Idea sex can easily feel like a celebration of all things human progress. The problem is it's not all sunshine and rainbows. Economics is not always a pure, innocent human transaction. Some suffer, and even some you might not think about.

In a Wired article titled Why Westerners Fear Robots and the Japanese Do Not, Joi Ito states:

“The Western concept of “humanity” is limited, and I think it’s time to seriously question whether we have the right to exploit the environment, animals, tools, or robots simply because we’re human and they are not.”

It's a big pill to swallow for Americans, but, as a Japanese person, Ito explains that in the official religion of Japan, Shinto, "there are spirits in everything." Right down to your toaster.

And in a way I think that makes Shinto feel parallel to idea sex. It takes the contributions of millions, right down to the plastic and metal bits, to make a pencil or a toaster or the internet. If you think about it, there is a little bit of human beings in a lot of this world. Zoom out even further and there is even more of robots, nature, and everything else. It's an interconnected world.

And it's a wholesome concept, giving life to the formerly lifeless. But there are still deep roots in American capitalism that make me think this mental switch might be far off.

In a new TED talk, The nightmare videos of children's YouTube — and what's wrong with the internet today, James Bridle breaks down the bizarre world algorithms and ad revenue has created. Without spoiling the complexity of a very eloquent and disturbing talk, Bridle explains that "within a dozen steps, you can go from a cute video of a counting train to masturbating Mickey Mouse."

We are far from spiritual robots. But Bridle offers a solution to consider:

“We need to stop thinking about technology as a solution to all of our problems, but think of it as a guide to what those problems actually are, so we can start thinking about them properly and start to address them.”