Thursday, July 5, 2007

Science!
Good vibrationslink. My only concern is that once the internal power problem has been hurdled, what obstacles will remain in place to limit the creation of truly cybernetic organisms? How long would it be before cyborg organs and limbs would be used not only to preserve the lives of the sick and dying, but by athletes looking to gain a competitive advantage, by armies looking to create super-soldiers? How much of a man can you replace with machines before he ceases to be a man? The theoretical barriers to the creation of cyborgs are falling with frightening celerity, leaving only problems of practical engineering. And there is no problem of practical engineering that cannot be overcome by keen minds with time and resources on their side. Whither man and come the machines?

At the same time, I wish not to be mistaken for a Luddite. I am not the earliest of the early adapters, I did not wait in line last Friday to purchase on iPhone (though I covet one), but I do believe that the greatest triumph in the history of Man was the Apollo Program. The older I get, the less I like Jurassic Park because, since it is basically a modern variant on Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus, I believe it marks the point at which Steven Spielberg degenerated into a man terrified of his own shadow, transformed beyond recognition from a merchant of dreams to a merchant of fear. In the novel Invisible Monsters Chuck Palahniuk wrote, "When did the future go from being a promise to a threat?" Those who fear technology believe that the future is a threat. They are cowards. I believe the future is a promise. I believe technology is the means through which Man has risen above his animalistic origins; I believe out ingenuity is what makes us human. I am concerned about the potential menace of runaway cyborg technology alone because I wish our humanity to remain intact when we finally forge the future that every generation of our ancestors dreamed for themselves and their posterity.

The minute generator that inspired this post is a wonder and should rightly be celebrated. Technological devices and processes are neither good nor bad; we, as reasoning beings, determine their potential to aid or hinder through our choices. All moral responsibility begins and ends with us.

Lest this discussion become too pie-in-the-sky and we lose sight of the Christmas-morning-of-yore glee of scientific discovery: Science!

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