# How many Cyborgs are in the United States? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 2, 2015, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cyborgs-are-in-the-united-states/719088 "2015-05-02T11:03:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 11:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cyborgs-are-in-the-united-states/719088/1 "2015-05-02T11:03:49Z")
Defining the term as “anyone with a permanently implanted device with electronic components, and/or mechanical moving parts.” So, I’m not counting surgical pins and plates, but cochlear implants and pacemakers are in. And I guess I’ll make allowances to devices implanted as a bridge to transplant—ventricular assist devices, for example—but entirely external devices like dialysis machines are out. And, technically, anyone with such a device implanted for non-medical reasons would count, too. That might cover a couple of eccentric transhumanism researchers and dedicated body-modification _artistes_. There doesn’t seem to be any ready-made lists of statistics on this particular subject—the [nih.gov](http://nih.gov) site keeps giving me funny looks—so, what the heck. 'Anyone willing or able to weigh in on this one? ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cyborgs-are-in-the-united-states/719088/2 "2015-05-02T11:40:15Z")
What about all the cats and dogs with an implanted RFID chip? Do they count? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cyborgs-are-in-the-united-states/719088/3 "2015-05-02T15:07:02Z")
Hey, I’ve got a titanium cage on my spine and I count myself as a proud member of the cyborg community. You’re in big trouble now, buddy. I’m going to make this viral and call down a march on you. A stiff and halting march, maybe, but indomitable and unstoppable. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cyborgs-are-in-the-united-states/719088/4 "2015-05-02T16:11:43Z")
I assume that joint-replacement surgeries involve “mechanical moving parts”, and knee and hip replacements between them account for a bit over a million people. I suspect that most other cyborgifications will be dwarfed by those two, which would put the total at perhaps a million and a half. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cyborgs-are-in-the-united-states/719088/5 "2015-05-02T16:12:54Z")
Do artificial joints count? Cochlear implants definitely. Must be tens of thousands of people by now, maybe hundreds of thousands, if you don’t count joints, millions if you do. ---
**Author:** ![Atomic\_Alex](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atomic_alex/32/175_2.png) [@Atomic\_Alex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atomic_Alex)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cyborgs-are-in-the-united-states/719088/6 "2015-05-02T20:53:18Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Hey, I’ve got a titanium cage on my spine and I count myself as a proud member of the cyborg community. > > You’re in big trouble now, buddy. I’m going to make this viral and call down a march on you. A stiff and halting march, maybe, but indomitable and unstoppable. Pfffffttttt, until you hit the giant embedded electromagnets anyway. _flips switch…flips it again…frantically flips it up and down_ Oh goddammit, titanium isn’t magnetic! ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 2, 2015, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cyborgs-are-in-the-united-states/719088/7 "2015-05-02T21:13:09Z")
Addendum to my above: There are more people with pacemakers than with artificial joints, at about 3 million. Are there any other cyborg-parts that can compete with those? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2015, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-cyborgs-are-in-the-united-states/719088/8 "2015-05-03T00:02:12Z")
It seems we have a couple hundred million people with the TV-implanted intelligence cut-out circuit. It got installed there electronically, but didn’t leave any parts behind other than rewired neurons. So I’m not sure that \*quite \*counts for the OP. 😃