# Cybernetic implants - how do you feel? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 27, 2001, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999 "2001-07-27T19:44:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/1 "2001-07-27T19:44:58Z")
If and when cybernetic implants become practical and cheap, would you partake? What body parts would you replace (please, keep it clean.)? Does anyone have anything _against_ becoming a man-machine combination? I know we have prosthetic limbs today that are more than just a peg leg, and we’re working on eyes and ears, but what I’m talking about is _voluntarily_ replacing body parts with better mechanical ones when they become practical and less costly. Would you do it? If so, why? Would you not do it, and again, if so, why? Personally, I’d be a bit jumpy about replacing my body with mechanical parts, even if they _were_ better than their organic equivalents. I may go for a mental interface with computers, but that’ll be the limit for myself. I’d like to hear what _you’d_ do when cybernetic implants become really practical. ---
**Author:** ![FallenAngel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@FallenAngel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FallenAngel)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/2 "2001-07-27T20:45:33Z")
I’ve always wanted to be a cyborg, but I’d have some pretty definite criteria the technology would have to meet before doing it. I think I’d prefer a cybernetic support structure - musculature, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, etc. Maybe sheeting on the one structure to reinforce it against the added strength of the cyber materials. The actual limbs and appendages don’t interest me as much because I like the way they currently feel and would not want to go in for any kind of mannequin tactile experience. Lastly, I think the wet wire brain to computer interface would be incredibly cool. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/3 "2001-07-27T21:15:26Z")
I’d have to be absolutely convinced that there was very little risk of complications, but replacement eyes that could switch to zoom/macro/infra-red/thermal would be nice (as well as resolving my need to wear spectacles). ---
**Author:** ![thinksnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thinksnow/32/2849_2.png) [@thinksnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thinksnow)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/4 "2001-07-27T21:55:36Z")
I’d get my knees done. Not “scoped” or reconstructed, because they still work alright, just souped up so that I never have to worry about blowing them out skiing or running. Other than that, probably an eye or ear job. Again, they work just fine, but to up their abilities…Mwuhahaha! ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2001, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/5 "2001-07-27T23:39:04Z")
Definetly new eyes and better hearing. As I got older, I’d probably start replacing internal organs as they failed. I doubt I’d get any limbs replaced “just for the hell of it,” but if I could get the same level of tactile sensation, I don’t think I’d miss a missing limb or two. 'Course, what I _really_ want is a data port implant, so I could just plug a computer directly into my brain and skip all this keyboard crap. ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/6 "2001-07-28T00:03:01Z")
Wireless T-10/100 Ethernet internet access directly to the brain, thankyouverymuch. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![waterj2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/858c86/32.png) [@waterj2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/waterj2)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/7 "2001-07-28T00:06:58Z")
I’ve always wanted the Mega-Man style gun in one arm. That would be cool. As long as I could maintain full functionality. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/8 "2001-07-28T03:07:47Z")
_RoboModerator!_ has a nice ring to it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Sterra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8c91f0/32.png) [@Sterra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sterra)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/9 "2001-07-28T03:25:11Z")
I would go ghost in the shell style! ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/10 "2001-07-28T03:34:16Z")
Eyes, the left one first as I’ve bad vision in both but the left verges on the useless for most purposes. Pretty much everything else, I’m cool with until there’s a reason to swap them out–i.e., I’m eighty and my DNA’s getting a bit rambunctious and keeps kicking tumors up in my lungs? Swap the whole bit out. That sort of thing. I’ll be very leery of all brain-computer interfaces until software design is a much more exact science then it is today. Forget virus possibilities, I just don’t want portions of my brain locking up because of port conflicts, and installing patches especially makes me cringe. Keep that sort of thing well away from the wetware for the time being, thanks. However, with artificial eyes, I’d be fine with just projecting things there, and hooking up outputs somewhere along the motor pathways to my fingers, for the subvocal equivalent of typing. ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/11 "2001-07-28T05:12:33Z")
[Venus Prime](http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/tg/browse/-/279060/ref%3Db%5Fh%5F%5Fbrbx%5Fc%5F2%5F5/202-3915715-2407852) - by Paul Preuss. I want the PIN spines under the fingernails for direct neural interfacing with computers, the enhanced musculo-skeletal system…heck, I wanna be the SPARTA project. Preferably without the arch-nemeses, though. With the advances in [nanotechnology](http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/business/634600), it’s getting [closer](http://news.ft.com/ft/gx.cgi/ftc?pagename=View&c=Article&cid=FT4Y1GX5X4C&live=true&tagid=ZZZHJ52NA0C) to [possible](http://lycos.howstuffworks.com/news-item46.htm) all the time. I wonder what the 'net would really look like from the inside. 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Zero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c4cdca/32.png) [@Saint\_Zero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Zero)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/12 "2001-07-28T05:26:40Z")
I’m first on the list for a cyberjack. 😃 I’m tired of this typing crap. Tho a wireless gigabit ethernet implant would be cool. Physically? Eyes, ears, knees spinal column, all fair game… ---
**Author:** ![Lodrain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@Lodrain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lodrain)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/13 "2001-07-28T05:52:05Z")
> [@](#): > > **Originally by tisiphone:** > I want the PIN spines under the fingernails\*\* Eek. You just reminded me; I pulled a small sliver of bamboo from under my fingernail yesterday. It hurt like crazy. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 6:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/14 "2001-07-28T06:22:30Z")
I’d replace anything that can be enhanced cybernetically. Eyes, ears, skin, tongue, muscles, bones, internal organs, _ahem_ external organs… you name it, I want it improved. ---
**Author:** ![darian00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dfb087/32.png) [@darian00](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/darian00)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/15 "2001-07-28T12:17:40Z")
Well, seeing as my knees seem to be slowly degenerating, I’d replace those. But I’d want a dataport and a thermonuclear missile attachment. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/16 "2001-07-28T12:29:17Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Saint Zero \* > \*\*I’m first on the list for a cyberjack. 😃 I’m tired of this typing crap. Tho a wireless gigabit ethernet implant would be cool. > > Physically? Eyes, ears, knees spinal column, all fair game… \*\* Yep. Put me down for those, too, as my originals were all lemons to start with. I also want a new set of islets of Langerhans (or however the hell you spell it). I’m diabetic, arthritic, asthmatic, and got a whole bunch of other things wrong with me. I’d love a new set of joints, these old ones hurt all the time and make me cranky. OK, they make me crankiER. I need a new ticker, a new set of lungs…hell, just transfer my brain into a robotic body and be done with it. Include a program that simulates the taste and mouthfeel of chocolate. And, of course, I want the thermonuclear missile attachment darian00 mentions. ---
**Author:** ![RoboDude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bbe5ce/32.png) [@RoboDude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RoboDude)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 1:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/17 "2001-07-28T13:27:55Z")
I’d love to have the Skillwire system from Shadowrun. Plug in a skillsoft chip and you can instantly become an expert at whatever’s on it. Built-in night vision would also be nice, as well as beffed-up muscles, enhanced structural integrity, puncture-resistant skin, and a cybernetic computer interface. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/18 "2001-07-28T21:52:37Z")
Oh, I’ve just decided that I’d like my new eyes (see above) to work in reverse too; I want to be able to project any picture(still/moving) I can remember or imagine out onto the wall (or better still as a hologram, but let’s keep it realistic (LOL)) ---
**Author:** ![MandaJo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac91a4/32.png) [@MandaJo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MandaJo)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/19 "2001-07-28T23:28:18Z")
OK, I want the six-inch razors that shoot out of my fingers on command ala _Neuromancer_. Make opening mail a snap! And the data port, of course. And a robot slave that can do the grocery shopping. ---
**Author:** ![ExTank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@ExTank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ExTank)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2001, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999/20 "2001-07-28T23:30:37Z")
Screw hardware; gimme the genetic boost S.M. Stirling describes in _Stone Dogs_ and _Drakon._ Toss in some chimp DNA, some canine and feline, avian, the regenerative capabilities of echinoderms, some backup organs…boost general IQ (move the curve upwards and make it extremely steep on the downslope), enhanced cognitive functions (total recall, savant mathematic ability, perfect pitch, volitional control of bodily functions using bio-feedback techniques). The neural interface with computers/machinery would be about the only useful application not found in Nature that I could think of. It would blow DVD’s away. A lot of the stuff described in _Dark Angel_ sounds like what Stirling describes in his books. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/cybernetic-implants-how-do-you-feel/73999.md?page=2)