[extropy-chat] Segways banned in Disney World

[Adrian Tymes]

A car allows me to move in ways otherwise impossible.
Ditto a boat or an airplane, or a motorcycle.  In
fact, they could even be argued to allow certain
people (who live in rural areas) to move through areas
that "normal" (urban) people can walk to just fine (by
the fact that they allow rural people to get to these
urban centers at all).  But none of these are closer
to "prosthetic limb" than "vehicle".  (Yes, there is a
kind of body extension that goes on in these cases.  A
very skilled driver or pilot can feel the vehicle like
a body extension.  But that itself doesn't make a
vehicle into a prosthetic limb.)

Now, if you really want a borderline case: what about
a sci-fi powersuit: a shell over the body that moves
in basically humanoid fashion, only much faster and
with much more strength?  Like a vehicle, a person can
"enter" and "exit" (more like "put on" and "take
off"), and probably has some other vehicle-type
controls (although basic walking would be done by
walking, if the suit was small enough to fit through
normal doorways).  For sake of argument, assume the
suit weighs no more than 50 pounds (plus the weight of
the occupant) and is electrically powered (no
emissions) with batteries or whatnot lasting at least
8 hours per charge.  So...on what basis could this be
banned from any area where average humans are
permitted to walk?  (Security might be an excuse,
since it's easily armored and could conceal weapons,
but that kind of goes against "where average humans
are permitted to walk" since a secure area doesn't let
just anyone in anyway.)

--- Brian Alexander Lee <brian_a_lee at hotmail.com>
wrote:
> If you read the article, there are several examples
> of people with
> neurological disorders that prevent them from
> walking properly. To them the
> segway is more like a prosthetic limb, it allows
> them to move in ways
> otherwise impossible. They are unable to sit un a
> wheelchair for extended
> periods of time and the segway gives them better
> interaction with other
> people.
> 
> This is a precursor to actual body mods that will
> replace or augment damaged
> muscles or minds.
> 
> It's pretty short-sited of disney to disallow such
> devices.
> 
> 
> BAL
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Adrian Tymes" <wingcat at pacbell.net>
> To: "ExI chat list" <extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org>
> Sent: Sunday, February 08, 2004 12:52 PM
> Subject: Re: [extropy-chat] Segways banned in Disney
> World
> 
> 
> > --- Brian Alexander Lee <brian_a_lee at hotmail.com>
> > wrote:
> > > The segway can be seen as a body modification so
> > > it's user becomes sort of a
> > > cyborg (especially in the case of otherwise
> disabled
> > > persons).
> >
> > Not really.  It's a lot closer to the common
> concept
> > of "vehicle" than "body modification".  (Of
> course,
> > one could argue that most vehicles could be seen
> as
> > extensions of the body.  But this ignores the
> reason
> > we distinguish vehicles from their drivers/pilots
> in
> > the first place.)
> >
> > > I guess this is an example of the public not
> coping
> > > with transhumanist
> > > themes very well.
> >
> > Not really.  Segways were given a chance, and
> proved
> > that they can easily become unsafe under common
> > conditions (specifically, when the battery runs
> low or
> > when driven by an uncautious person).
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