Hybrid Identities: Cyborgs
Part 1
We have been seeing a rapid change in the landscape of identity - moving away from rigid binary boxes, particularly when it comes to gender. We are slowly becoming a society which embraces the plurality of identity and self-definition — or are moving away from definitions altogether. In the world of human enhancement and posthumanism there is also a general questioning of how we define a ‘human’ and who has historically qualified as such. As we begin to merge with technology and embrace the role of non-human actors in our lives — such as the environment, materials and data — a plethora of hybrid identities are being newly created, or adapted from older visions.
This blog is the first of a two part series which explores hybrid human and non-human identities - including futuristic visions of humans merged with technology (cyborgs and digital selves) and historical or traditional visions of humans merged with different species (chimera) and mythical entities. This first article focuses just on ‘cyborgs’, which are so diverse already that they need their own article!
THE OG CYBORG
The term ‘cyborg’ was originally coined by scientists Klein and Clynes in 1960 — as a portmanteau of ‘cybernetic’ and ‘organism’ — to describe the merging of the body with technology to be able to survive in space. This may be surprising but the first cyborg was not a human, but a rat called Rose — named after the osmotic pressure pump developed by S. Rose, which injects biochemicals into the rat (or person) at a natural rate to regulate the body’s functions.
SCIENCE FICTION CYBORGS
Visions of human cyborgs are rife in science fiction film and literature, which explores the possibilities of the technology we could merge with and the societal implications. I won’t go through all of them as we would be here all day, but here are a few that I think are interesting.
Switch
The character Switch in the Wacoswki’s first Matrix film, like the other awakened characters, is merged with a technology that allows them to plug into the matrix through a port in the back of their neck. What I find particularly interesting is that this character was originally written to also change gender in and out of the Matrix — hence the name Switch. They are a hybrid in terms of biology, technology and gender, which harks to Donna Haraway’s theory that in merging with technology we can move away from binary definitions of the self (male/female, human/machine) and become something new. But this idea was cut late in the process and instead they were visually delineated by their white costume (as opposed to black) and adrogenous look.
Molly Millions
You’ve got to love a strong female character and Molly is just that. She features in several of author William Gibson’s science fiction books, including Neuromancer and the Sprawl Trilogy. She’s not necessarily physically imposing but is highly modified making her a dangerous and notorious bodyguard and hitman. Known as ‘razorgirl’ she has retractable blades under her fingernails, vision enhancing mirrored lenses in her eyes, and numerous other implants and augmentations which enhance her metabolism, reflexes and senses.
REAL LIFE CYBORGS
With the rapid development of technology we are also beginning to see real-life cyborgs who have implanted, or permanently attached, technology to their bodies in order to enhance particular abilities. In the Sensory Augmentation field we have several key figures such as: our own CEO at CyborgNest, Liviu Babitz — who had a haptic sense of orientation through our NorthSense device; Moon Ribas — who had implants which enable her to feel earthquakes; Neil Harbisson — whose ‘eyeborg’ allows him to hear colour; and Manel Munoz — who can sense atmospheric pressure and identifies as transpecies. For more on these Sensory Cyborgs see our blog ‘5 people with Sensory Enhancements’.
PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
Now when we are talking about people who are merged with technology, people with disabilities — who rely on it for their everyday lives — generally get overlooked, but are arguably the pioneer cyborgs. Insulin pumps, cochlear implants and DBS implants (for Parkinson’s) are all technologies that have long been merged with the body to augment the abilities of the wearer, and their users represent a much larger demographic than any self-identified ‘enhanced’ cyborg technology users. If we take the term ‘cyborg’ to include those who permanently rely on technology but are not necessarily physically merged with technology, wheelchair and cane users (among others) expand this group again.
With most cutting edge technology being developed for medical uses, our next wave of cyborgs will come from, for example, amputees who are getting prosthetics which are hooked up to their nervous systems. Or people like scientist Peter Scott-Morgan who uses radical robotics, AI and surgery to turn himself into a cyborg to overcome Motor Neurone Disease. This is what the real cyborg future looks like.
NON-HUMAN CYBORGS
Before we go we must give a shout out to the plant and animal cyborgs that are emerging. As we are re-learning to (or re-acknowledging) the value of non-human actors in our lives, and for the health of the planet, scientists and technologists are utilising the abilities of plants and animals in order to help us help them.
Hacked Mussels
Recently a team at North Carolina State University have ‘hacked mussels’ with sensors so that they can function as a real-time warning system for pollution in the water. This utilises their existing behaviour, where they literally clam up (close) when there is something noxious in the water — this however does raise certain ethical concerns about the consent of the mussels to be augmented and the control over their participation.
Connected Spinach
Similarly researchers at MIT have hacked spinach plants to send emails when they detect explosive chemicals in the soil. Plants are excellent analytical chemists, their roots spread wide under the soil and continually test it making them perfect for such applications. The plant and animal cyborgs could enable us humans to better understand our negative impacts on the environment so that we can mitigate and solve the problems we have created — leading to a mutually beneficial future planet for cyborgs of all kinds to roam!
Follow CyborgNests weekly blog on Medium to see the second part of ‘Hybrid Identities’ which explores chimera, digital and mythical indentities.
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