# Would you like to become a cyborg? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617 "2016-06-05T22:38:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/1 "2016-06-05T22:38:47Z")
A cyborg would be able to connect to Social Media and to his/her financial accounts and remotely controlled devices by [brain computer interface](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brain%E2%80%93computer_interface). Such technology is not yet available. A person who uses Internet almost all the time is not a cyborg. An unfortunate person who has computer implants for [medical purposes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyborg#In_medicine) is not a cyborg. Offenders who have chips implanted in their body are not cyborgs. These chips track the offenders and indicate when they are agitated. ---
**Author:** ![Trinopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/2bfe46/32.png) [@Trinopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trinopus)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/2 "2016-06-06T00:22:26Z")
I know it’s early in the thread…but I disagree with you exclusion of medical prostheses from cyborgery. I’m willing to put some limits, so that I can’t claim I’m a cyborg now, because of my eyeglasses. But someone with an artificial hip joint is a cyborg. Anyway, pfah, addressing the issue, hell yes, and right now. I’ll gladly test prototypes. Being able to “download” a book rather than having to read it – yes! (Well, just so long as I don’t lose the ability to read a book the old-fashioned way.) I recently read Donald Kingsbury’s “Psychohistorical Crisis,” and much of the book revolved around people’s personal cognitive boosts, which not only stored a lot of data for you as external memory, but also helped you process data, making people a damn sight smarter. I want one! ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/3 "2016-06-06T00:24:22Z")
I always think that it’s a sad cyborg who has devoted a good portion of his headmeats to Myspace and AltaVista access. Using BCI does not make you a cyborg though, unless you use some invasive method. “Offenders” are getting chips implanted now? Are Jack Chick tracts news today? ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/4 "2016-06-06T00:32:14Z")
> [@Trinopus](#): > > I know it’s early in the thread…but I disagree with you exclusion of medical prostheses from cyborgery. I’m willing to put some limits, so that I can’t claim I’m a cyborg now, because of my eyeglasses. But someone with an artificial hip joint is a cyborg. By a cyborg I mean someone who has superhuman capabilities due to implanted electronics. > [@Trinopus](#): > > Anyway, pfah, addressing the issue, hell yes, and right now. I’ll gladly test prototypes. Being able to “download” a book rather than having to read it – yes! > > (Well, just so long as I don’t lose the ability to read a book the old-fashioned way.) I would wait until the technology got mature, but otherwise it would be great. ---
**Author:** ![spamforbrains](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@spamforbrains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spamforbrains)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/5 "2016-06-06T00:46:02Z")
Why are you limiting it to implanted interfaces? I’ve always wanted six super-strong arms and eyes in the back of my head. And some wings would be nice. Perhaps a prehensile tail. And downloadable memory. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/6 "2016-06-06T00:54:26Z")
> [@spamforbrains](#): > > Why are you limiting it to implanted interfaces? I’ve always wanted six super-strong arms and eyes in the back of my head. And some wings would be nice. Perhaps a prehensile tail. And downloadable memory. The mechanical body is within today’s technology. The downloadable memory is likely outside this century’s technology. ---
**Author:** ![DorkVader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/73ab20/32.png) [@DorkVader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DorkVader)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/7 "2016-06-06T01:06:39Z")
I think it sounds cool superficially, buuuuuut ya know… it would give a whole new spin to “upper respiratory viral infection” also, this hypothetical “Doctor, is merely meningitis or, or is he, has he, has he been infected with TROJANITIS?” dun dun duuuuuun however a prosthetic for a missing limb or ocular, I guess as long as the plumbing is kept as simple and uncloggable as possible ---
**Author:** ![Ambivalid](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a5b964/32.png) [@Ambivalid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ambivalid)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/8 "2016-06-06T01:29:49Z")
_ **Ha!** _ I knew it. As I’ve been saying all along, the **C** in **CCitizen** stands for “cyborg”! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/9 "2016-06-06T01:57:58Z")
> [@Ambivalid](#): > > _ **Ha!** _ I knew it. As I’ve been saying all along, the **C** in **CCitizen** stands for “cyborg”! 😃 I am Cyber Citizen. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2016, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/10 "2016-06-06T02:04:04Z")
_Man made the buildings that reach for the sky And Man made the motorcar and learned how to drive But he didn’t make the flowers and he didn’t make the trees And he didn’t make you and he didn’t make me And he’s go no right to turn us into machines_ – Ray Davies of The Kinks, “God’s Children” [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/OSciUplVZrA/hqdefault.jpg "God's Children - The Kinks") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OSciUplVZrA) However, I would like to be a ROBOT TIGER!! ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/11 "2016-06-07T05:24:48Z")
> [@guestchaz](#): > > I think it sounds cool superficially, buuuuuut ya know… > it would give a whole new spin to “upper respiratory viral infection” > also, this hypothetical > “Doctor, is merely meningitis or, or is he, has he, has he been infected with TROJANITIS?” dun dun duuuuuun > however a prosthetic for a missing limb or ocular, I guess as long as the plumbing is kept as simple and uncloggable as possible Also, your thoughts may be read by a hacker. Even your dreams. ---
**Author:** ![kopek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kopek/32/337_2.png) [@kopek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kopek)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/12 "2016-06-07T06:28:21Z")
Never but without the exclamation point. The internet/social-media/related things don’t interest me that much and I too much appreciate time totally away from them. Now give me a bionic arm and a couple mechanical organs and I would sign the paperwork tomorrow. ---
**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:** [June 7, 2016, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/13 "2016-06-07T06:59:55Z")
What do I gain? What do I lose? In this specific proposal for becoming a cyborg, it seems like I gain a marginal increase in convenience of access to the Internet, and I lose my ability for mental solitude. I’m up for becoming a cyborg, but not this deal. ---
**Author:** ![DrFidelius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/drfidelius/32/3447_2.png) [@DrFidelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrFidelius)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/14 "2016-06-07T11:27:37Z")
Sorry, no. No upload for me - why would I want a computer program that acts as if it were me to be kept around? Will it be programmed to say “What?” and “I don’t understand” and “Where’s the tea?” But I do believe that hands-free tech will advance to where implants are not needed, and the input interface will be more like a streamlined EEG electrode cap. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/15 "2016-06-07T12:22:08Z")
No thanks. I have never understood the desire for this. I love the internet, but I also love being away from the internet. I adore technology, but I also don’t trust the reliability of technology. Lets keep our tech interface purely hands on. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/16 "2016-06-07T12:28:19Z")
Sounds like you want to put human parts in my perfectly good robot body. No way, meat bag! ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/17 "2016-06-07T12:33:09Z")
I would happily become a cyborg as long as nothing is lost – if the enhancements add and improve abilities, without taking anything away, then I’m all for it. If I loose some sort of sensation or feeling (for example – voluntarily replacing a hand with a super-strong robot hand that has limited feeling and sensation), then I would probably not want to do it. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/18 "2016-06-07T12:40:17Z")
I don’t even want to have a Facebook account. But there are so many people now who don’t even have E-mail, I have to. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/19 "2016-06-07T15:08:54Z")
> [@CCitizen](#): > > Offenders who have chips implanted in their body are not cyborgs. These chips track the offenders and indicate when they are agitated. I would like to know about these offenders with chip implants, please. ---
**Author:** ![CCitizen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/4af34b/32.png) [@CCitizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CCitizen)\ **Post date:** [June 7, 2016, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617/20 "2016-06-07T19:35:43Z")
> [@kopek](#): > > Never but without the exclamation point. The internet/social-media/related things don’t interest me that much and I too much appreciate time totally away from them. I sort of agree. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/would-you-like-to-become-a-cyborg/756617.md?page=2)