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Preprints & Reprints The Humanoid Condition Writers and moviemakers almost always portray the amalgam of man and machine in the style of some Borg like creature mindlessly set on some collective and evil purpose. But 70 years ago predicted a worse nightmare resulting from the industrial revolution and unifying impact of the production line. But it just did not happen - and all of us now enjoy far richer and liberated lives as a result of automated production. Why are people so intent on looking for the downside of technology rather than the upside? And why do humanoid robots and artificial intelligent lifeforms built from silicon worry so many? In reality the cyborgs are already with us - and you may be sat next to one right now. People with electronic implants and prosthetics are everywhere. As I approach the millennium, and my 54th year, I do so with an optimism reinforced by a history of technology continually improving mankind's lot. Genetically I also enjoy the prospect of longevity from both sides of my family, so barring accidents and illness my future ought to be plain sailing. But somewhere in my genetic past my father's line developed a pancreatic weakness leading to the onset of mid-life diabetes, whilst my mother's line developed a leaning toward a progressive deafness with age. By some strange roll of the genetic dice my brother physically resembles my father, but has my mother's temperament, whilst I inherited the converse characteristics. Peculiarly I managed to become the target for both diabetes and a slowly progressing deafens. As far as I am aware this is the first conjunction of both genetic errors, and certainly the first time technology is poised to compensate. As I recall I was about five when it was discovered that I had defective hearing with a cut-off frequency around half that of a normal child. So for the majority of my life I have heard very little above 11kHz. Even at the age of 16 my hearing range had fallen to just 9kHz, where thankfully, it stabilized. However, the intervening years have seen my hearing sensitivity fall a further 25dB for one ear and 15dB for the other. Having lived with poor hearing all my life I am not aware of what I have missed in terms of hi-fi, live music, conversation or the natural world. But the recent asymmetric drop in sensitivity has noticeably impaired my acoustic focusing abilities. Conversations in noisy rooms, cars, aircraft, or at a football match, are increasingly problematic, and I suspect I will soon have to seek a technology solution The only up side to my gradually worsening deafness has been the enhancement of my ability to concentrate, and to sleep through almost anything. On aircraft I insert attenuating bungs into my ears to reduce background noise by 15dB, and I use active noise canceling headphones that give a further 25dB of noise suppression. So, compared to normal passengers aircraft noise is at least 55dB lower for me, and as a result I suffer far less travel stress, and I can sleep like a baby for hours. Wearing earphones giving a high frequency boost is a joy for my musical and conversational awareness, perception, and pleasure. Unfortunately, the old analogue hearing aids are lacking in this respect and generally give just a nominal amplification. However, the newer digital devices are adjusted to match the characteristics of individual ears. This development has been a boon to the hearing impaired, and would be extremely difficult to realize with analogue technology. These devices are now so small they are almost invisible when pushed well into the ear. So what next? Well, internal head mounting is a both possible and probably desirable in the same manner that cochlea implants for the chronically deaf are now becoming commonplace. Why would anyone want external electronics when it can be internalized? I was contemplating the prospect of having to resort to a hearing aid, and specifically an internal implant, when my mind jumped back 30 years to a time when I was involved with high power radio transmitters. When in close proximity to these installations it was not unusual to faintly hear the Morse transmissions without the aid of technology. The mechanism is not a mystery. We are largely made up of water, electrolytes, salts and sugars, which is an ideal soup for electrical rectification. Or to put it another way, our ears can resemble a cats-whisker crystal set. The only problem with such phenomena is their unreliability - you could never predict when it was going to work, and sometime it was an unwanted distraction. Returning to the digital hearing aid, I began to ponder the possibility of a built in FM radio, pager, mobile phone, and active background noise cancellation. Looking at the circuitry, all of these additions look to be feasible in the near future. It is certainly no fun being deaf, but with such technology we could add a new dimension to the condition, and perhaps offset the human cost. But what of diabetes? For me, this complaint only presents the minor inconvenience of a controlled diet, the daily routine of regular finger pricking to express blood samples for glucose monitoring, and taking pills. But I will soon progress to a tighter dietary regime, controlled and regulated lifestyle, and injections of insulin. Not a happy prospect, but necessary to stay alive. In the longer term an artificial pancreas for either internal or external body mounting looks feasible, and as soon as they are available I shall sign up to join the other cyborgs to live a longer and healthier life. When faced with death, or the prospect of a seriously degraded quality of life, the most ardent technophobes and anti-vivisectionists do not refuse artificial implants. Replacement hearts, lungs, livers and kidneys rescued from other humans are no longer big news. Even piece parts from animals or those artificially created are gratefully received. Despite professed reservations, the immediacy of death or significant degradation prompts the vast majority to opt for technology - no matter what it's origins. It is not too difficult therefore to envisage a creeping evolution towards a cyborg world of partially artificial people. It already looks as though some 30% of our bodies can be replaced, artificially repaired or modified to advantage, so why not? Isn't it strange that people get alarmed at the prospect of silicon implants, whilst happily putting their names down for silicone implants. On the one hand the material is inert and safe, and on the other there are very definite risks. So our society debates for some ideal physical perfection of form, and against the potential to repair damaged human beings. Just give me a silicon upgrade - no arguments - I want to live. Word Count = 1122 |