Cybernetic Organisms
 

here's one i've been meaning to ask OWF opinion on: would you choose to become a cyborg?

i know there are some ethical and philosophical arguments against this sort of thing, but haven't we always strived to improve ourselves? surely cybernetic enhancements would be perceived as a good idea. or do you think it would be a step in the wrong direction?

in general i mean electrical implants/enhancements that are being tested and used today to improve and even help the human body. also the potential evolution of said technology.

I already have enhancements that improve and help my human body. They're called 'glasses'.

Okay, I know you specified 'electrical'. Well, my dad has this thing called a 'hearing aid'. Is he a cyborg now?

As long as there weren't any significant side effects and the technology had been perfected to a point where I don't have to fear my cybernetic heart having a BSOD in the middle of the night, then sign me up.

Nate, I think it's safe to assume that he's referring to futuristic implants that make us "better, faster, stronger, etc" as opposed to the things you listed, which are simply aides to keep everyone on a functional plateau.

I'm pretty happy with my body the way it is, I don't have any real need for cybernetic enhancements. This also opens the floodgate for government-created human implants, allowing for them to monitor and research us at all times. And that marks the beginning of real life Bladerunner. The chances of this happening are pretty slim though.

That said, a laser-shooting penis would always be fun. For so many reasons.

As far as I know, all the electrical implants/enhancements that are currently being tested are all for fixing a disability.

Also, glasses and hearing aids were considered futuristic once. Very soon after superpowered implants become available, they'll become normal.

Nate I feel like if you wrote a science fiction novel, it would be believable, but also really really boring.

I read Cyber Orgasms.

But I would also like some nifty bodily upgrades that allow me to live for 500+ years.

Robot penis ftw.

With lasers. Don't forget the lasers.

A recent Dresden Codak comic highlights the dangers of cybernetic enhancement:

Why bother with lasers if BM is just going to go invisible with the one ring?

He's not worthy of my urethral lasers.

Yes, you're actually quite correct. I've failed at writing SF every time I've tried.

It would be pretty damn cool actually.

Invisible lasers are A-OK, you could always just shoot him with penile gamma rays.

How would invisibility even work? Would you just not interact with photons? Wouldn't that encompass the entire EM spectrum, thereby all types of laser/maser/whatever?

I'd give my arm without second thought, if I'd get an advanced robotic arm.
did anyone read the machine man by max barry?

A robotic eye with a camera that would still look as normal as a real eye, that you could pop out and it would have a small USB stick in it with like a few gigs of memory, that'd be awesome.

e: What a confusing explanation. I meant that you could film stuff with it and hook it up to your computer and watch the footage afterwards.

You remember Treasure Planet and that guy Silver? I'd like an arm like that if I ever happened to lose mine.

I wouldn't be too keen on replacing anything of mine with a piece of machinery unless I had already lost it. Still, it would be kind of neat having something like Dyna described.

If it were possible, I'd try and get chloroplasts installed under my skin on my wrists or something so that on a sunny day I could make my own energy.

Yeah, I totally would. I'd go so far as to get a perfectly functional limb replaced with a cybernetic prosthesis assuming I wouldn't be losing any tactile ability/if it came with an MP3 player. I would not get implants to browse the internet from my brain or anything similar to that (basically no network access), but some kind of cognitive boost type implant that let me do calculations faster or something like that would be great. I'd definitely get an eye swapped out for one that can filter things out into ultraviolet and so on. Better ears, cyber hair, virtual teeth, info-nipples. The future is going to amaze us, really. I think I'll get one of those big asymmetrical jobs with metal spikes jutting out of my torso at right angles. I'd get subdermal plating if that kind of thing meant less concussions, because I definitely need less of those.

I think a motion sensitive hand implant that let you do stuff like dial a phone, change the channel or lock your house will be one of the very early sellers.

If there was an enhancement to help improve speech for people who have speech impediments like me, I would get it in a flash. Something that would auto-correct my stutters would just be amazing

Apart from that I there is nothing else I can think of to improve with cybernetic enhancements.

I thought of that as well ages ago. You blink to take a picture; though you can deicide when you want to take a photo, not every blink would take one :)

If or when human augmentation comes around, it is only going to create a larger disparity between rich and poor people, which is why I'm primarily against it.

I'd want an augmentation that let me throw bolts of lightning everywhere

I remembered this video after reading this thread.

I already showed this a few weeks back, but I think it's pertinent to the subject:


And I think Nate showed me a video of a little girl, iirc.

This is a good, or even optimal, resource for people who had accidents, who were born with disabled regions/parts of the body or even who were born without arms and/or legs. This is when humanity excels, using engineering and medicine to produce something so extraordinary that could change a life, or two, or one hundred, or one billion. I actually believed in that at some point. Call me naive, but I always thought we should help someone who is in a worst situation than us. The problem our society have is that money corrupts, even the most "angelic soul". For some reason or another, anyone can be corrupted, be it the person itself or because of those who are around her. And when this happens, something so simple as aiding other people, can turn 180º and be something completely different. There's no ethics today. People think they have some ethical code that society runs by, but that's total bullshit, as we see governments doing whatever they want, when they want. There's no specific philosophies, apart from the one the world runs by, "work and you'll get paid". That's the only the philosophy I see today. That's the only one people really believe, as its the one that people can see working, for the most part. Even when they work so hard they could get family problems, sick or even dead, just to put some food on their tables. The only wrong direction I can see with Cybernetic Organisms/Implants/Enhancements/etc, is when people try to make money from it that goes from people in need to big corporations, when they try to implement a network inside your body so they can monitor you, your feelings, your thoughts and eventually suppress them. You can say this looks like a Sci-Fi book or imagination, but reality has we perceive, is becoming closer and closer to the old Sci-Fi books/movies/plays faster than any of us think.

TL;DR
I believe in these options, as far as people can get happy with their improvements in life and not simply becoming slaves of corporativism.

Meh...

not all. a number of people have already had electrical implants inserted into their body so they can perform trivial tasks easier (using computers literally hands free, opening locked doors, turning on lights etc). but you also have the more amazing implants, like a chip behind the eye allowing you to see ultraviolet light naturally, similar to another implant that can partially restore the sight of someone who is totally blind (dark and light shapes).

same, i think. but then i'd dedicate myself to a lifetime of exploration just to make good use of it.

look up 'robotic eye' or something similar, i'm sure there's something very similar in the pipeline, if not already here.

a reinforced skull, jaw, neck and back would be my first request. then an implant greatly improving memory and another for quick learning (so i don't have to reread/rewatch information in order to learn/memorize it).

plus a shitload more i haven't thought about.

bingo. that's the major issue i have with it, but it would be one of many issues we'd have to work through if we pursued it.

http://futurismic.com/wp-content/upl...prosthesis.jpg

No reason why they have to duplicate human functionality.

I can think of one reason: they need to function in an environment designed for human limbs.

but BM is an owl.

racist.

I don't think they're actually electronic, though. I believe they're just there to support her arms and bear the weight, but the motion all comes from her.

It's a really sweet video, so I'll post it again.



You're right. But even among the rich people there's going to be disparity between the people with version 1.0 of the enhancements and the people with version 2.0.

Think about how pissed off people get when there's a new iPhone. Imagine what it's going to be like when an actual part of your body has been superseded, and it's going to mean surgery and a shitload of money to be upgraded.

you'd have to be able to upgrade yourself, as well as maintain yourself to eliminate that problem. money is a cunt though, i don't know how you would solve the class divide issue. unless you made the implants free or part of a scheme. cyborg insurance?

National Bionics Service.

Not always. Besides, a major use of, say, hands, is to manipulate tools. But the dexterity required is difficult to achieve with bionics. But if the limb itself is the tool, much of the problem is bypassed. It's the difference between trying to operate a power tool with a prosthetic arm, and having an arm that ends with a power tool.

Naturally it would need to be modular.

What are you basing that on? Of the technology that I currently own, very little of it is easily upgradeable.

i like the sound of it.

i'm not saying it would be easy, or even possible, i'm saying it could be an ideal solution to the problem if we work at trying to make this technology possible.

In theory, yes. But these things only go so far. For instance, I built a new computer this year. I'll be able to upgrade almost every component for the next few years, but then Intel's pinsets will change, DDR5 will become the standard memory type, a new PCI standard will come out, USB4.0, etc. And at that point I'll be forced to buy a new motherboard. And buying a new motherboard is metaphorically equivalent to having surgery to insert new tech in to my body that the implants will need to interface with.

then becoming a cyborg would require a lifetime of dedication. a possible career path in the future.

I put forth that the primary cost for these magical space limbs will be for implanting tiny receptors or transmitters that interface with your nerves, and thus the 'upgrade' aspect will be about maintaining high-quality nerve conductors on a bi-annual basis and selling the actual cybernetics on a more consumption friendly platform similar to cellphones and eventually, like video games. Get a new implant every month. Every week. An arm for every hour.

This is assuming that the driving force for cybernetics will be about actual integration to your nervous system and not responding to muscle flexing, in which case it will be focused on range of movement, comfort and features.