, dildos were illegal in Georgia until 1999, and still are in Alabama. ---
**Author:** ![Demise](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/34f0e0/32.png) [@Demise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Demise)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2001, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/10 "2001-02-08T21:34:55Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > **Ooo, the wonderful myth of the cyborg nymphomaniac, except that in this variant of the story, she doesn’t need a man, she needs a battery… I can see where that would be very threatening to the male power structure…** Um, why would this be “threatening” to the “male power structure”? Women don’t generally **have** to have a man to have an orgasm. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2001, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/11 "2001-02-09T00:25:13Z")
> [@](#): > > Ooo, the wonderful myth of the cyborg nymphomaniac, except that in this variant of the story, she doesn’t need a man, she needs a battery… I can see where that would be very threatening to the male power structure… Ummm…you are assuming we men CARE whether women have orgasms or not. The evidence for that seems mixed. ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2001, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/12 "2001-02-09T00:49:37Z")
> [@](#): > > Well, I don’t think it’s really any of “society’s” business, but I have no doubt that it would be illegal in some places. After all, dildos were illegal in Georgia until 1999, and still are in Alabama. Laws prohibiting any kind of cybernetic implant would raise some serious questions. Let’s say someone gets one of these, and the government subsequently outlaws them. Can the government force that person to have it removed? After all, it was ruled that women have a right to be able to recieve abortions on the grounds that people have the right to control their bodies. Couldn’t the same argument be made with regard to cybernetics? ---
**Author:** ![pldennison](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/9fc29f/32.png) [@pldennison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pldennison)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2001, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/13 "2001-02-09T13:37:16Z")
[QUOTE] \*Originally posted by RoboDude \* \*\* > [@](#): > > After all, it was ruled that women have a right to be able to recieve abortions on the grounds that people have the right to control their bodies. \*\* No, it wasn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2001, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/14 "2001-02-09T15:42:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Demise \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > > **Ooo, the wonderful myth of the cyborg nymphomaniac, except that in this variant of the story, she doesn’t need a man, she needs a battery… I can see where that would be very threatening to the male power structure…** > > Um, why would this be “threatening” to the “male power structure”? Women don’t generally **have** to have a man to have an orgasm. > > \*\* Right, but the Male Power Structure prefers not to believe that. They’d rather think that women need them for sex. 😃 Lemur, yeah, okay, maybe the Male Power Structure doesn’t really care whether women have orgasms, but they sure do care whether women are having sex, with or without an orgasm. If women had orgasm implants, they’d never have to put out again. Can’t see the MPS going for that. 😃 (this whole conversation is rather weird) ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/15 "2001-02-10T01:34:08Z")
**pld** replied to **RoboDude:** \*“After all, it was ruled that women have a right to be able to recieve abortions on the grounds that people have the right to control their bodies.” No, it wasn’t.\* Um, could you elaborate on that a bit, **Phil**? The opinion in Roe v. Wade does state > [@](#): > > This right of privacy, whether it be founded in the Fourteenth Amendment’s concept of personal liberty and restrictions upon state action, as we feel it is, or, as the District Court determined, in the Ninth Amendment’s reservation of rights to the people, is broad enough to encompass a woman’s decision whether or not to terminate her pregnancy. Seems like “the right to control their bodies” is a reasonable description of the relevant application of the “right of privacy” in this case. No? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2001, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/16 "2001-02-10T03:18:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > And as for installing it in men, it was my understanding that after a guy \ experiences orgasm after a certain number of times in a row, it just starts to hurt. Do you guys really want to come so much it hurts? Yes. ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [February 11, 2001, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/17 "2001-02-11T03:37:15Z")
If this thing works on men, I imagine it would be a useful tool for frequent sperm donors. ---
**Author:** ![jmullaney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/85e7bf/32.png) [@jmullaney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jmullaney)\ **Post date:** [February 12, 2001, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/orgasmatron-finally-here/53624/18 "2001-02-12T21:52:20Z")
[http://www.plif.com/archive/wc157.gif](http://www.plif.com/archive/wc157.gif)