There is a difference between getting what you want and getting what you think you want. Technology gives us more and more of what we think we want. These days, looking at sociable robots and digitized friends, one might assume that what we want is to be always in touch and never alone, no matter who or what we are in touch with. One might assume that what we want is plenty of weak ties, the informal networks that underpin online acquaintanceship. But if we pay attention to the real consequences of what we think we want, we may discover what we really want. We may want some stillness and solitude. As an American writer once put it, we may want to live less ‘thickly’ and wait for more infrequent but meaningful _____________________. As we put in our many hours of typing ― with all fingers or just thumbs ― we may discover that we miss the human voice. We may decide that it is fine to play chess with a robot, but that robots are unfit for any conversation about family or friends. A robot might have needs, but to understand desire, one needs language and flesh. We may decide that for these conversations, we must have a person who knows, firsthand, what it means to be born, to have parents and a family, to wish for love and perhaps children, and to anticipate death. And, of course, we must not let the virtual take us away from the real world that doesn’t go away with a power outage.