Introduction
In my last science post, I talked about the concept of cybernetic immortality, which; no doubt; is one of the destinations of the advances in the area of emerging technology. But not just that, in this era, we have been witnessing waves of technological evolution, especially in the field of Artificial Intelligence and Cybernetics. No wonder we have seen people willingly subscribing for bionic augmentations - which was earlier thought to be meant for therapeutic aids. But all these advancements; at what cost do they come? Are we losing our humanity to technology? Would they ultimately dehumanize us? All these; and many more; would be considered in this post. Welcome again.
[Image Source: Pixabay. CC0 licensed]
Just like I mentioned sometimes ago, the future of human evolution (whether natural evolution or technology-induced evolution) is almost certain - which means that; with the current rate of advancements, a point is coming when humankind would be able to create the kind of humans they desire, with the features they want. Don't be too quick to scream "impossible!!"; because progression has been made in that direction. From the point humans moved with the idea to genetically modify the human body, even at the embryonic level, then; my friend; we are in for the big one - "Selective human breeding" (producing the humans of our choice). Okay, apart from the field of genetic modifications, there are other aspects of technology that have provided enhancement to our biological bodies, and have given us some edge over what we used to be.
Believe me; the human body is somewhat limited; both in physical capacity and biological abilities, and this has led to the quest to circumvent or bypass these limitations, but at what expense? No doubt, these technologies have attendant effects on some major aspects of our human existence. Taking this scenario to buttress a point: Imagine entering the hall to sit for an examination (which requires only one person to emerge the best), and then someone with an enhanced brain enters with the same purpose, how do you stand a chance to score a point against him? This is just like a scenario where you are in a mountain-climbing competition and your opponent uses helicopter, while you're busy struggling with ropes and spikes (what happens to equity, fairness, and equality?).
Okay look at this real life scenario: I'm sure you've heard of the man Oscar Pistorius (the South African blade runner - with carbon fibre prosthetic limbs), and how he made history when he competed in the Olympics and beat people with functional limbs; which raised some dust - well, just hang on. When another amputee; Markus Rehm came to compete, he wasn't accepted because it was later discovered that the carbon fibre blades (which some people nicknamed Cheetah's leg) have some hidden unfair advantage over the natural limbs [ref]. Take a look at this YouTube Video to have a little insight.
When you look closely at the blade, you would notice some unique features. Apart from the fact that it stores kinetic energy, it also absorbs the weight of the runner. So when the runner pushes himself up a little, the blade would act like a spring - thus; driving up the runner a bit further. Also, the blade is not as heavy as the biological limb, so it would aid in the speed of the runner. You see; what was thought to be a therapeutic aid is now seen to be superior to our biological body... What a world to live in.
This does not also take into cognizance the fact that we are approaching the era of "Transhumanism" (or what we call enhanced human; H+), and at this point, "biology" would be seen as a concept that can be easily manipulated at will. There is no disproving to the fact that the human body has been compared to machines. Well, that could be why the name "biological machine" suffices for the description. If this is so, then you wouldn't be surprised why it has so much been tweaked and modified. I'm sure some may have started viewing the human body as just a platform upon which enhancements are done. No wonder it has been said time and again that "the future would favour technology over biology" - and the truth is; this trend has already begun.
Moving from Humans to Transhumans
People have been wondering what would be the destination of all these augmentations here and there. But the question is; are there still absolute un-augmented humans in this era? From the moment you take pills (like Viagra to enhance your sexual stamina) or when you use contact lens, what do you think you're doing if not enhancement? Well, we wouldn't go into those aspects - we would just focus on the obvious. But it is also worthy to note that there is a very thin line separating "technology as therapeutic aid" and "technology as bio-enhancer", and the former can easily swing to the later, just like the case I mentioned about Oscar Pistorius.
But one thing some people fail to realize at the onset is that - sometimes, these augmentations sum up to who we are. Or putting differently; we are the overall total of each of the "products" that have been used to augment or enhance us. Does this send any signal to you? No wonder it has been speculated that; in the nearest future, the entire computational and technological power of all the devices in the world would be put in apposition to the brain power (and biological abilities) of the entire organic human species. That era would mark the dawn of singularity.
[Image Source: Maxpixel. CC0 licensed]
Come to think of this; I'm sure you've heard of the technology of Human-Computer Interface; HCI (subdiscipline of the Brain-Computer Interface; BCI), and its ability to link up our biological bodies to the computer system; which has placed into our hands the ability to control devices from our thoughts. "Awesome!!", you would say, but the fact is, this could open up the world to another type of threat. Imagine when machines become telepathically capable of deciphering our thoughts, the word "privacy" could go into oblivion. I mean; why would I need to enquire from you some certain information? I would just eavesdrop into your mind and pick whatever information I desire. This has gone to prove that these augmentations are not exclusively limited to our physical bodies, but our minds too.
Can I tell you this? In this era, humans are now forming stronger bonds with their devices than it was seen in the recent past. You wouldn't be wrong to infer that we are actually evolving alongside our devices. A friend of mine once made a comment that humans are becoming more mechanical, and machines are becoming more human. Take for example; one of the key aspects that define our humanity; which is "Consciousness"; is almost not our absolute prerogative again. With the idea to create the Artificial Super Intelligence (ASI); would we still have an edge over machines? Not to mention the likes of Project Alexandria that has the objective of incorporating common sense in machines. Are humans still seen as superior being, or are we losing control to cybernetics?
Merger! Merger!! Merger!!!
There have been speculations that a biology-technology merger would be imminent in the nearest future, but I stand to reiterate that the merger has already started - from the points I raise earlier; if those aren't "merger", I wonder what they are. And all these come at a cost. First of all, battle for supremacy could brew out of this, and this is not just a human conflict, but a conflict against the "products" that make us up (human-machine conflict). Imagine what happens; when our devices for example; assume self-awareness...
[Image Source: Pixabay. CC0 licensed]
And remember this; if technology is drawing us away from humanity, then "dehumanization" could be imminent. Maybe I'll tilt a little to history here. If you have been familiar with the history of Africa; particularly the aspects of colonialism, slavery, and civil wars; then you would understand the true definition of "dehumanization". But all these are not even comparable to what would happen if bio-enhancement technology goes awry. It would not just be battle of humans against humans, but battle against machines. Well, we need to brace up for what is up ahead.
Conclusion
Technology has been thought to bring assistance and aid to humankind, but do these “aids” take away our true course of existence - our humanity? We've seen what could happen if these fall into the wrong hands. But in my opinion, it is still within our reach to dictate the course of technological advancements, and ultimately turning the potential "enemies" to our "allies" - After all, tech is meant to complement us, not conflict with us.
Thanks for reading
References for further reading:
- Human-machine merger/singularity
- Ascribing mental qualities to machines.pdf
- Future of human augmentation
- Human augmentation science.pdf
All images are CC0 licensed and are linked to their sources
gif by @foundation
Those are some really valid and a bit scary points you raised in this article, while all those technological advancements are somewhat key to our survival, its more important we have full control over them, with advancements such as the HCI though no one can really be certain humans would forever have absolute control over machines....Another educative article from you...nice one
You're right. If we; the humans; do not have absolute control over technology, then it could spell catastrophe in the future. And that is where the scares would arrive fully.. Imagine what would happen when we begin to lose control to machines; our reign as the superior being could be winding up.
Thanks for coming
If cybernetics can give an amputee their arms back which allows them to feel things, then I'm all up for it making us inhumans :)
Exactly buddy. Bionic prostheses can now be engineered with pain receptor; anything is possible in tech world... Well, maybe our "humanity" is the price to pay for the advancement of the technology of cybernetics.
Thanks for coming around buddy
We have paid a lot for other things, I think humanity may be the least of the things we are going to pay for :)
I agree with you 100% on this bro
Imagine if further instructions where given in the exam hall, of which success will then be greatly dependent on the human emotion. I have always said this, cybernetics is still ground breaking, but what about the place of emotions? This is where humans will continue to be humans
Even "emotion" that was our absolute prerogative is almost being replicated artificially - even consciousness and self-awareness (it's just a matter of time, and it would go mainstream)... What can't technology do?
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Basically, it reduces your ability to cast magic ;)
Cyberware affinity; looks like an area to dig deep into :)
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