As the pace of technology accelerates into the twenty-first century, the development of thinking machines, along with the integration of microchips, machines and biology will have profound effects on the evolution of the species. Miniaturization and the development of molecular microchips, advanced prosthesis and advances in the fields of neurobiology are setting the stage. Scientists are envisioning the possibility of all sorts of new types of cybernetic entities such as robots, androids and cyborgs. The assimilation of these new entities into society will force the re-examination of the meaning of identity, life and death, and immortality.

Today's incarnation of the computer is comparable to the Model-T automobile from the early part of this century -- too slow, too big and clunky. The design and form will soon become antiquated as the development of technology demands better, sleeker and more adaptable devices, capable of meeting specific needs or adapting to different scenarios.

Scientists and futurists of today are recognizing that the direction and pace of many developing technologies are driving towards a new type of entity. The time is near when a person may become a machine, and machines may take on a life of their own. The fields of nanotechnology, organic chemistry, physics and robotics all have something to contribute (underlined terms are defined in the glossary). Even Hollywood has its hat in the ring, having had produced some visionary films adapted from science fiction that help visualize the manifestation of these things to come.

The world-renowned physicist Richard Feynman recognized in 1959 "the elegance and efficiency of the chemical processes carried out by natural systems, and saw in them the model for the molecular machines that could store and transfer information" (Amabilino 25).

Organic Microchip and Miniaturization

In the research labs funded by the burgeoning computer industry, scientists are pushing the designs for microchip technology into organic assemblies of on-off switches. Traditional microchips are created by etching increasingly small transistors onto silicon wafers. In the research lab "we have created a molecular system that is capable of expressing binary logic -- the basis of every digital computer" (Amabilino 29). By emulating the self-assembling structures used by DNA and other complex molecules, organic microchips provide a new avenue for development and miniaturization for the next century. By the year 2010 the production of supercomputers the size of large organic molecules, capable of being targeted for specific psychophysical sites and functions, will be possible (Brown 195).

Prosthetics and Neuroscience

Another important area of development is prosthetics -- replacement devices for organs or appendages. The replacement of certain organs is already routine, with others on the horizon. Each organ serves a fairly specific purpose, the heart as a clever pump, muscles and bone serving as motors and beams (Minsky 110). Minsky, who is a pioneer in the science of artificial intelligence and neural networks, has an uncanny ability to recognize the aggregate subsystems that make up our brains and our bodies.

When the muscles are contracted they produce electrical effects that can be detected by electrodes and amplified. They can be made to control the motions of an artificial hand through electric motors (Wiener 74). The integration of mechanical and computing devices onto our bodies is the melding of the need for prosthetics and the science of neurobiology. Sophisticated mechanical replacements will sustain life as well as enlarge its possible functions (Vaux 53).

Norbert Wiener noted "Thus there is a new engineering of prostheses possible, and it will involve the construction of systems of a mixed nature, involving both human and mechanical parts" (76). "In the end, we will find ways to replace every part of the body and brain -- and thus repair all the defects and flaws that make our lives so brief." (Minsky 111)

It was Wiener who, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1960, coined the term 'cybernetics' for the "unified study of control and communication in animals and machines" (Moravec 7). ". . . cybernetics represents a further stage in man's extension of his personal abilities through mechanical adjuncts" (Bell 93).

Types of Cybernetic Entities

"There is no longer a 'partnership' between machine and organism; rather there is a symbioses and it is managed by cybernetics, the language common to the organic and the mechanical" (Gray 4). The field of cybernetics has become increasingly important as the infiltration of machines into our social fabric continues at an alarming pace.

Future (and present) cybernetic entities are categorized as robots, androids and cyborgs. While the distinctions are not all that obvious, Mazlish describes them as follows: ". . . hybrids of machine and organism [are generally] called cyborgs. Cyborgs, androids, and robots are sometimes used as synonyms; technically, the android is a robot that looks like a human, while a robot can have any form" (265).

"The term 'cyborg' was coined by Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S. Kline to refer to the enhanced man who could survive in extra-terrestrial environments" (Haraway xv). Space poses many problems for humans, because it is devoid of many of the things people take for granted here on earth . . . oxygen and gravity. For instance, breathing in space is a problem, but by using an inverse fuel cell capable of recirculating oxygen from carbon dioxide, the necessity for breathing via the lungs could be eliminated (Clynes 32)

Many robots already exist which are referred to as 'teleoperators.' Controlled from a distance by humans utilizing closed-circuit television, these types of robots transmit the images that they 'see.' These are being used in nuclear laboratories and outer space (Mazlish 197). Teleoperators represent an important advancement because they allow humans to explore establish control in environments hostile to humans. This type of robot is sometimes seen on television as the first phase of a bomb squad investigation. These machines are enabling by performing as appendages of man's arms, hands and legs. Teleoperators differ from jukeboxes and other pre-programmed machinery because with them man in always in the control loop (Johnsen 85).

Cyborgs, on the other hand, incorporate machinery and microchips onto and into a body. "There are many actual cyborgs among us in society. Anyone with an artificial organ, limb or supplement (like a pacemaker), anyone programmed to resist disease (immunized) or drugged to think/behave/feel better is technically a cyborg" (Gray 2).

Cyborg technologies can be restorative, in that they restore lost functions and replace lost organs and limbs; they can be normalizing . . . or reconfiguring, creating posthuman creatures equal to but different from humans, like the modifications that will be needed to live in space or under the sea. Most of the cyborgian technologies known today have military origins, but civilian medical research has become another important source. Other centers of cyborg creation include the media (print and film) and computer industry (Gray 3).

In time, machines will become smart enough to maintain themselves, reproduce, and self-improve unassisted by humans . . . these machines will mature into entities as complex as humans, eventually transcending them (Moravec 1,4).

Cyborgs and Assimilation

More and more people are facing real-life cyborg dilemmas. For example, the dying grandmother whose pacemaker tells her heart to keep beating, days after her brain has stopped functioning (Gray 13). As cybernetic entities become commonplace society will be faced with the task of assimilating them into the culture and individual lives. It may even be silly to speak of 'them' and 'us,' because in many cases they will be us. The problems that might be accompanied by the development of androids are dealt with in the film "Blade Runner," where the androids acquire emotions, questioning the distinctions of what it is to be a human. As generated beings, they are used as slaves in mining operations on Mars. Without the cushion of emotions which have had centuries to evolve, lifespan limitations are built in to the androids in an attempt to control their instability. Implanted memories are even used to convince them that they are human! Towards the end of the film, the leader of the rebel androids seeks out his creator, whom he questions and then kills.

Problems of Identity and Immortality

Typically, computers and other machines are identified by serial numbers (Mazlish 190), but on the Internet, computers are usually given recognizable names. This serves both the needs of convenience (because names are easier than numbers to remember), and identity -- the computer identity is expressed through naming.

Consider the following situation: technology has matured enough that, in the event of a tragic accident or some other untimely event, the possibility exists for you to have your surviving brain transferred into another organism or even onto. Your identity, but not your person, has been transferred to the organism or microchip. The newfound intelligence, knowledge and memories are acquired by the organism or microchip, and in the process it has become "you."

. Once technology has matured to a suitable level, immortality may be achievable by saving the contents of your brain into a new body or container. Called 'uploading,' this future phenomenon is already being explored by a group of fringe scientists and thinkers subscribing to the emerging philosophy known as 'transhumanism' -- a belief that "humanity can, and should, strive to higher levels, both physically, mentally and socially" (Sandberg).

While "most of the knowledge acquired by an individual still disappears at biological death" (Joslyn), uploading will, in the future, abolish many of the preconceptions we have about death, and meanings which are now attributed to it. Death will no longer be a passing of the person, but of the body, while the brain (or mind) may possibly survive indefinitely. With the ability to make copies of the mind, policies controlling the practice of may have to be established, or new sorts of social mores may develop.

It was Joseph Campbell who queried "Is the machine going to control humanity, or is the machine going to serve humanity?" (qtd. by Mazlish 189). When cybernetic entities have surpassed humans in intelligence, agility and adaptability, there will be little need for human beings.

Cybernetics: the science of control and communication in all of their manifestations within and between machines, animals, and organizations.

Mores: comprehensive term, applied to a social group, and covering, over and above the recognized principles of conduct, those laws and customs regarded as essential and vital by the group.

Nanotechnology: the art of manipulating materials on an atomic or molecular scale especially to build microscopic devices.

Symbioses: An interrelationship between two different organisms in which the effects of that relationship is expressed as being harmful or beneficial.

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