COMM236 Self , Society and Media
between human and machine , the organic and the technological ”. Humans are cyborgs in this way in that medical technology has led to around three million people living with pacemakers ( Wood and Ellenbogen , 2002 , p . 2136 ), people living with artificial limbs which they can control through an implant in their brain ( Lo , 2019 ), rods fused to their bones after breaks and even implants which help them hear . This is the ‘ fusion ’ which Hartley described , where man physically becomes part of the technology he creates . There is no distinction between a person ’ s organic matter and their bionic leg , they are on in the same , yet that part of them which they didn ’ t grow themselves , makes them cyborg .
If you were to take either biological or theological stance , this causes issues for the definition of a human , and also ethical worries about how much of a person we can replace or enhance and them still be considered human . Descartes ( 1968 ) would argue that it is not the body at all which makes us human , as “ the mind , by which I am what I am , is entirely distinct from the body ”, and it would not matter what happens to the physical , and the ‘ humanity ’ of a person comes from their mind and soul .
Case ( 2010 , cited in Richardson
89 and Locks , 2014 , p . 103 ) takes the idea of humans becoming cyborgs further by saying that any interaction , not necessarily a physical joining , between human and technology makes us cyborg , such as “ every time you look at a computer screen or use one of your cell phone devices ”, we are effectively ‘ fusing ’ with the technology which are ‘ extensions ’ ( McLuhan , 1994 , cited in Richardson and Locks , 2014 , p . 97 ) of ourselves , and becoming cyborgs . This is the opposite to McLuhan ’ s notion of ‘ amputations ’; ‘ extensions ’ are the idea that technology becomes an integrated part of us and how we live . He uses how the car has become an extension of the foot , enabling a person to travel farther and for longer than they would be able to naturally . People have grown so accustomed to technology that we have developed tech which we do not even have to put down . In recent years there has been a rise in interest around wearable technology in both the real and science-fiction worlds . Wearable technology is the next step in humans becoming cyborgs , and more common than most realise .
Humans seem to be becoming more and more reliant on technology , so much so that we integrate into ourselves . Now ,