[extropy-chat] Rebuilt How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human

[Giu1i0 Pri5c0]

>From the IFTF <http://www.iftf.org/> (Institute for the Future) Future
Now<http://future.iftf.org/2005/07/its_out.html>blog, by Alex
Soojung-Kim Pang - "My
review<http://www.latimes.com/features/printedition/books/la-bk-pang31jul31,1,2568863.story?coll=la-headlines-bookreview>of
Michael Chorost's Rebuilt
: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More
Human<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=relevanthisto-20%26link_code=xm2%26camp=2025%26creative=165953%26path=http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html%253fASIN=0618378294%2526tag=relevanthisto-20%2526lcode=xm2%2526cID=2025%2526ccmID=165953%2526location=/o/ASIN/0618378294%25253FSubscriptionId=02ZH6J1W0649DTNS6002>is
available on the
*L.A. Times* Web site... I'm finding the transhumanist argument- - or at 
least the more humanist incarnation represented by Naam and Chorost, and a 
few others - more and more compelling. Or to put it another way, they're 
trying to deal with questions that we're all going to be struggling with in 
the future". Alex Soojung-Kim Pang had previously written an excellent 
review<http://askpang.typepad.com/relevant_history/2005/03/hey_its_out.html>of
Ramez Naam's book
*More Than Human.*
>From the review the book seems a very interesting reading. The author, who 
had a data processing device implanted to correct a severe hearing loss, has 
a "mild transhumanist" approach focused on using advanced technology to 
corerct medical problems and improve quality of life. The reviewer 
concludes: "Chorost shows us the way. His awareness of life's fragility, 
gained after making a determined effort to overcome its challenges, strikes 
me as the perfect answer to opponents of implants and genetic modification 
who worry about the effect of such tinkerings on our selves and souls. 
Memoirs such as "Rebuilt" will be invaluable guides in this new territory".
>From the Amazon page for Rebuilt : How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More 
Human<http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/redirect?tag=relevanthisto-20%26link_code=xm2%26camp=2025%26creative=165953%26path=http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html%253fASIN=0618378294%2526tag=relevanthisto-20%2526lcode=xm2%2526cID=2025%2526ccmID=165953%2526location=/o/ASIN/0618378294%25253FSubscriptionId=02ZH6J1W0649DTNS6002>:
A tiny device, the technological equivalent of a 286 computer, was 
surgically implanted behind the author's left ear. A magnetic headpiece 
sticks to his head over the implant, with a wire connected to a speech 
processor on his belt. As Chorost makes clear, his hearing wasn't restored; 
it was replaced. His body is now part "machine." The implant was only the 
first step of the author's learning to hear again, as his brain struggled to 
interpret the new electrical signals it was receiving.
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