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The 7 Billion Cyborgs of Earth


'A fictional or hypothetical person whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations with mechanical elements.'

This is what the term- 'Cyborg' means. But, does it ?  "Hey! V-Sauce, Michael here-" no lets not do that. 

Pop culture has defined a cyborg's appearance like this:


But the way I see it, this is a more realistic cyborg. (DC don't sue me)


You're probably thinking why this harmless depressed lady can be called a cyborg. It's all about perspective. We are born in a world where things don't change drastically, so we grow accustomed to our surroundings. Take a look at this scenario.

A human communicates with a machine by releasing static from her phalanges (fingers) into the screen which the machine processes and via a global network, fetches the required data and interprets it in the form of light emitted by pixels in a coordinated succession that then enters the human's light receptors and causes a rush of dopamine and serotonin that in-turn affects the human to send signals to her facial muscles to morph into a specific pattern recognisable by fellow human kind. Also, signals to her phalanges let her react to the data received.

Sigh.. A Lady laughing at cat videos? 

Ahem, uhm yeah...But by simply rephrasing, I made it seem like the script for a Sci-fi show. Even if we may not have a Wi-Fi router in our heads or a screen implanted in our eyes, We have literally a similar thing on our desks and in our pockets all day long

If you think about it, mobile phones and other gadgets are nothing but translators and interpreters. They translate our thoughts to radio signals and bring back radio signals sent by our friends and show it as text. Yay! messages!

We attach ourselves to these tiny handheld devices and gain access to a vast network made and run by billions of members of our own species. Ha! Now try explaining that to a man from the 1800's without making it sound like a cyberpunk fiction.

Not only phones, even vehicles. We routinely attach and secure our bodies to metal boxes that are driven by the combustion. Cars! Don't thank me, You'll never look at vehicles the same again.

Same goes for this. Remember those suits in Avatar?


Why is this any different? ⬇


A JCB can be called a mech suit too right? The purpose may not be the same. But we are connecting ourselves to technology to improve our yield and throughput beyond what our biological self can achieve. No wonder recent society has shifted to favouring mental ability rather than physical labour. But that's a topic for another day.

Nevertheless, it is exciting to take a step back and get amazed at daily things by looking at them in another perspective.

-Klaus Wolfgang,
A cyborg who has just communicated with you, without uttering a single sound or knowing your identity.

P.S if you are into this dystopian type of entertainment check out 'Auto dale' the animated series on YT.
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(Thumbnail art by -Lorraine Christie)


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