We've seen soldiers coming back from the war getting thier new limbs. The doctors tell them they'll work better than their old ones. And I've heard this is true; runners usually run faster, rock climber achieve new heights, if you will, and other athletes across the board perform better once they've adapted. We all accept the new prosthetics when we see them in use. It's not their actual arm... but it is. Now. And it works. And we're glad.
Already, amazing surgeries to fix our organs (eyes, heart, kidneys, et cetera) are commonplace. But are they going to the next level? Did you hear about the new internal organs they're making out of mechanical devices? They're experimenting with a mechanical heart for one. I think they're working on a liver and perhaps kidneys as well. Wow.
I saw a documentary with a man in Britain who had wired his entire house to acknowlege his presence wherever he was in the home. It would give him reminders and whatnot. It would know if a stranger was present. He did it all through computers and a chip he'd placed inside himself. His dream was to have a computer wired to his brain. That way he could easily store all that he wanted to store. Think about it. You'd never forget anything. He thinks he'll be able to do it in ten years working with the people he's got on the project.
So at that point, we've safely replaced our limbs. We've replaced our internal organs. We've even replaced our brains.
At what point do we cease being human?
Everything about us has the capacity to be mechanized. If our brains can be mechanized and computerized, our sight can be too. I've heard that militaries are experimenting with x-ray and night vision technology implants. That means your eyes automatically do it. They could focus great distances because you want them too. I learned our brains work on a system of electric impulses... how is that different than a computer, except maybe a little more complex and chemically based?
If all of this came true, if a person has internal mechanical organs, external mechanical limbs, and a brain that is wired to a computer for memory, vision, et cetera, are they still human?
What, for you, defines human? Would you discriminate against these people if you were "natural?" Would you feel superior if you were cyborgish?