We are the cyborgs
boingboing has linked to the story on cyborgs, and of course the amazing Vernon Vinge and boingbong dharling Cory had to talk about singularity and the possibility of extending one's existence through the use of machines that convey information. So, we talk about cyborgs, and the technorati discuss what will happen when we become those man-machine hybrids. Oh, the future.
Dudes, we are cyborgs already. We have been cyborgs since the first tool came within our grasp: a study not so long ago (but long enough to forget where I put it) points to the owner of a car and his/her identification with the machine; so intense is the identification, that the car driver actually flinches when seeing the car scratched or punched. Why? If I remember well, we train our brain into thinking that that piece of car is actually part of our own self, an extension of our body, an additional limb.
We are cyborgs.
We use the same part of the brain to identify either cars or faces, and we are already researching ways by which to manipulate everyday objects using a chip installed in the brain.
Jaron Lanier, in one of those early interviews on virtual reality, used to talk about the amazing plasticity of the brain, how easy was the transition from human body to multiple limbed giant insect, and to gain control of that animal.
Those early attempts at cyborg, the soccer player hitting the ball, the driver signaling to others that he is going to change lanes, the hunter rising their rifle, all of them are signaling to others their intention, using for that effect a tool, and all of them have achieved a special mastery of that tool, all of them make it their own!
We have in all of those an enhancement of our abilities through the use of an artifact, and we exchange information with others that are using a similar artifact.
We are cyborgs already, albeit extremely primitive ones.
Technorati: technology, trends,cyborg