DailyDirt: Cyborgs All Around Us
from the urls-we-dig-up dept
Technology is becoming ever more essential in our daily lives, but as long as the devices we use are still separate things outside of our bodies, we haven't yet fully adapted to technology. However, as technology gets a bit more advanced, it won't seem too strange to start implanting technology in ourselves. If you wear contact lenses, maybe you think you're a pioneer. But there are far more extreme examples, and some folks are really taking it to the next level.- Artificial hearts have been under development for decades, but one that adjusts blood flow based on physical activity allows a 75yo Frenchman to perform everyday tasks normally -- without becoming breathless or exhausted easily. The Carmat artificial heart is powered by a lithium-ion battery and contains membranes from a cow heart to improve biocompatibility. The technology has come quite a ways from the Jarvik-7 that was implanted in Barney Clark in 1982. [url]
- Transhumanists are exploring the world of do-it-yourself cyborg technologies. Some well-known cyborgs like Kevin Warwick and Steve Mann are just the tip of the iceberg of people who are willing to implant various objects/devices in their bodies. [url]
- The Cybathlon, the first international olympics specifically for athletes with prosthetics, will be held in Switzerland in 2016. There will only be six events, and unlike the traditional olympics, competitors will be encouraged to achieve superhuman abilities (if possible) with technology. [url]
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Filed Under: artificial heart, bionic, carmat, cybathlon, cyborgs, hmi, implants, jarvik-7, kevin warwick, prosthetics, steve mann, transhumanism
Reader Comments
The First Word
“We have been cyborgs since day one
Language is technology, cooking is technology, clothing is technology. Tools and techniques of any kind are purposeful extensions of our bodies and/or minds. We are and allways will be 'cyborgs', forever fated to the process and reward of creating a better version of ourselves.Subscribe: RSS
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dick cheney's heart pump....
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... wait, what?
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Re: dick cheney's heart pump....
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a bit of trivia
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Re: a bit of trivia
In fact, many historical figures who have made what our lives our today lived long and hard pitiful lives and often died as a cost.
In other words, intelligence has nothing to do with a persons ability to conquer the impossible which is why most if not all IQ tests are bogus.
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Re: Re: a bit of trivia
Actually ALL IQ tests ARE bogus for a much simpler reason.
All that they measure is the correlation between the person setting the test and the person taking it.
If the person taking the test has a better answer to a question than the person who set it then the score will be lower!
A real innovator is highly likely to come up with different - sometimes better - answers than the test setter could think of and so will score lower.
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Re: Re: Re: a bit of trivia
What you say is true, but I think there's an even simpler reason that they're all bogus: we can't really define what intelligence actually is, and and you can't meaningfully measure something that you don't understand.
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If he's still alive or has lived long enough to make upgrades to prolong his life, I'm unaware of. But I was always impressed by his will to live and to be like everyone else despite the dangers of dying at any moment - Battery failure etc...
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We have been cyborgs since day one
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Re: We have been cyborgs since day one
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Required reading
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