Cyborgs are a very common recurring motif within science fiction works such as books, movies, television, and so on. We see these cyborgs everywhere in this genre, but we only somewhat grasp the concept of humanity within cyborgs. A cyborg is an organism that consists of both artificial and natural components hence the full name “cybernetic organism.” For clarification, when I speak about cyborgs, I am referring to the organisms or beings that are artificially created rather than humans with cybernetic modifications. One key trait in cyborgs is their uncanny ability to replicate the thought processes and emotions of human being even though they aren’t human. My argument is that cyborgs, (more specifically the ones created artificially to look like humans) are in fact, not human at all, and I will explain why.
To begin, there are certain similarities in human beings that we are able to compare to cyborgs. One comparison between humans and cyborgs is the way signals are sent throughout their bodies. Both cyborgs and humans send low-impulse electrical signals throughout the body. Those signals are sent to the brain or central processing unit whenever the each of the five senses are stimulated in some way and evoke an emotional response. For example, if you touch something hot, the signal, that tells your brain that sensation of burning, travels to the brain via the nerves. For human beings, this is true; while cyborgs may have organically-created mechanisms similar to human nerves, as well as integrated circuits that pass the same type of electrical signals.
What it means to be human is not limited to physiological aspects such as the nerves and brains. There are other aspects besides organic materials that define a h...
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...part of us that is eternal. We as humans do not have a complete understanding of what a soul is or how we were created by God as both material being and spirit. We are not capable of replicating the human soul. The consequence, therefore, is that anything artificially created by humans will lack a true soul. Our dependence upon God as the Creator and Sustainer of human life on Earth is an integral part of our humanity. We are able to have a hope for the future even after we die because we are children of God. By grace we are allowed to live forever. That relationship with God as his image bearers, which robots and artificially-created cyborgs lack, should not be taken for granted. Our existence is due to God’s capability to create and redeem perfectly out of his love for us. That is the distinction that allows us to divide the line between human and non-human.
Posthuman by Nicholas Gane is a comparison of thoughts from selected scholars on the subject of the increasingly complex relationship between mankind and technology and how these technologies are breaking down the barriers that make us human. He starts by introducing us to the history of the concept of the Posthuman, which started with the cybernetic movement of the 1940’s and most influentially the writings of Norbert Wiener. The real popularity of the subject has its roots with Donna Haraways concept of the cyborg. Her concept is a postive rendition of the idea of posthumanism, which focuses on cybernetic technology and genetic modification and how these technologies could radically change humanity. Gane then defines Posthuman as when the
Consider that the beginning of a human’s life is a single cell that progresses into a breathing infant and eventually an adult. Contemplate which part of the body would a person select to preserve if forced to cut off the rest. The brain governs personality, athletic competence, intellectual capacity, social aptitude, and emotional state. Furthermore, all of these characteristics are governed by both genetics and environment. Environment, however, has been scientifically proven to change the expression of genes. The most important aspect of a person's identity is transformation.
McKenzie, Lisa M., Roxana Z. Witter, Lee S. Newman, and John L. Adgate. 2012. “Human
People love to read stories and watch movies of a science-fictional society that include robots with artificial intelligence. People are intrigued with the ability of the robots that seem to demonstrate what we humans consider morality. Eando Binder’s and Isaac Asimov’s short stories, as well as the 2004 Hollywood movie, all carry the title “I, Robot” and introduce possible futuristic worlds where robots are created and integrated within society. These stories challenge our perceptions about robots themselves, and could perhaps become an everyday commodity, or even valued assistants to human society. The different generations of “I, Robot” seem to set out the principles of robot behavior and showcase robots to people in both different and similar ways. How does the Robot view itself? More importantly, how does society judge these creations? The concepts discussed in these three stories covers almost 75 years of storytelling. Why has this theme stayed so relevant for so long?
Noe, R. A., Hollenback, J. R., Gerhart, B., & Wright, P. M. (2011). Fundamentals of human
She discusses science and the creation of cyborgs, for example, biology teaches us that a Cyborg is the combination of human and machine, many examples of this can be found in the medical field by the use of prosthetic limbs. Contemporary science fiction is full of cyborgs - creatures simultaneously animal and machine, which populate worlds ambiguously natural and crafted. Haraway uses the metaphor of cyborg identity to describe ways that things considered natural, like human bodies, are not natural but are constructed by our ideas about them. This is particular related to feminism, since women are often discussed or treated in ways that reduce them to bodies. The concept of the cyborg is a rejection of rigid boundaries, notably those separating "human" from "animal" and "human" from "machine." Cyborg theory contends that technology comprises material extensions of the material human body.
What does it mean to be human? Sure, one must have the usual physical features such as fingers, eyes, arms, hands, feet, etc., but what does it really mean? Must the human be able to speak? To take upon the actions of themselves? Whatever it means, it can be interpreted in any way from anyone. The physical attributes of any human can be compared to those of our evolutionary ancestors. However, it is possible to believe that there are many characteristics that make a human, but only six define the true, ideal human.
Haraway, Donna J. "A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century". Simians, Cyborgs, and Women. The Reinvention of Nature. London: Free Association Books, 1991.
“Man is a robot with defects,” (Emile Cioran, The Trouble With Being Born). Humans' are not perfect, but we seem to strive for perfection, so who is to say that in the future robots will not out number the human race on Earth? In Star Trek: The Next Generation, the character Data is very much a robot and not human, being composed of inorganic materials but designed with a human appearance (an android), but does that make it just a robot? In the show it is proposed that for one to be a sentient being and a person they must possess three qualities, intelligence, self-awareness, and consciousness. In accordance to these three conditions it is obvious that the character Data is in fact a sentient being with the qualities of being a person.
3. Simians, Cyborgs, and Woman: The Reinvention of Nature. Haraway, Donna J. Routledge. Florence, KY, USA
As further advances in robotic testing and programming continue to emerge, then robots will be able to perform more difficult tasks. This article depicts the problem of consciousness in which robots may have knowledge yet lack feelings or emotion. Though we as humans are conscious, robots are not capable of feeling emotions this distinction allows us to distinguish ourselves from robots who sometimes resemble us.
Harroway, Donna . "Cyborgs to Companion Species: Reconfiguring Kinship in Technoscience." English 387 Course Pack. Regina: Professor J. Battis, 2009. 304-311. Print.
Would clones or cyborgs be considered nonhuman? Fukuyama believes that a computer should not be considered human because they lack basic sensory input and feeling of a human. Fukuyama goes on to say “ It is perfectly possible to design a robot with heat sensors in it’s fingers, the robot could keep itself from being burned, but it would actually be devoid of the most important quality of a human being, feelings” (199). This quote reflects that reg...
Some would say the attempt to make a robot is an attempt to 'play god' and to recreate man. Others would argue that robots might become so intelligent that they would take over and replace humans. There is no better example of this than the movie Terminator, which begins with a world ruled by machines who are trying to kill the remaining human population. The actual field of robotics however, has produced many products which we take for granted. The clock is a household item that was developed in the beginning stages of machine ...
With the development of technology in the world, people are faced with many things they never saw and knew before. In this modern life, technology has affected a lot of people’s lives in many levels. Robots are considered as important products of technology. Robots were introduced by a writer, Karel Čapek, from the Czech word, robota, meaning “forced labor” or “serf”. Čapek used this word in his play, R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots) which opened in Prague in January, 1921, a play in which an Englishman named Rossum mass-produced automata. The automata, robots, are meant to do the world’s work and to make a better life for humans; but in the end they rebel, wipe out humanity, and start a new race of intelligent life for the robots themselves (Asimov, 1984). Robot does not have a specific definition itself, every dictionary has a slightly different definition. “Deciding if a machine is or is not a robot is like trying to decide if a certain shade of greenish blue is truly blue or not blue,” said Carlo Bertocchini, the owner of RobotBooks.com. “Some people will call it blue while others will vote not blue,” (Branwyn, 2004). This essay will limit the meaning of robot as what defined in the Merriam Webster Dictionary (2004), robot is a machine that looks and acts like a human being, an efficient but insensitive person, a device that automatically performs especially repetitive tasks, and something guided by automatic controls. As the technology grows more modern each day, scientists and programmers are creating and improving the function of robots. Nevertheless, many people are still debating should robots be developed more and should robots be used in everyday life. I disagree that the further development of robots should be remain...