Cyborgs

A cyborg is a cybernetic organism (i.e., an organism that has both artificial and natural systems). The term was coined in 1960 when Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline used it in an article about the advantages of self-regulating human-machine systems in outer space. (1)

Sherry Turkle talks in-depth about the whole concept of man being fused with machine;

“The concepts of the computer as a calculating piece of machinery has now been superseded, as human being have become interconnected with modern day technology. This raises the question of whether or not people are living their lives through the computer. The distinction between people and machine is becoming more difficult to define.” (2)

This is an interesting idea as she talks about the line between what is organic, and what is machinery is beginning to blur. She uses Darwin and Freudian theory on dreams and relates it to computers. Dreams and Beast were the test objects for Freud and Darwin, and the test object for modernism. In the past decade the computer has become the object for post modernism.

“It confronts us with an uneasy sense of kingship. After all we too behave, interact and seem to know, and yet are ultimately made of matter and programmed DNA. We think we can think. But can it think? Could it have the capacity to feel? Could it ever be said to be alive?” (3)

An example of this, is that of the film I robot (2004), which is primarily an exploration of the concepts. It is set in Chicago in the year 2035, where humanoid robots are as common as cars. Will Smith plays a homicide detective who encounters a robot who thinks he can experience emotion, even love and is able to respond and interact with people and the external environment in a humanlike way. (4)



I feel that it is important to point out that the term “cyborgs” shouldn’t be associated with mass murdering killer robots. It also has strong applications within modern medicine, which demonstrates a variety of pairings between organism and machines. An example in real life would be metal or plastic joint replacements e.g. hips and pacemakers used in cardiac operations.

The ideas that have been explored raises questions about the possibility of this happening in the future and whether computerised machines have the capacity to operate, interact and feel? Can they ever be human?

Sources used within this post

(1) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg
(2), (3) Turkle, S, (1997), Life on the screen, Simon & Schuster.
(4) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0343818/plotsummary