So apparently we are all cyborgs

[theheroofaction]

Cyborg: a biological being that has had mechanical pieces inserted to operate with the organic pieces.

now last I checked I don't have any metal in me, and you probably don't either.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

Hmmm...

*Checks for mechanical parts*

Nope, still not a cyborg.

Also still not human.

 

[geldonyetich]

I suppose if I had an artificial hip or something I'd be more inclined to believe it.

Damn economy is slowing down cybernetics. I'm not going to be able to live long enough to become an immortal, video-game playing, cyborg at this rate.

 

[Ashz0r]

It's almost you're arguing with me, rather than say my University or the philosophical origin of theory.

In fact I didn't even say I agreed, I simply said it was clever.#

Faith in humanity is now fully restored...

 

[Daverson]

By this definition, a lot of us are cyborgs. Perhaps not in the sense we've had mechanisms directly grafted into our living beings, but we're all (well, most of us anyway) augmented by technology (and in some sad cases, dependant on it... you know who you are)

Not true cyborgs, or at least not in the literal definition of the word, but it seems every day we get closer to this =)

 

[LiudvikasT]

Well we use computers, we could consider internet to be extension of our minds.

 

[katsumoto03]

Congratulations! You've survived a conversation with a Philosophy Douchebag. These guys get off by arguing semantics and stretching definitions so wide you could fit a schoolbus inside it.

Seriously though, no. We aren't cyborgs. Perhaps some people could be considered such, but we're definitely not an entire race of them.

 

[zehydra]

if the definition of cyborg is so simple as that, then there's nothing special about being a cyborg.

I'd say his definition of cyborg is wrong.

 

[WrongSprite]

cyborgs without any artificial implants

That's a contradiction. The argument has somewhat failed before it's started.

 

[Cheesus333]

Spoiler: This is a cyborg

Are you as awesome as the Major?

I think that's actually a gynoid. Of course, having never seen whatever you're referring to, I'm just going by the picture provided. But here's the words as I understand them.

Robot: A machine - completely mechanical and nothing else.
Examples: The droids of Star Wars, etc.

Cyborg: A living organism with mechanical or cybernetic components.
Examples: That guy from Bulletstorm, or Darth Vader.

Android or Gynoid: A machine in a human disguise (android is a male human disguise, gynoid is a female human disguise). And- being the prefix for male, and -oid being the suffix for 'similar to'.
Examples: The Terminator, or Harkness from Fallout 3.

I guess there are probably others too - automatons repeat the same function over and over again, but they're not humanoid so I didn't bother.

That's the terms as I understand them, if anyone can embellish then please feel free.

 

[Kermi]

Sticking a feather up your butt does not make you a chicken.

 

[rokkolpo]

Well I do have this HUUUGE piece of machinery here.

Uhmm...yeah I meant my shoes.

 

[Penguinness]

Well I don't have any implants, or any metal.. but I have got balls of steel.

 

[Captain_M]

A Cyborg can be both what Phillip K. Dick said, AND it could be a race of badass man-machines as well. Words can have different meanings.

As a race we're not completely non-cybernetic. If you don't have an artificial limb of some sort, you are at least taking medicines that are derived from synthetic sources, wearing bluetooth headsets, or hearing aids or glasses that encance your otherwise diminished natural abilities, and doing things that would otherwise be natural like building your muscles and going for walks with the aid of weight lifting machines and treadmills. I've yet to even mention your iPod, your computer, or your car. Our well being, nevermind our survival, is becoming increasingly more dependent on machines to the point where a person can merely be defined as something that operates a machine, which I think explains Dick's thought process when he came up with the definition.

There is a flaw in the way Dick phrases his definition though. He is claiming that since we create the machines, that makes us cyborgs. Actually, that's the process that makes us human beings because, as far as I can tell, we're the only animal that can make a tool more complex than a piece of grass we can stick in a termite hill.

 

[Jewrean]

Everyone in the human race is A BANANA! What? Can't I make random accusations that don't actually come close to describing us too?

 

[Daveman]

Lately in English Literature we learned about 'Posthumanist' theory, stating that we are all cyborgs without any artificial implants or anything. Philip K Dick, amongst others, drew up the argument that anything that uses/creates something, that doesn't originate from themselves, to ensure survival of the species, is a natural born cyborg.

In the lecture, I was like, "The fuck? That's genius!!"

But what does everyone on The Escapist think?

OT: As in writers at such a time were developing ideas in their work suggesting technology and it's importance. Andy Clark - Professor of Philosophy and Cognitive Science at the University of Sussex, UK, collated the ideas into a coherent theory.

I think my mum knows that guy.

As for me, I think it's all a little too wishy washy for my tastes. I think cyborgs are really part machine and that's what defines them, not the way in which people interact with technology or creativity. I'm not disagreeing with the overall argument (because frankly I'm not all that clear on what it is) I just wish he didn't hijack the term "cyborg". I think these people like stealing cool terms in order to make what they're saying sound more interesting than it actually is.

And to think, I got excited when we started Matrices in maths, imagining myself kicking ass in sunglasses and black.

 

[dragonhunter21]

When I get a robot arm and ocular implants with a built-in HUD, then I'll be a cyborg. Anything less is just semantics.

 

[The Unworthy Gentleman]

I think: "what does that change?"

Really, that's just semantics and doesn't change how we affect the world or how it affects us. My point being that it's completely unimportant whether we are natural cyborgs or not, they're just words.

I think: "doesn't matter in the slightest."

 

[Death God]

Philosophy is all perspective so... no. I do not believe we are all cyborgs. Just one dude's educated opinion versus how ever many other opinions are floating around there in the world.