We are still a ways off from creating real cyborgs. While we have made advances in cybernetics and bioengineering, we have not yet reached a level where humans can regrow their biological parts. Additionally, we do not yet have a full understanding of how electrical signals translate into subjective feelings. However, we are making progress and the future looks promising.
Salamanders are reptiles that can regrow any body part if it gets sliced off. Although technology has not yet advanced to a level where humans can regrow their biological, a mechanistic replacement is definitely a possibility thanks to cybernetics and bioengineering. Humans have been obsessed with the notion of prolonging their lives, rejuvenating or arresting degeneration due to old age, imagining life continuing through artificially created human beings, or turning into cyborgs to live for eternity. This obsession is shown through the themes of our sci-fi literature, with books and movies such as Bicentennial Man, AI, The Terminator series, Borgs from Star Trek, and the not so fictional ‘I, Cyborg’ by Kevin Warwick.
What The Future Holds…
Apart from giving more hope to amputees about an independent future, such technological advances give rise to the possibility of a technical clone of yourself in the near future. Imagine sitting in the office and being connected to your bot at home, making it do chores in precisely your chosen way. Also, who wouldn’t want an extra set of hands? In the future, maybe we will even be able to connect to a technological collective consciousness. Maybe through such connectivity, the members of the human race would become a little more empathetic and tolerant of each other!
