What can we achieve as a Cyborg and what is the future of Cyborgs in our society?

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“Of all creatures that breathe and move upon the earth, nothing is bred that is weaker than man.”

-Homer, The Odyssey

We can’t deny the limit to our strengths and physical capacity. But that doesn’t mean we can’t overcome it. With the help of science, we can modify our body and overcome the natural limits to our physicals ability. We can change our body components and do what we can’t do naturally. It is the notion that has led the scientist and technologist create Cyborgs.

Cyborgs are not ordinary human being. They are neither human nor machine. They are somewhere in the middle of these two things. They are a hybrid creature of nature and science. They can do what normal people can’t.

What is a Cyborg or Who is a Cyborg?

Half machine and half human, it is how I liked to define Cyborgs. But what has been bothering me lately is trying to find out how to address a Cyborg. Should I consider a Cyborg a human being or should I consider it a machine?

After pondering a lot about this matter, I started to consider ‘Cyborg’ as a synthetic form of the human body. I know this concept of mine can be wrong. So I chose to look upon some of the existing definitions of Cyborg:

According to the online Oxford dictionary, Cyborg is:

“A fictional or hypothetical person whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body.”

While Donna Haraway in her essay ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’ wrote:

“A cyborg is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction.”

The first two definitions of Cyborg somehow mention it as a hybrid of man and machine that can only be found in our imagination or in social reality. But if you want a more sophisticated or accurate definition of Cyborg then I would like to recommend you to try this one given by Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S. Kline, in 1960.

“the exogenously extended organizational complex functioning as an integrated homeostatic system unconsciously, we propose the term ‘Cyborg’.”

The reason I consider the last definition more accurate is that it considers ‘Cyborg’ as a synthetic organism without mentioning anything about it being fictional.

The origin and development of the term ‘Cyborg’

The term ‘Cyborg’ came to existence when Manfred Clynes and Nathan S. Kline wrote an article ‘Cyborgs and Space’ that was published in a journal called ‘Astronautics’ in 1960. In that article, they had given a concept of a complex organism composed of both biological and mechanical components.

The term gradually became popular among the scientist, researchers and the fiction novel writers who found their interest in a complex organism that is neither a human nor a machine. Although, there remains a fact which needs to be considered that it is not only a human who can be a Cyborg. Any biological organism with mechanical implants can be considered as Cyborg too.

It was mostly the people from the discipline called ‘Cybernetics’ who were mainly involved in the scientific studies and writings on Cyborgs ever since Clynes and Kline came up with that term in 1960. But when Dona Harway wrote an essay named ‘A Cyborg Manifesto’ in 1985 where she compared the position of woman and cyborgs in her contemporary society, the concept of ‘Cyborg’ became a popular topic of discussion also in the field of social science and humanities.

What can we achieve from transforming people to Cyborg

The human body is vulnerable, it can be affected by diseases, get damaged by accidents and decay with age. But it is possible for us to overcome these consequences and enhance our physical ability by transforming ourselves to Cyborg. There exist already such cases where disabled people became able to function like a normal person after becoming a Cyborg.

The first Cyborg in human history, Neil Harbisson was born color blind. But now he can see colors as he decided to transform his body to Cyborg in 2004. He has an antenna in the lower back of his skull which allows him to see color. But what will make you more surprised is that he actually doesn’t see color but hear those as sounds with the antenna inside of his head.

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After choosing to become Cyborg Neil not only became able to see color but also achieved a superhuman ability. With his antenna in his head, Neil can hear some low-frequency sound that normal people can’t.

Another example of disabled people performing normal activity can be given about Zac Vawter who lost a leg as the doctor had to amputate it in 2012. He is a software engineer who now uses a bionic leg to walk, run and climb stairs etc. His leg is very different from ordinary prosthetic legs. It can be controlled by his brain like a normal leg.

With his bionic leg, Zac was able to climb up the Willis Tower a 103 story building of Chicago. He was featured in several newspaper, magazine and online media after performing this deed.

There exist many cases like the above two where people became able to overcome their disability and started performing like a superhuman after transforming themselves into Cyborg.

Pushing the human strength and capacity beyond the limit

Cyborg technology is not only capable of doing something great for the disabled people but it can also help us pushing the limits to our physical ability. For example, we can carry a heavy load with an exoskeleton that we can’t with our natural body. We can implant a chip in our brain to increase our memory and do networking with a server automatically.

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In this regard Kevin Warwick, the world’s most renowned Cyborg, and Cybernetics researcher has said:

“I was born human. But this was an accident of fate - a condition merely of time and place. I believe it's something we have the power to change”

Warwick dedicated his life for the research of Cyborg and Cybernetics. He had undergone several surgeries for his research on the Cybernetics technologies. He implanted a cheap in his arm in 1998 which he could control from his brain. He has also led Cyborg or Cybernetics experiment on his wife who is also a Cyborg. His work and research on the Cyborgs have earned him the title ‘Captain Cyborg’ from the people.

I have never spoken or made any contact to him personally but as far as I have read about him, made me think that he must love the title.

The future of Cyborgs

Cyborgs are different kinds of entity. We can’t consider them human and again we can’t consider them a robot. As a result, there arise some dilemmas or questions such as:

What kind of status and rights should we give them? Do we need to come up with specials laws or amendment for them?

There is already such a demand which has been made to declare Cyborg rights.As a part of our society, we can’t alienate Cyborgs from humans. We can’t treat them like a machine or abstract materials. On the other hand, we can’t also give them the rights and status of a normal human as their body is composed of machines.

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Even though Cyborg component is made in a way which is fully controlled by the human brain still machine can malfunction or get corrupted by computer program. In that kind of circumstances, if a Cyborg causes damages to human lives and property then the government might choose to impose some rules and restriction to stop people from transforming their body to Cyborg.

Form this type of concerns, Neil Harbisson mentioned previously as the first Cyborg of human history, has started a foundation for establishing the Cyborg rights. This foundation has made a draft or proposed list of Cyborg Civil Rights which was created with the help of a famous civil right activist and researcher, Rick Mackinnon. The official website of the Cyborg Foundation contains the list of the Cyborg rights.

Conclusion

The existing cases of Cyborgs have shown that it is possible for mankind to acquire superhuman strength and physical ability by modifying their body. It can be said that getting inspired by the existing Cyborgs more and more people will choose to become a Cyborg as it will give them more control and freedom over their body.

Still, there remains a fact to consider that for what kind of purposes should we allow people to become a Cyborg? It is because what if somebody turns into a super villain as we see in the movies by transforming his or her body to Cyborg?

I am leaving this question here for you, I hope you will have fun finding the answers to this question and let me know your thought about it.

References

• Clynes, Manfred E., and Nathan S. Kline. "Cyborgs and Space," Astronautics (September, 1960)
• Haraway, Donna (1985). "Manifesto for cyborgs: science, technology and socialist feminism in the 1980's", Socialist Review 80: 65-108. Reprinted as "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century," in Simians, Cyborgs, and Women, New York, NY: Routledge, 1991, pp. 149-181.

Additional Links and Resources:

• The official website of Cyborg Foundation
• Personal website of Kevin Warwick

Suggested Reading:

• The Man Who First Said 'Cyborg,' 50 Years Later
• Humanity's next Stage of Evolution Could Be the Cyborg
• The Future is Here: Six Of Today's Most Advanced, Real-Life Cyborgs
• The Cyborg: Kevin Warwick is the World's First Human-Robot Hybrid
• Innovation Isn't Safe: The Future According To Kevin Warwick
• Thinking his way to the top: Amputee uses thought-controlled bionic leg to climb 103 flights of stairs to top of skyscraper
• Neil Harbisson. I'm a cyborg and I have nature at heart
• Round-up: a short guide to the declaration of cyborg rights

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