Poll: Should becoming a cyborg be legal?

[Mavinchious Maximus]

I have been pondering for a while about this question for a while now. Should it be legal to become a cyborg? Should it be legal to completely change your body with robotics?

pros- humanity may experience a new technological golden age. The cybernetics may also be used to defeat some diseases with micro robots in your blood stream.

cons- only rich people could get the enhancements.

Governments would be able to make a army of super soldiers.An army of unstoppable soldiers unable to think for themselves. If that happens we would see the worst war the world could possibly imagine.

so Escapist, should it be legal?

(EDIT)My apologies people, I was referring to full on cyborg sorta like the ones from MK.

 

[WolfThomas]

I wasn't aware it was currenty illegal.

 

[CM156_v1legacy]

I wasn't aware it was currenty illegal.

My thoughts as well.

OT: Sure, why not? My political views are that you should be allowed to do whatever you want with your body, provided it does not harm another and I don't have to pay for it. So I see no problem

But it shouldn't be mandatory. And they will need to be level 14 with a Science of 60, and a Medicine of 60

 

[GrimSheeper]

I first of all don't see that many cybernetic limbs on the market yet...like not at all.

Second, why should we prohibit a paraplegic to walk again if all he needs is a mechanical replacement or an implant that lets him do just that? I think there's nothing wrong with helping amputees, disabled and the like this way, if they want it.

Modifying a healthy body is a bit different. It doesn't feel wrong to me as a whole, but in things like competitive professional sports, you need to find completely new rules for these kinds of enhancements. Then there's the question if it couldn't give say a criminal an unfair advantage over the law, but having an entire squad of Robocops in each SWAT department seems like my kind of future.

 

[Edge Hypermatter]

I'm pretty sure they aren't illegal. The main problem with cybernetics is they currently aren't good enough to be an improvement. I mean, they could be made illegal in the future if they're abused.

 

[pigmypython]

I'm actually a cyborg...it's true.

I have an ICD (an internal cardio defibulator) that keeps me alive when my heart acts up.
While it's only a small enhancement and would not be my first choice it does technically
make me a cyborg...

 

[xdom125x]

What do you mean by cyborg here? Because you seem to be using (or at least alluding to) multiple definitions including:

a) Human brain in a robot body
b) Replacing missing limbs and the like with artificial limbs or whatever is missing.
c) something that would allow the government to override a soldiers mind. Or maybe you just mean robot soldiers.

If you mean a) or b) then sure. If you mean c) no.

 

[ThisIsSnake]

As long as they promise to only use that arm grafted plasma cannon for trivial household tasks then fine by me.

It would be pure jealousy to deny someone else intelligence implants and the like anyway.

 

[PrinceOfShapeir]

There are cyborgs already in existence. I'm one of them. My vision is augmented with shaped glass lenses, suspended in a wire frame about a centimeter in front of my eyes.

And cybernetics should be allowed as long as long as cybernetic procedures and components are properly regulated and kept safe for use, and obviously only for those who are willing to have them.

Rich people being the only ones capable of affording them is not a 'con', it's a simple fact of how things work. The rich are able to get them first, then as the technology becomes more commonplace and less experimental, it trickles down through the economic groups. Twenty years ago, hardly anyone had a cellphone except the extremely wealthy, now they're ubiquitous.

 

[Fwee]

It would be scary to have just one country with all the cybernetic enhancements, especially in a military aspect but also in the medical aspect wherein one country (or company) would be making all of the money and have all power of control.
Thankfully we have many countries that do not hold to patents or copyrights, and reverse engineering is a very widespread practice. This would help with distribution, competition, and manufacture keeping prices at a reasonable level.
Personally I hope to be around when cybernetics become widespread. I'm a huge fan of Yukito Kishiro's Battle Angel series, and have actually incorporated some of the demonstrated techniques into my own martial arts training. Now if I only had a cybernetic body with which to practice hand-to-hand in zero gravity!

 

[Wintermoot]

yes but you might run into a few problem,s like having your brain hacked (just look at Ghost In The Shell)
I think it should be allowed but encouraged if somebodies body is failing them and is beyond repair.
also if they cyberize me I hope they include a port on the back of my neck so I don,t need a keyboard+mouse anymore.

 

[Broken Blade]

If you want prosthetics, or if you need them to live a more normal life, go right ahead. If you don't want 'em, don't get 'em. That's how life should work.

 

[Merkavar]

soldiers unable to think for themselves.

arent soldiers like that now. all the training and conditioning and massive punishment for free thinking like not following a bad order.

any ot: i think enchancments like limbs and eyes and organs should be legal but when it comes to the mind i get a bit iffy. if you change your brain enough have you not killed your original self and become a new person?

 

[Nickolai77]

As other have said, the definition of a cyborg is quite slippery, because technically if you have any form of artificial enhancement you are one. So we've been making cyborgs since, well according to wiki eyeglasses were invented in the 13th century.

In the future, there could be many cybernetic enhancements such as artificial hearts or livers- there are already artificial limbs which can be controlled by the mind- many such things are done for medical reasons, so it shouldn't be illegal at all.

 

[Digital_Hero]

I wasn't aware it was currently illegal.

Yeah, about this.

However, im much more interested in two things. One: why is it that you've ruled out experimental implants for somethign like eyesight as i'm gonna say "cyberization" (oh I feel so nerdy saying it) in favor of YOUR ARM IS NOW A GUN IS NOW A TOASTER. Or, as another poster said, a pacemaker? Prosthetics consist of a far wider range than just weaponized examples which is kinda the impression I got from you. Also: god forbid nano machines.

Two: why did you choose sektor as the specific poll example anime has provided a plethora of better examples in terms of "legality" pst. ghost in the shell. But I think I see where your coming from, other than MK overload.

 

[Scabadus]

There's no poll option for "Yes, but only for people who want it." It goes straight from Assimilate the Meatbags to Help the Infirm.

Anyway, yes it should be legal, in fact it currently is legal. However... the specific examples given arn't true cyborgs. Nanomachines in the bloodstream fighting diseases (and annoying vampires) aren't currently possible, and aren't really something that would make the user a cyborg either. They're more on an artificial or synthetic immuno-booster.

Armies of unthinking soldiers, why not just use robots? If you're going to literally remove a person's higher brain functions, recruitment figures for the army are going to drop a bit. And a cyborg would still have fleshy weak spots, and the organic material would be suceptible to heat produced from the augmented parts. Why not just go full machine?

As of right now (yes I mean right now, today) cybernetics as we see in movies and games do actually exist. The technology to cut off your arm and replace it by a super-strong machine arm, controled by your nerves just as real muscels are? Yes, we (humans) have that. And yet you still don't see the richest of the rich swaggering around with them, do you?