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Welcome to our Cyborganisation House of Horror, the user-friendly torture chamber. You always wanted to know what all the technology around us can do to us? You are not afraid of brave new worlds? You love your computer? Welcome to the entrance hall of the House of Horror. It is your own risk and liability if you decide to follow the story through the rooms!
'Cyborg', the short term for cybernetic organism, is the combination of two different systems: (hard) technology and (soft) flesh. The merger between the constructor and the construct. The term cyborg was set into discussion by M. Clynes, a neurophysiologist and space scientist (Clynes and Kline 1960 as cited in Brooke 2002). The idea to add technology to the human body was generated by NASA, which expected advantages to space travel in altering the human body. Imagine an interface between a spaceship and an astronaut. Constantly his vital functions are controlled and he is living in a harmony with his ship. Or imagine warplane pilots with silicon chips inside their heads so that the onboard computer can make the body react better to the circumstances.
There are different methods to upgrade a human. Carlton University (2002) divided the cyborg into four different stages.
Stage 1 is a simple replacement or augmentation of the human body. False teeth or a wooden leg for example. Humans use is like a tool but there is no neural connection between him and the artificial part.
Stage 2 might be a mechanical hand or replacement of a muscle. It is the sophisticated version of stage 1 and is not longer just a tool, but something that is attached to groups of muscles and can therefore be moved. But it has also no direct interaction with the nerves.
Stage 3 is bionic parts. Today we have one example, the heart pacemaker. Alterations like this reach our neural system.
Stage 4 is still science fiction. Augmentations or replacements of parts of the neural system. We know them from movies. E. g. the 'Visor' of Lt. LaForge (Star Trek), the interface of Neo (Matrix).
The notion of a cyborg per se is not negative, 'it should be a positive symbiosis between human beings and technology' (Rushkoff 1998).
Well, let's meet some famous cyborgs in the...
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