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.
The Major is completely cyborised, even down to her brain, but what makes a cyborg different from an android is a 'soul' or 'ghost'. The Major was born human and due to a plain crash, her body was completely cyborised, her consiousness was transfered into a prosthetic body. An android is a machine with an AI (at least in the Ghost in the Shell universe. i.e., the terminator.)
By the same logical ideals one can say we are all cups - cups are things that hold other things. Or we're all books. Books are things that contain information.
By the loose definition of what Philip K Dick was getting at, was that if we augment ourselves in any way, we are becoming cyborgs.
Using glasses to see better, clothes to keep warmer, the pill to prevent pregnancy... all these things change us or help us in a way nature did not design us for. Thus we're artificially changing ourselves in the same way as if we had a robotic arm.
Using a tool isn't quite the same thing, but its kind of complicated. I was taught all this in a my "Digital Culture" essay module at uni, so we are talking on the more academic side of the argument then the basic defination of "human-robot hybrid"
I don't think cybernetics [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybernetics] means what almost everyone on this thread seems to think it means.
I'm not a huge fan of Philip K. Dick, but he makes a pretty good point.
Cyborg = Cybernetic Organism. At least that's what I've always thought.
No, we are not all cyborgs, only those that have something computerized in their body. Which isn't many now and I don't think anytime in the future.
Like someone before said, the Major from Ghost in the Shell would be a cyborg. The Terminator is a cyborg. But not just anyone, especially in real life, is a cyborg.
Actually the terminator is probably better classified as a robot, not a cyborg, as it does not require any of it's organic components to function. A cyborg require at least some organic material, and must have internal computerized equipment.
Until we can back flip out of helicopters, land on a street, take a bullet in the dome, and chase down the dude who shot us... (Only to later have an orgy with 4 other women.) We're not cyborgs.
I don't think cybernetics [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cybernetics] means what almost everyone on this thread seems to think it means.
I'm not a huge fan of Philip K. Dick, but he makes a pretty good point.
Yes, we are not talking about cybernetics in the sense of machine parts grafted onto flesh, people. When dealing in philosophy and talking about cybernetics, it's usually safe to say that we are talking about the theory of self-referential systems. Dick was commenting on the way we think and behave, not that we necessarily have any inorganic parts.
So most people think of TV or film when you mention cyborgs, I think of Stelarc, Kevin Warwick, and The God Helmet (Koren helmet). Also amputees with prosthesises, people with cochlear implants, and those with experimental bionic eyes. Cyborgs are everywhere, but I wouldn't consider myself one.
Cyborg = Cybernetic Organism. At least that's what I've always thought.
No, we are not all cyborgs, only those that have something computerized in their body. Which isn't many now and I don't think anytime in the future.
Like someone before said, the Major from Ghost in the Shell would be a cyborg. The Terminator is a cyborg. But not just anyone, especially in real life, is a cyborg.
Actually the terminator is probably better classified as a robot, not a cyborg, as it does not require any of it's organic components to function. A cyborg require at least some organic material, and must have internal computerized equipment.
Don't they also call them machines at different points too? I don't think a true cyborg could be classified as a machine. Actually, they seem to use both terms kind of loosely.
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