A cyborg is a self-regulating organism that combines the natural and artificial together in one system. Cyborgs do not have to be part human, for any organism/system that mixes the evolved and made, the living and the inanimate, is technically a cyborg. What it means is that machine that has living part on it (for example human skin) can be a cyborg too. Person is a cyborg if he has been technologically modified in any significant way, from an implanted pacemaker to a vaccination that reprogrammed his immune system. Even though person is unmodified, we all live in cyborg society. S as we humans continue to technologically transform ourselves, this process will play in important role in politics - and not always for the better.
Pictures from the book:
The bottom picture is 1651 book cover of Thomas Hobbes’ Leviathan depicts the Sovereign as a massive body wielding a sword and crozier and made up of many individual people. He is a cyborg itself. The top image is reworked and the idea behind it is that the postmodern nation-state isn't just people. It incorporates a whole range of technologies including laws, bureaucracies, and many different types of machines, computers.
Artist Bob Thawley updated Leonadro de Vinci's famous drawing with a catalog of contemporary medical prosthesis.
Signs of cyborg society is all around. Nowadays our life is shaped by machines from the moment we our phones wakes us up in the morning. We are using technology everyday, with some of them we merge almost unconsciously, such as the car we drive, the computer we use at work, or the television. Technology takes a huge part of our lives.
"In another thousand years we'll be machines, or gods." (Afriel, a Shapist, from the science-fiction story 'Swarm')
Reference: Gray, C. H. (2001) Cyborg Citizen: Politics in the Posthuman Age. United Kingdom: Taylor & Francis
 |
| 'I would rather be a cyborg than a goddess' Painting and print by Bettina von Arnim |
Cyborgs in real life
3rd eye made him a cyborg, because he was able to see what he is leaving behind him, what is going on behind his back.
Less painful, but similar to having 3rd eye on the back of head is new technologies, like google glass.
Google glass has a touchpad that located on the side of Google Glass and it allowing users to control the device. Sliding backward shows current events, such as weather, and sliding forward shows past events, such as phone calls, photos, circle updates, etc. There is also installed camera that has the ability to take photos and record 720p HD video. Moreover there is a LED illuminated display.
This device will allow people to access information they need just by wearing glasses. It is a hand free device, which means that technology is becoming more and more closer to human body, it almost becomes connected to us.
Due to the fact that Google glass has a camera that allows not only to take pictures but video as well, it looks that is going to be easier to watch, keep track of other people. We will never know when someone is taking picture of us, or collecting information at the same time, because person that is wearing glasses can do that without lifting a hand.
We are becoming more and more dependent to technology that makes people cyborgs.
I tried to create my own cyborg. Person that has smartphone installed into his hand. I used one of my images (girl) and others that I found on the internet.
First I cut a phone screen from one image and placed it on girls hand. Then using brush tool and mask I removed unnecessary parts, so hone would be shape of a hand.
After that I added adjustments and change the colour, because I wanted to make it look like phone is part of her body.
