Meerkat Prompts: Cybernetic Organisms
Sometimes, sci-fi becomes science fact, or at least, we can see the gradual progression from fiction to reality. The idea of augmenting the standard Mark I human with technology is nothing new, and serves as the basis for a lot of stories, not all of them good. From the Borg in Star Trek, to the Cybermen from Doctor Who, there are warnings about how artificially enhancing humans with technology could go badly wrong.
Of course, sci-fi does not have to become sci-fact. There are companies out there developing bionic limbs, to help those who have suffered life-changing injuries, or those born without limbs, to gain a full range of motion. It’s an incredible field, and it’s only going to get more sophisticated. These areas are not about upgrading humanity, but rather repairing loss and damage, but could it all go a step further? Could we update humans into say, a version 1.1, with small upgrades here and there?
There are enormous risks with such ideas. The possibility of a multi-tiered human race is a troubling one, if enhancements are based on money (and let’s face it, money and greed would inevitably be the driving force of such technology). The rich and powerful would undoubtedly hoard the best upgrades, and price them out of reach of the average person. Tampering with our… let’s call it base form, be it via cybernetics or genetics (or both) is also a hallmark of eugenics, something the Nazis (among others) coveted.
This doesn’t mean that finding ways to cure diseases, repair broken limbs, and fix genetic disorders should stop. It would be short-sighted and narrow-minded to give up on developing the means to stop people from suffering. It has to be done in the right way, which means ensuring the means to fix serious injuries and diseases is an option open to everyone, not just the elite and the wealthy.
