A cyborg is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of human and
machine. Throughout history, humans have developed technologies that would help
them survive. For example, one of the technological breakthroughs going as far back
as 8000 B.C. that we use today and could not really function without it was the
invention of the wheel. According to most scholars, we can thank the Sumerians
for this – an ancient civilization and one of the earliest urban societies in
Southern Mesopotamia (corresponding
to modern-day Iraq, northeastern Syria, southeastern Turkey and southwestern Iran).
What we see in this day and age is a human-technology
interface that is expanding at an unprecedented pace. That technology affects us nowadays more than
ever before in human history is something that we can easily observe in our
lives. We cannot or rather would not like to imagine ourselves without
cellphones, "i-this" and "my-that" and lots of other gizmos
and gadgets. This phenomenon has gained so much momentum and significance that
it lead to the establishment of a new branch of science: cyborg anthropology.
So why did the invention of the wheel, not to mention other
technological revolutionary breakthroughs in human history not lead to us
becoming more intertwined with machines until now? Well, there are a few
factors. For one thing, while those
inventions truly revolutionized human lives and provided a basis for the further
development of civilization, they did not become part of us. A pacemaker, insulin
pump, a bionic limb does imply being a cyborg. But this phenomenon has a more
profound meaning, our entire interaction with technology could qualify as cyborg.
Then there is of course the cultural
aspect of our interaction with technology which consequently affects the way in
which we interact with other humans. This part of our lives continues to move
to a greater and greater extent to the internet. And speaking of breakthroughs
and revolutionary inventions – the internet is truly one of the greatest
lifestyle, cultural, anthropological, neurological, yes you see it right neurological
changing phenomena in human history. Scientific research proves that regular
internet usage does change the structure of our brain. We can find and peruse
lots of data quickly, but we have difficulties with remembering it. Our
attention span gets shorter, we miss deeper, more subtle meaning and knowledge,
we skip longer words, we develop difficulties with inductive problem solving,
critical thinking, our imagination suffers too. The problem is that when we
shut down our computers and get away from the internet, this "computerized"
way of our brain's functioning does not go away. It affects how we process
information coming from other media, and it also affects how we communicate
with each other.
Does this mean that we should treat the virtual world like a
devil? Absolutely not, after all, where else would you get a great certified
translation so well done at such a reasonable cost, if it wasn't for USCTS being available 24/7 on the internet?
