Human cyborgs

Human beings are currently living in a technological world and by using the tools in their society, their minds have changed. According to Nicklas Serning, writer of “Towards the Cybernetic Mind” humans and the tools that they come in contact with, merge and become one. Serning explains in his article that, “humans have always merged with tools, and that the difference between now and 100,000 years ago is simply a matter of the degree of complexity of the tools.” Since technology is so eminent in our lives, merging with it is inevitable. An example of this merge is shown through Serning himself, as he describes what it is like playing the videogame Call of Duty. If one was to view Serning play the game, they would notice him anxiously leaning in his chair, glaring at his computer screen, whilst rapidly clicking buttons on his mouse. “This is of course not my experience – I’m trying to take out that guy behind the shack over there with my RPG. Ergo, we have a case of humans gradually extending their experience of self to include the body, then simple tools, and finally a virtual world.” Serning did not view himself as just simply clicking buttons on a mouse and playing a game. He was merging with the technology that he was using and was experiencing what was happening in the virtual reality. When humans are using tools, the tools themselves become transparent; humans become a part of the tool that they are interacting with. So the more that humans use a specific tool, the more their mind will merge with it and take on its characteristics. When humans use modern technology, their minds change to incorporate the traits of computers and they experience the virtual world as a part of themselves. As the use of technology in our society increases, we will see humans begin to acquire more technological traits.

            As humans have progressed through time, certain abilities and technologies have become obsolete. Knowing how to use a compass, tell time using the sun, and the ability to make our own clothes are abilities that have become obsolete in our day of age. Many of the technologies that we take for granted today, were extremely important when they were first discovered. In the future, there will be new devices and technologies that will make our current lifestyle seem obsolete. I believe if humans continue to incorporate technology into more aspects of their lives, their minds will keep merging with the technology and will inevitably change. I believe that the people of the future will value technology and efficiency and will not value many of the traits that humans currently value. Humans in the future will interact with each other like humans currently do with technology, in an efficient, dull, cyborg-like state. This future generation of humans may be so consumed by their new technological reality, that certain emotions and feelings that we currently have will be viewed as obsolete.  These feelings and emotions will be forgotten just as our generation has forgotten many of the technologies that have died out in the past. Their only reality will be their virtual one. It is sad to think of a future filled with human cyborgs lacking our feelings, emotions, and love for the natural reality of the earth. But, if we continue to use and depend on technology to greater and greater extents, this world will become inevitable. But this is simply the circle of life. Humans have been changing and evolving with the constructs that they surround themselves with since the beginning of time. I’m not saying that we have to stop using technology completely to avoid this future. But, we have to remember that technology is simply a construct that we as humans have created and it should be used as a tool to help us, not consume us.

Over time, humans have lived in different realities. Looking back over the course of history, humans have had different lifestyles, ambitions, goals, and different opinions about how life should be lived. We currently look back on previous generations and civilizations and wonder how awful it must have been to live without cell phones, without automobiles, or the Internet. All of these human made constructs have helped aid in the construction of human beings of the current time period. Interacting and using the tools that surround us changes the way that we think and behave. When I sat down to write this post, I used a portable laptop. The computer is a tool in our world which has changed the speed and style of the way that I think and write. Technology and other tools that we currently use have changed the way that our brain works. Technology and other resources that our society presently uses will influence what human beings and society will be like in the future. But, human made tools and creations are not the only thing that will influence human evolution. Although the way that humans have lived has changed greatly over time, there is one universal similarity that all generations have in common. To our knowledge, no human being has ever left the earth (except for a few astronauts of course). But, no one has ventured out into the unknown. Space has become our final frontier and it is the biggest and most mysterious of them all. As time goes on, who knows what humans will discover? The possibilities of what humans and society will be like in the future are endless. And I will discuss these possibilities on my blog. Stay tuned. 

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