# How artificial must you be to be considered a cyborg? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 27, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757 "2007-03-27T23:33:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Jet\_Jaguar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jet_jaguar/32/3562_2.png) [@Jet\_Jaguar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jet_Jaguar)\ **Post date:** [March 27, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/1 "2007-03-27T23:33:53Z")
Just wondering if there’s any consensus on how artificial someone must be before they’re considered a cyborg? A hearing aid or pacemaker probably isn’t enough, how about an artificial limb? Or do you have to be more machine than human and if so, what’s the threshold? 51%? ---
**Author:** ![Karen\_Lingel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/karen_lingel/32/18649_2.png) [@Karen\_Lingel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Karen_Lingel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/2 "2007-03-28T00:17:25Z")
Anyone who walks around with one of those cell phones clipped to their ear qualifies. I call them cyborgs to their face. They don’t hear me. ---
**Author:** ![enigm4tic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ba0ec/32.png) [@enigm4tic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enigm4tic)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/3 "2007-03-28T00:20:28Z")
[QUOTE=Karen Lingel] Anyone who walks around with one of those cell phones clipped to their ear qualifies. I call them cyborgs to their face. They don’t hear me. [/QUOTE] no, they hear you, and they report you to their cyborg masters as a primary target when the revolution comes. ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 12:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/4 "2007-03-28T00:44:13Z")
I would class it as one of three ways: Over 50%. This is obvious. If your brain is positronic (or whatever). And this is less obvious - if your spinal cord is artificial. I’m not as sure about this one, but considering how important your spinal cord is and how much it does, I think I’d probably class you as a cyborg then. Don’t worry, I’d still be friends with you. I like cyborgs…but not of the phone variety, either. ---
**Author:** ![lizardling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@lizardling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lizardling)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/5 "2007-03-28T02:26:56Z")
Hmm. Robocop - cyborg. Battle Angel Alita - cyborg. T-1000 - robot. Victor Stone (original incarnation) - squishy with bolt-ons. I think that you count as a cyborg if only your brain and/or central nervous system (does the brain count as part of the CNS?) are still organic. ---
**Author:** ![Terrifel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c68b51/32.png) [@Terrifel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terrifel)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/6 "2007-03-28T03:07:46Z")
Any synthetic augmentation qualifies someone as a cyborg. Benjamin Franklin, one of America’s first and most distinguished cyborgs, created his own bifocal optical enhancers. George Washington? Cyborg, by virtue of his prosthetic dental array. Maybe it’s not the most popular interpretation of the term, but there’s no denying that it makes the American Revolution sound more interesting. Plus, it’s a fun way to pad one’s _résumé_. **List Special Skills or Qualifications:** \* Cyborg (hydraulic surgical augmentation enables physical performance far exceeding the limitations of organic structure and duration of orgasm.)\* ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/7 "2007-03-28T03:22:14Z")
I think that the major definer of being a cyborg is that the human body has been **upgraded** through the conversion. So it’s not so much a question of percentage as whether or not the artificial part is better than the original. Specifically, the parts would need to be made such that people would want them, rather than them serving as simple medical standins due to loss of a limb or such. So specifically: A cyborg is someone who has had his physical or mental prowess enhanced via the replacement of at least one major human body part (both legs, both arms, the spine, the heart, etc.) with a mechanical improvement. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/8 "2007-03-28T03:27:52Z")
If you think that resistance is futile, then you are a cyborg. If you think that we ought to give resistance a try instead of dismissing it out of hand, then you are not a cyborg. ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/9 "2007-03-28T03:47:59Z")
[QUOTE=Terrifel] Maybe it’s not the most popular interpretation of the term, but there’s no denying that it makes the American Revolution sound more interesting. Plus, it’s a fun way to pad one’s _résumé_. [/QUOTE] From now on, I am referring to the American Revolution as **The Cyborg Uprising.** That is, until the _real_ cyborg uprising happens, and all us normies are used merely for replacement organs. ---
**Author:** ![Epimetheus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c4cdca/32.png) [@Epimetheus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Epimetheus)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/10 "2007-03-28T03:52:15Z")
[QUOTE=Sage Rat] So specifically: A cyborg is someone who has had his physical or mental prowess enhanced via the replacement of at least one major human body part (both legs, both arms, the spine, the heart, etc.) with a mechanical improvement. [/QUOTE] I would go with this. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/11 "2007-03-28T04:38:53Z")
So Steve Austin _wasn’t_ a cyborg, since he only had one arm and one leg one eye replaced? ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/12 "2007-03-28T05:44:20Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] So Steve Austin _wasn’t_ a cyborg, since he only had one arm and one leg one eye replaced? [/QUOTE] He would be. I just wrote “both” since in real life people would probably upgrade both limbs so that they could function superhumanly doing running, jumping, etc. You can’t do that with only one artificial limb. Replacing only one arm makes some sense since you can build a pen into your finger or whatever, but that’s not really an ehancement of your abilities. It’s just creating a pocket for gadgets. ---
**Author:** ![Sublight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@Sublight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sublight)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 6:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/13 "2007-03-28T06:18:55Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] So Steve Austin _wasn’t_ a cyborg, since he only had one arm and one leg one eye replaced? [/QUOTE] He was a cyborg, just a very off-balance one. The single bionic leg was particularly awkward, since it meant that while he could move far faster than any human, he could only do so by skipping everywhere he went. ---
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/14 "2007-03-28T13:15:30Z")
[QUOTE=Snooooopy] If you think that resistance is futile, then you are a cyborg. [/QUOTE] Why do I have an image of a Cyborg Jeff Foxworthy using this in his routine? If you think resistance is futile, you might be a cyborg. If your allergy to gold limits your bling to severed human skulls, you might be a cyborg. If you think going back in time and going on a killing rampage is a viable stratagy to avoid a future uprising, you might be a cyborg. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Lord\_Il\_Palazzo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Il_Palazzo)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/15 "2007-03-28T13:41:43Z")
I would personally say that a person is a cyborg if their body contains artificial parts that interface directly with the nervous system (such as mechanical arm controled by thought or a mechanical eye that transmits its data to the brain.) Under this definition, simple prosthetics and pacemakers don’t qualify but fictional characters like Steve Austin and Vic Stone. I would incorporate **Sage Rat** ’s “upgrade” condition except that it would mean I could no longer consider Rush Limbaugh a cyborg. ([apparently he has a](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg#Non-fiction) [bionic ear](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_implant).) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/16 "2007-03-28T13:52:59Z")
[QUOTE=Sublight] He was a cyborg, just a very off-balance one. The single bionic leg was particularly awkward, since it meant that while he could move far faster than any human, he could only do so by skipping everywhere he went. [/QUOTE] Did I misremember? Maybe both legs were replaced. I know it was only one arm though. ---
**Author:** ![Hypno-Toad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b2d939/32.png) [@Hypno-Toad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hypno-Toad)\ **Post date:** [March 28, 2007, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-artificial-must-you-be-to-be-considered-a-cyborg/397757/17 "2007-03-28T13:58:20Z")
[QUOTE=Johnny L.A.] Did I misremember? Maybe both legs were replaced. I know it was only one arm though. [/QUOTE] Steve had both legs and one arm replaced. Also one eye. Not many people know he had bionic hair as well.