lonely

while researching the lost dolls post from the other day i came across something that i wasn't prepared for. when i entered my "dolls" search i got back a strange article about these really high end sex dolls bought by creepy introverted guys who end up spending a lot of time and money with them. very bizarre. the more i thought about it, it reminded me of a twilight zone episode called "the lonely" where jack warden, a prisoner in isolation in the future on a desert planet is given an android woman by one of his sympathetic prison guards on one of his supply stops.
at first he is repulsed by the idea of interacting with a robot, but as time goes by he begins to accept her as a real woman. i can't help thinking how very close we seem to this concept these days. and it isn't just the sex doll. the internet, video games and other virtual interactive media draw so many people in to these pseudo-relationships. it doesn't seem like it will be too long before the synthetic human is a reality too.
it's funny and sad to me that in this present age where we are supposedly more connected by technology than at any time in history, we seem to be more isolated communally more than ever before. think about that as you pass strangers in your travels. there are a lot of lonely people out there...