Wednesday, August 20, 2008
The Six Million Dollar Monkey!?
It has long been the stuff of science fiction and military techno-thrillers, but now it seems reality. The BBC reports on monkeys able to directly "thought control" machinery - in this case a prosthetic arm.
I link to this because it is first, very cool, but also because of the science fiction overtones, and how it illustrates a vitally important point. Technology is not good or evil - people are, it is how they use that technology that produces good or evil.
The other interesting question this raises is about defining what it means to be human. There are those that would contend that flesh is an essential part of our humanity and to give it up for mechanicals would make us lesser somehow. And that dear friends strikes right at the heart of some philosophical debate prevalent in Christian circles right now.
The whole worldview, two realms, thing is affected deeply by something like this. If indeed the spiritual and natural are indivisible and inseparable, then those that theorize that mechanical appendages make us less human have a heck of a point. But if indeed our spirit, that something essential that makes us - us, and God's children, remains intact and we reamin fully who we were created to be when we employ mechanical means like this, then we need to rethink the whole worldview question just a bit.
Should not the undivided spirit and nature types be protesting this development loudly? And then there is the compassion question - would it not be cruel to stand against something that could be such a blessing to people gravely injured?
Food for thought.
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Monkeys have been able to control robotic limbs using only their thoughts, scientists report.This is way cool and the benefits are obvious, but one has to wonder if the Cybermen are not far behind.
The animals were able to feed themselves using prosthetic arms, which were controlled by brain activity.
Small probes, the width of a human hair, were inserted into the monkeys' primary motor cortex - the region of the brain that controls movement.
I link to this because it is first, very cool, but also because of the science fiction overtones, and how it illustrates a vitally important point. Technology is not good or evil - people are, it is how they use that technology that produces good or evil.
The other interesting question this raises is about defining what it means to be human. There are those that would contend that flesh is an essential part of our humanity and to give it up for mechanicals would make us lesser somehow. And that dear friends strikes right at the heart of some philosophical debate prevalent in Christian circles right now.
The whole worldview, two realms, thing is affected deeply by something like this. If indeed the spiritual and natural are indivisible and inseparable, then those that theorize that mechanical appendages make us less human have a heck of a point. But if indeed our spirit, that something essential that makes us - us, and God's children, remains intact and we reamin fully who we were created to be when we employ mechanical means like this, then we need to rethink the whole worldview question just a bit.
Should not the undivided spirit and nature types be protesting this development loudly? And then there is the compassion question - would it not be cruel to stand against something that could be such a blessing to people gravely injured?
Food for thought.
Technorati Tags:science, nature, supernature, philosophy, cyborg, worldview
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