[ExI] A Cyborg or a transhuman ?

[Natasha Vita-More]

At 05:25 PM 7/20/2007, Jef wrote:

>On 7/20/07, nvitamore at austin.rr.com <nvitamore at austin.rr.com> wrote:
> > Can anyone answer the million dollar question:
> >
> > What is the difference between a cyborg and a transhum?
>
>A transhum is a what you get when a cyborg doesn't know the words?

haha.  This is good!


>But seriously, folks...
>
>A cyborg, or cybernetic organism, is an organism composed of
>integrated artificial and natural systems.  So present-day, low-level
>cyborgs include humans with cochlear implants, hearing aids, cardiac
>or neural pacemakers, eyeglasses, etc.
>
>"Transhuman", on the other hand, is more a reference to a future point
>on a trajectory beyond present concepts of humanity than anything that
>can be precisely specified.

I wonder if it not more fundamentally related to "human nature" (the 
elephant in the room).  I was just listening to Kevin Kelly's talk at 
TED and how he approaches the idea from a theory of technology and 
"hacking" as an essential nature all life forms.

But I agree that the transhuman is a "becoming" and each cyborg stage 
is a fata compli.

- just musing.

Natasha




<http://www.natasha.cc/>Natasha<http://www.natasha.cc/> Vita-More
PhD Candidate, <http://www.planetary-collegium.net/about/>Planetary 
<http://www.planetary-collegium.net/about/>Collegium
Situated in the Faculty of Technology, School of Computing, 
Communications and Electronics,
University of Plymouth, England
<http://www.transhumanist.biz/>Transhumanist Arts & Culture
<http://www.extropy.org/>Extropy Institute

If you draw a circle in the sand and study only what's inside the 
circle, then that is a closed-system perspective. If you study what 
is inside the circle and everything outside the circle, then that is 
an open system perspective. - Buckminster Fuller


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