When trying to decide on a topic for this weeks blog I was left with stumped. So I started my search for an idea by typing cyborg into the Wikipedia search column. It returned some very interesting comment, but there was one item that caught my attention, it was a short story written by Edgar Allen Poe titled, "The Man That Was Used Up." I have enjoyed reading other Poe short stories and thought this could be my ticket to an okay Blog topic, and it was.
I will not try and explain the entire story but its main character is an Army hero, that through stories has become a mythical-like figure. When the narrator of the story eventually meets the hero he sees that the man is a collection of robotic parts. I would suggest atleast reading the summary of this story, if not the entire thing.
The story got me thinking, when is a human not a human anymore. If a man is made out of entirely robotic parts, like the character in Poe's story, is he still human? Or, how much Artificial Intelligence does it take to make a robot a human.
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This got me thinking of what the most basic human traits are, and, truth be told, I don't even know anymore. Medical breakthroughs can keep humans alive for basically decades even though they are brain dead, so our highly developed brain can be construed as not necessary. I am not sure if robotic hearts have been developed or even used surgically at all, but that wouldn't surprise me, so a heart beat isn't necessary either. I really don't know...
ReplyDeleteWow...good question.....what makes us human? and more importantly, how do we stay that way....lol. I think that our ability to have emotions is what makes us human. Robots can't portray real emotions. As Clark points out basically through most of his book is that we are all part robots or cyborgs. As you said Alex, we consider ourselves human, but are we really if there are machines controlling our heart and brain; the two things that are essential to "human life". I dont know anymore, this whold topic still seems so crazy to me.
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