hot take
When I hop on my bike, it becomes a part of my body. I am then a cyborg.
Cybike.
Cyborgcycle.
Bicyborg (no that's a different thing)
post-humanism, we live in the future
But that is augments for the physical abilities of the body.
The most potent augment we have, is that which augment our minds; Computers.
As a professional programmer, I'm in the business of instructing computers in what to do. I'm in the business of designing how the computers augment humans.
If I at any point do that without consideration of the humans I'm augmenting and _the humanity_ I'm augmenting, I've failed in my moral responsibility to do good.
hot take
@zatnosk what's a bicyborg? 😅
hot take
@funnypanja It's either a cyborg attracted to "both" (i.e. all) genders,
OR
it's a cyborg attracted to both humans and machines.
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Or both. Both is good.
hot take
@zatnosk aren't cyborg part human, instead of being a interely different category?
hot take
@funnypanja True. But if we compare to gender*, then being a cyborg could be considered parallel to being non-binary - just in relation to the false binary of "man vs machine".
(* gender is, IMO, similarly hard to define as humanity. "What defines being human?" is essentially the same question as "What defines being [insert gender]?".)
re: post-humanism, we live in the future
re: post-humanism, we live in the future
@ckeen True. I sometimes augment my body to communicate soundlessly with my partner so our toddler in the room with us can't hear our words.
post-humanism, we live in the future
@zatnosk but when you close your eyes, are they really augmenting you? Since they only change your experience when your eyes are open.
post-humanism, we live in the future
@funnypanja they still affect me with my eyes closed, although that is mostly unintended side-effects. It's mostly noticeable if I fall asleep with my one-day lenses in; my eyes dry out, starts hurting and need to relax without lenses for a while.
hot take
@zatnosk The first time I tried clipless pedals, I felt like becoming the bike. Clic-clic, now I'm part of this machine and it is part of me.
hot take
@kirjis yeah, you're connected just a bit more "intimately" than just a foot pushing a pedal.
post-humanism, we live in the future
I augment my body with technology every single day.
When I augment my body with my bike, I can move faster and farther using less energy.
When I augment my body with glasses, I can see things far away ("far away" means more than 30cm away in my case)
When I augment my body with contact lenses, I put tiny plastic lenses inside my body to improve my eyesight. When I close my eyes, they are 100% inside my body, augmenting me.