I recently learned
a new word while searching for more good books about the future of humans and
robots. The word is, "transhuman."
Y’know, like
transvestite? Transexual? Transpose?
Transhuman.
I am talking about
humans turning parts of themselves into machines. It’s probably going to be a reality by the
time I die of old age. Or I could be
wrong. But at my age I can live just long
enough to take advantage of robotic medicine (is that accurate to say? Cybernetic implants/augmentation would be
considered robotic medicine, right? Is
there a medical billing code for that?
Sorry, my new career path just sort of made me enjoy asking that
question out of the blue.)
Someday there will
be such medical procedures as cybernetic augmentation (aside from what the
military may be experimenting with behind our backs). Right now, these are what are known as
prosthetics, and they are not augmentation—they are replacements for limbs that are lost or organs that need
replacement as well.
I am a bit scared
of the idea, even though to me it is an exciting, fascinating and rarely
discussed topic. To be honest I don’t
enjoy thinking about my future too much, not when it comes to health. I’m not so old, but I am not that young
either. Of course I’m going to feel like
taking better care of my health.
But suppose the
conversation of robotic replacements for lost limbs or sick organs did turn to cybernetic
augmentation. Currently robotic
prosthetics although expensive, are replacements for lost parts. But in the future, robotic parts may become
an option along the lines of breast implants.
People will want stronger (and lead to faster) legs, or sharper eyes, or
super hearing.
So…transhumanism. Or trans-humanism, I don’t know what would be
the correct spelling of these for now.
They both seem acceptable…
There are many films that tackle topics like this. Transcendence
and The Prototype are two of
them being released this year. I am especially interested in The Prototype (it’s more of an action/thriller
story), but Transcendence I might
wait to see later. They are both good
ways to start, or continue, the conversation about what happens to the person
when the body is deteriorating but their mind is fully active. Something else also: how this transfiguration
will affect the people they know, and perhaps the people on Earth.
Of course, this is not the end of the conversation...
I want to come back to it again.
