Are We Becoming Cyborgs?

Cyborg or Human. Source: NY Times

An article, “Are We Becoming Cyborgs?”, written by Serge Schmemann, was recently published in the New York Times. Schmemann, writer and editorial page editor of the International Herald Tribune, the global edition of the  of the New York Times, interviews three individuals who have an extensive amount of experience studying modern day society’s use and relationship with technology.

Serge Schmemann. Source: International Herald Tribune

The focus question of Schememann’s interview is : Are we being turned into cyborgs? Are new digital technologies changing us in a more profound and perhaps troubling way than any previous technological breakthrough? The three individuals interviewed were  Susan Greenfield, Maria Popova, and Evgeny Morozov.

Susan Greenfield. Source: NY Times

Susan Greenfield is a professor of synaptic pharmacology at Oxford and researches the impact of 21st century technologies on the mind, how the brain generates consciousness, and novel approaches to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. She emphasizes her concern that modern technology, particularly social networking sites, may have a negative impact on child development. More specifically she focuses on internet addiction disorder (IAD) and how the Internet not only impacts how we think, but how our brains function. In the article she makes the statement: “So what concerns me is not the technology in itself, but the degree to which it has become a lifestyle in and of itself rather than a means to improving your life”, which I whole-heartedly agree with. Throughout the course of this class, I have had these same concerns that Greenfield herself expresses. Instead of using technology to our advantage to improve health or interpersonal relationships, we are focused on the fun, entertaining aspects.

Maria Popova, editor of Brain Pickings and writer for Wired UK and GOOD, stresses that the Internet is “poorly designed to help us discover that which we don’t yet know will interest us and hopefully even change the way we understand the world”.

I would have to disagree with this statement because of examples where the Internet has worked towards helping us discover that which we don’t know yet. For example, websites such as Hulu, Netflix, and Youtube makes suggestions of videos a user might like based on previous searches. This is just one example of the Internet working for our interests.

Maria Popova. Source: NY Times

Evgeny Morozov. Source: NY Times

In his book The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom Evgeny Morzov introduces his term “slacktivists”, which supports that social media sites such as Facebook may be influencing a sense of laziness among people. Morzov argues that technology could also be a powerful tool for engaging in mass surveillance, political repression, and spreading nationalist and extremist propaganda. For example, the political petitions made available on Facebook encourage a simple click of a button rather than an effort to read or immerse oneself in the content. In the Times interview Morzov contests  that “the question is whether it will displace other forms of activism, and whether people will think they’re campaigning for something very important when they are in fact joining online groups that have very little relevance in the political world”. There is no doubt that our society is becoming more and more fixated on the convenience the Internet provides and the information social media makes attractive.

In relation to cyborgs, Popova points out that “so much of the fear is that rather than enhancing human cognition, they’re beginning to displace or replace meaningful human interactions”. All three seem to agree that we must realize the areas in our life that should not be technologically mediated and how we use technology. Greenfield emphasizes the importance of physical human interaction by pointing out “every hour you spend sitting in front of a screen is an hour not talking to someone, not giving someone a hug, not having the sun on your face. So the fear I have is not with the technology per se, but the way it’s used by the native mind”.

What do you think? Is technology replacing or taking away from our human experience, that is, our face-to-face human interaction with one another? Are we becoming too reliant on technology? Are we becoming cyborgs?