Join the Borg Collective…
Ever since a certain news story was broadcast on NPR, I’ve been meaning to make my own comments on it, but hadn’t had the time — an author was interviewed on a local show and he made the basic argument in his book that we modern humans were essentially cyborgs.
While the original meaning of the “cyborg” was created to describe a human whose bodily functions are replaced, controlled, or enhanced by technological or “cybernetic” devices, the WhatIs website essentially reflects the more modern adaptation of the term as “anyone who relies on a computer to complete their daily work.”
Given that definition, most people today are cyborgs. The fact that you are reading this probably means that you, too, are a cyborg, assuming that you are reading the original Internet publication.
A month or so before the radio show aired, I carried a myriad technological “toys” with me on my way out hiking one day and, while the term “cyborg” didn’t come to mind, I admit that I felt rather attached (no pun intended) to technology at the time. The Star Trek’s Borg didn’t seem so farfetched. I thought of all the items I had with me that had batteries: a digital camera, a GPS, a Palm Pilot, a metal detector, three flashlights of various sizes. Having gone through the strapping-on routine several dozen times in recent months, I even considered changing my screen name to “Commando,” in reference to the ritualistic procedures soldiers go through before outfitting themselves for battle or military maneuvers.
You might as well give up now. Resistance is futile…
