Chorost’s inspirational account in Rebuilt was indeed a great read. It seems like every time you read parts of this book, there’s something new to reflect upon.
Every Chapter title is a memoir in itself:
1. Broken
2. Surgery
3. Between two worlds
4. Activation
5. Forget about reality
6. The Computer Programs me
7. Upgrading
8. The Logic I loved and Hated
9. A Kinship with the machines
10. A Kinship with the Humans
11. The Technologies of Human Potential
12. Mike 2.0
By glancing through the titles, one can recap the entire experience. I could not have hoped for a better ending than Chapters 11 and 12. Mike 2.0 was truly heartfilling. My views on Cyborgs and Biotechnology have changed after reading this book. I have always been skeptical of the interference of advanced technology with the human body, on the premise that the human body was not made to function like this. That when artificial things in the body go wrong, they can really go wrong. But, after an introspective account such as Rebuilt, one can really experience within close quarters, the difference it makes when a man is able to go against the forces of nature, battling a disease that he was born with (Rubella) and overcoming the problem that impaired him from birth. For no apparent fault of his own. But once you marry technology (cochlear implant) and the human body with harmony and care, great things can happen!
I maintain my cautious views on the matter, but can now say with confidence that if this interference (technology and the body) can continue to change lives, and inspire others with similar problems..show them the light, and the courage to pursue this light…then it is definitely a boon. And no critic can take this away from them. My views on the matter have gone through a revelation, but one that I can confidently say, has made me see, experience and feel, the other side.
2 comments:
I too got a similar feeling from the reading. I often draw a line in the sand between machine and man, out of fear of the unknown, but now I am certainly more open to the vast world of opportunity presented in rebuilt and everywhere; humans are not so different from machines after all. I was talking con mi padre, an engineer at nasa about this stuff and he was overly enthused. However, and I think this is a likely response of most people on the pro-cyborg side of things, we tend to glaze over the potential disinterest people may have with such technology; either because its an unknown area, or for some reason we just dont talk about it. I think he said one or two things about the negative spaces of this and a whole lot more about how great it will be for humanity; which arguably can be applied to those discussions between industrialists' in the 18 and early 19th century; and we can see where that got us (I hope).
I agree with Sid, I'll always be skeptical of this kind of technology, as long as there's still things we dont know, lets just not get too distracted by the awesome potential of this technology; we may end up missing even the slightest details. its all about those details , as any hacker will tell you, thats where you find the one lose thread capable of unraveling the entire system. gotta go open source
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