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Using Technology to Enhance Humans

Posted by Zonk on from the now-entering-transhuman-space dept.

Roland Piquepaille writes "It's a well-known fact that technology can improve our lives. For example, we can reach anyone and anywhere with our cellphones. And people who can't walk after an accident now can have smart prosthesis to help them. But what about designing our children on a computer or having a chip inside our brain to answer our email messages? Are we ready for such a future? In 'Robo-quandary,' the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that many researchers are working on the subject. And as a professor of neuroscience said, "We can grow neurons on silicone plates; we can make the blind see; the deaf hear; we can read minds." So will all we become cyborgs one day?"

2 of 293 comments (clear)

  1. We are The Borg. by Bragador · · Score: 5, Interesting
    I dont' know about you but I find this thrilling. If you do not want such technology to "enhance" humans I don't care but don't stop me from improving my abilities.

    I have always been fascinated by the notion of hive mind and I truly wish that one day, humans will have their brains connected to the net by wifi or something. Each time we have a question, instead of thinking we could access the net of minds. We could have one big hive mind with all of the knowledge or have a distributed system where the knowledge is distributed among our brains. Also, only the most advanced researchers could access the core to change the official knowledge database. We could always have a core that works like the current Wikipedia too. Who knows what's the best way to manage a hive mind?

    I'm already answering tons of queries in my job thanks to Wikipedia and Google. I just wish we could go one step further...

  2. Re:Correction by metlin · · Score: 4, Interesting

    You could always be busy with other things - I mean, if someone thinks that you definitely should call back within a "reasonable" amount of time, obviously you answering the phone regularly (or returning calls regularly) has prompted that belief.

    Me? I usually just leave my phone on silent, and people know that if I do not answer during the day I am at work and there is a good reason. And if it is my day off - well they have no reason to be calling me, do they?

    Expectations are what *you* set. If you answer the phone every damn time and call back ten minutes after, people will begin to expect that of you. If you don't, people won't.

    -shrug-