Wow, I'm getting thoughtful responses! Who'd've thunk it?

I actually agree with both Nightstriker and Caine that age differences can be important in a relationship. In r/l I've had no age-related problems with an 8 1/2 year difference, but manymany with 16 and 18 year differences.

And this may explain why women seem less likely to specify an age. I have several very successful ongoing relationships of the platonic variety with women who're anywhere from 18 years younger to 36 years older than I am. In other threads, several (many?) of the women in the Forum have said that they don't see BDSM as a sexual thing, whereas nearly all the men who've expressed opinions have come down on the 'sexual' side.

I like lucy's notion of the machine consciousness. In the end, if you're never going to meet, what difference WOULD it make if you were corresponding with a machine?

As far as r/l relationships go, if we're only going to bed, and I don't have to actually relate to her, age really doesn't make a difference. The perception of age DOES, however. I've seen half a dozen 60 year old women with whom I would be very flattered to be invited to bed, but that's because they don't 'look their age'. If they're 60 and look 45, or if they're 12 and look 18, I don't have any problem with it (at least, not until the men in blue come knockin' at my bedroom door). Unfortunately, this is likely to cycle us back to another of Tourguide's 'don't have cosmetic surgery' threads.