# You're a quadruple amputee. Would you rather replace your lost limbs biologically or bionically? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 14, 2015, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844 "2015-01-14T19:26:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844/41 "2015-01-18T20:12:57Z")
Bionics all the way for me, with an auto 12ga shotgun in one arm, please. Any word on when you’re gonna release the full cyborg “station wagon for my brain” model? ---
**Author:** ![Grumman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/43a26b/32.png) [@Grumman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumman)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844/42 "2015-01-18T20:29:33Z")
> [@GrumpyBunny](#): > > How badly will the bionic option fuck up screenings at the airport? > > (I fly out of Boston, so we get the full-body scanning. Considering how confused they were by my mom’s hip replacement, I don’t really trust them to understand, “I haz bionic legs!”) The arms are modular, so explaining that you have prosthetics should be simple. 1. Remove arm. 2. Slap idiot TSA agent with arm. 3. Reattach arm. ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2015, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844/43 "2015-01-18T21:57:04Z")
> [@robardin](#): > > The legs? I thought about going supermech on both those puppies, but it occurred to me that doing effective cardio exercise would be nigh impossible without physical legs. Which based on my own past non-regular-cardio life history, would mean I’d end up getting some kind of lard-ass belly hanging over super legs in just a few years. Hmm. > [@Chronos](#): > > Hmm indeed-- This hadn’t occurred to me before. Just how _does_ someone with four bionic limbs get any exercise? That could be an issue. Sit-ups. Lots and lots and lots of sit-ups. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844/44 "2015-01-19T10:31:13Z")
> [@Grumman](#): > > The arms are modular, so explaining that you have prosthetics should be simple. > > 1. Remove arm. > 2. Slap idiot TSA agent with arm. > 3. Reattach arm. And then you’ve just revealed the existence of arms that look 100% real but are detachable. I’m guessing Skald wouldn’t be going to all this trouble to make them look normal if he wanted people to know about his advanced tech. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844/45 "2015-01-19T16:24:54Z")
I’d go for the bionic legs for one reason; they’re not going to get arthritis as I get older, or ache when cold fronts are coming through. Plus, as I age, if there are problems, they can get worked on and fixed with good-as-new replacement parts, no physical therapy needed. Can’t say that for meat legs. Also… no danger of snakebites, carpal tunnel, or any other health conditions that affect the lower legs and arms. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844/46 "2015-01-19T17:10:50Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > And then you’ve just revealed the existence of arms that look 100% real but are detachable. > > I’m guessing Skald wouldn’t be going to all this trouble to make them look normal if he wanted people to know about his advanced tech. Nah, I don’t care about that. Anybody who can get disassemble a Rhymertech prosthesis without tripping the boobytraps and being thrown into the Phantom Zone will be offered a job. ---
**Author:** ![vomit\_comet](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/73ab20/32.png) [@vomit\_comet](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vomit_comet)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844/47 "2015-01-19T19:31:22Z")
Steve Austin all the way, plus the cellphone and phaser. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844/48 "2015-01-19T21:41:00Z")
Can I have Big Chainsaw Hands? RZZZZZZZZZ!!! Obviously they are retractable, normal tech-hands, but with Cybertronian style transforming into BCH… ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2015, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844/49 "2015-01-19T22:03:31Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > So you just finished a mission for Pallas Athena, and while you succeeded in averting the were-kangaroo apocalypse, it was at the cost of both arms at the elbow and both legs at the knee. I don’t want to fight the hypothetical here, but could I get a wee bit of expansion on it? Did I bite the last existing were-kangaroo to death, Monty Python Black Knight style? ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2015, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844/50 "2015-01-20T01:25:05Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > We’re not offering you a JOB, man. If you want to work for RhE, you’ll need to submit a resume, a proposal, and a Welshman freshly slain by your own hand. Can I freelance, or will that run me afoul of Rhymer Enterprises? ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2015, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844/51 "2015-01-22T23:04:42Z")
> [@Quartz](#): > > Biologic all the way for me. Me too. They routinely forget to test gas additives in cold climates, and I fear Rhymer Enterprises might neglect that sort of research too. ---
**Author:** ![scabpicker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scabpicker/32/8268_2.png) [@scabpicker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scabpicker)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2015, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844/52 "2015-01-23T16:44:26Z")
> [@elfkin477](#): > > Me too. They routinely forget to test gas additives in cold climates, and I fear Rhymer Enterprises might neglect that sort of research too. “Sorry, I can’t go to Minnesota with you in January. You know, the legs.” There’s a down side here? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/youre-a-quadruple-amputee-would-you-rather-replace-your-lost-limbs-biologically-or-bionically/709844.md?page=2)