Human Cybernetic Enhancements

[Steezie]

This is a topic I find fascinating and something I look forward to greatly.

Is the idea of having mechanical replacements for certain parts of the human body a bad idea? Why or why not?

Would you ever get any of these enhancements? Why or why not?

To give an example of cybernetics

 

[roflcopter101]

I would not have any objections if there were no serious negative effects on the user of such implants.

 

[Axioma]

My only objections to the notion is that they may lead to an even more pronounced stratification of society, where rich people can afford cybernetic enhancements which allow them access to the best paying jobs which allow them to afford cybernetic enhancements, whereas poor people would be doomed to badly paying jobs which prevent them from buying cybernetic enhancements which prevent them from having non-bad paying jobs, etc.

Not that that isn't the case ANYWAY with schooling and nutrition and so on, but it'd be even moreso.

 

[Steezie]

My only objections to the notion is that they may lead to an even more pronounced stratification of society, where rich people can afford cybernetic enhancements which allow them access to the best paying jobs which allow them to afford cybernetic enhancements, whereas poor people would be doomed to badly paying jobs which prevent them from buying cybernetic enhancements which prevent them from having non-bad paying jobs, etc.

Not that that isn't the case ANYWAY with schooling and nutrition and so on, but it'd be even moreso.

Would it change your opinion any if there was a way to produce and distribute the cybernetics cheaply and make at least the most basic level of enhancements available to the vast majority of society? Say through advancements in nanotechnology.

 

[Axioma]

Yes, very much so. I love the idea of cybernetic enhancements, I just hate that they most likely won't be distributed very equally. If you could make it cheap enough to be ubiquitous, then I'd consider them the best thing since sliced bread, as I believe the expression goes.

 

[ragarth]

The chances are very good they won't be producible cheaply and distributable ubiquitously. Even if manufacturing were cheap, implantation is not and the cost of development would still have to be covered. However there are alternatives to paying out of pocket for such devices. It's safe to say that a nation with a large amount of enhancement will be in an advantageous position over other nations via a more efficient tech industry and economy, therefore government subsidy will be advantageous to a given nation. Companies would also gain advantage if their employees are enhanced, therefore corporate sponsorship is also valuable.

 

[Bombila]

I'm all for medically useful nanobots. If you search for medical nanotechnology in Google scholar, you'll find we are closer than you may think to using some of these microtools to relieve different health problems.

 

[ragarth]

I'm all for medically useful nanobots. If you search for medical nanotechnology in Google scholar, you'll find we are closer than you may think to using some of these microtools to relieve different health problems.

There's a huge difference between nanobots and medically useful nanotechnology. We can design theoretical nanostructures such as planetary gears, but we have no method of constructing them.

 

[Steezie]

There's a huge difference between nanobots and medically useful nanotechnology. We can design theoretical nanostructures such as planetary gears, but we have no method of constructing them.

Ideally, we need nanites set up to produce other nanites. Nanites are difficult for US to build but if we only build a handful and have them replicate and change their programming to build whatever we may need

 

[Penumbra]

This is a topic I find fascinating and something I look forward to greatly.

Is the idea of having mechanical replacements for certain parts of the human body a bad idea? Why or why not?

I think it's a complicated idea, which could either be great or terrible.

On one hand, improvements to the human body can help overcome disease and biological weakness. On the other hand, we're tampering with nature, and if we begin to rely on machines even more than we do now (literally to the point where everyone has machines all inside their bodies), then it's difficult to predict where our species will go in the future. Will it put evolution on a weird track? Will it cause over-reliance on a fragile system? Who knows.

I think the movie Gattaca pretty much sums up my views for human improvement. In that movie, genetics were the improvement instead of machinery, but the idea is the same. It caused great social inequality.

Would you ever get any of these enhancements? Why or why not?

No. I don't see the point in getting them for myself. Plus I don't really like the idea of having a lot of foreign matter in my body. I mean, if I were blind I would resort to a machine to treat it if such a thing existed, or if I couldn't walk I would get treatment for that. But I don't think I'd put foreign matter into my body to increase it past where it is naturally.

-Lyn

 

[Belk]

I want my deck so I can jack in to the web dang it! Where are my bio-mechanical enhancers?