The human augmentation sci-fi trend

Vexr

Vexr

Vexr

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I have to wonder whether this appeals to anyone at all. It's in the movies and it's in games. Some call this 'predictive programming'.

Looking at it from my point of view, I could never imagine giving up a healthy limb for a higher performing synthetic version. From what little I know about martial arts, there's a dependency on using your core to correctly amplify the strength of your limbs anyway.

Eyes might be the most practical replacement, but that's a squeamish idea for most, and laser eye surgery / visual correction measures like contact lenses or glasses are well established, unless you're blind or have lost an eye.

Human augmentation strikes me as a 'never going to happen' sort of thing, especially for those who are intact and healthy, even if technology reached the point where it became possible.

Anyone disagree? Are you an NPC in Deus Ex: HR who sees augmentation as the best possibility since sliced bread? Please explain it to me.
 
I hope it happens personally. I am 30 years old but have really bad hips already, a buggered shoulder and my back isn't the best.

So not only would I like tech to reach a point where slapping in a block of metal 'fixes' the issue, I'd like it to be lab grown. Furthermore, if the tech would be able to enhance upon my natural abilities, I'd 100% take it.

Better than my current perfect vision (20/10 last I checked) then hell yea! Overlay screen instead of sitting on my phone when board. GPS notifications without having to take my eye off the road.

I personally think it will eventually be possible, when, unknown. But science is always moving forward.
 
Vexr said:
Human augmentation strikes me as a 'never going to happen' sort of thing, especially for those who are intact and healthy, even if technology reached the point where it became possible.
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Never going to happen? It already exists, humans already have pace makers, artificial limbs etc..
 
agnes said:
I hope it happens personally. I am 30 years old but have really bad hips already, a buggered shoulder and my back isn't the best.

So not only would I like tech to reach a point where slapping in a block of metal 'fixes' the issue, I'd like it to be lab grown. Furthermore, if the tech would be able to enhance upon my natural abilities, I'd 100% take it.

Better than my current perfect vision (20/10 last I checked) then hell yea! Overlay screen instead of sitting on my phone when board. GPS notifications without having to take my eye off the road.

I personally think it will eventually be possible, when, unknown. But science is always moving forward.
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I'm sorry you've had such issues, but it kinda leads on to another point - synthetic limbs, especially ones of some sort of metal, would surely overpower your natural biology/stability. I.e. throw a punch or swing an axe, and the whole thing might come off. Even just day to day, I doubt human biology would welcome a heavy limb on one side, it might throw your balance right off.

As for having perfect vision (I definitely don't), not in a million years would I trade that up for synthetic eyes.

dowie said:
Never going to happen? It already exists, humans already have pace makers, artificial limbs etc..
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Yes but that's comparatively weak 20th/21st century tech, unlike the sci-fi versions imagined. Some elderly folk with knee / hip replacements call themselves 'bionic' men/women. Except obviously they're not.
 
I WANT THE REASONED DEBATING SKILLS OF ROAR87 (LOVER AND FRIEND OF ALL WOMEN), THE ELEGANCE OF MMJUK (OPEN-MINDED GENIUS) AND THE SHARP-THINKING MIND OF LABRAT (CONSPIRACY DENIER AND ALL ROUND GREAT POSTER) BEFORE I BECOME MY FINAL FORM.,
 
If it did ever happen companies would heavily abuse it without government oversight. Imagine getting bionic eyes and then having ads turn up in your field of view while taking a walk.

Sounds great in books but in real life, companies are more than happy to screw you over if it makes them a profit.
 
Vexr said:
I'm sorry you've had such issues, but it kinda leads on to another point - synthetic limbs, especially ones of some sort of metal, would surely overpower your natural biology/stability. I.e. throw a punch or swing an axe, and the whole thing might come off. Even just day to day, I doubt human biology would welcome a heavy limb on one side, it might throw your balance right off.

As for having perfect vision (I definitely don't), not in a million years would I trade that up for synthetic eyes.



Yes but that's comparatively weak 20th/21st century tech, unlike the sci-fi versions imagined. Some elderly folk with knee / hip replacements call themselves 'bionic' men/women. Except obviously they're not.
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I mean first off, why do the limbs have to be heavy, they'd be mostly made of things like carbon fibre, titanium and other composite materials for lightness and strength, second... you notice how you fall over immediately if you hold a heavy bag in one hand? The whole point of balance is that it adjusts. If balanced only worked with the same weight on each body part, we actually wouldn't have balance, we'd be incredibly vulnerable to falling over from any and all movement. A heavier limb wouldn't throw your balance off at all, it would make precisely no difference. Have you noticed how every person with one arm removed always falls over to the other side because of the arm weight... no.... exactly.

As someone who has had increasingly bad knee pain since I was 15, I'd welcome replacement knees, legs, my elbows have been getting worse for years, my back, my wrists. I'm what should be significantly less than half way through my life but have barely been able to move for the last 10 years without fairly bad pain and it's getting worse all the time.

As for the idea limbs would simply fly off, yes, these companies will go through an R&D phase and then sell to the public using really high quality advertising where a guy gets such a strong limb that he punches someone in a fight and his arm comes off, that will have people flocking to buy their own arms that last for a single punch before ripping themselves off and likely killing you.
 
It's already happening but I doubt we'll replace functioning limbs and such because we only use full or partial exoskeletons that do certain jobs. In example, a car is essentially an exoskeleton which greatly enhances our locomotor function and helps regulate body heat. Cars are nice but who wants to sit in one forever?

drunkenmaster said:
As for the idea limbs would simply fly off, yes, these companies will go through an R&D phase and then sell to the public using really high quality advertising where a guy gets such a strong limb that he punches someone in a fight and his arm comes off, that will have people flocking to buy their own arms that last for a single punch before ripping themselves off and likely killing you.
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We already have muscle enhancers powerful enough to easily kill people, they are called firearms. Why would I replace my whole arm to compete in a fight when I can use a cheaper, far more powerful alternative such as a firearm?
 
Therer is always going to be difficulty associated with making the actual physical/mechanical connection between a mechanical structure and the biological organism.

Having said that, the tech of prosthetics is coming along in leaps and bounds (#). Though I suspect that it will be a long time (If ever) before a prosthetic will achieve sufficient levels of functionality and performance to make somebody be actually willing to give up a functional limb/organ to have one fitted as an "Upgrade"

I just realise what I did there. It wasn't initially intentional :p:D

OTOH, I think the main objective for augmentation is more likley to be at a genetic level.

Eg, Slowing/stopping the aging process, Enhanced ability to repair injuries, enhanced ability to resist radiation damage, enhanced physical strength/endurance/whatever.

And so on.

The Borg? perhaps not. Genetic manipulation and enhancement. Oh yes, Definitely. Probably happening already somewhere.

Certainly is really. Using genetic level modifications to correct "defects" is already underway. The step from using these techniques to treat diseases to using them to actually modify and improve on the "Standard Issue" is only a small one.

Whther this is going to be a "Good" thing or not remains to be seen!
 
At the current level of tech, I wouldnt be interested but if we are talking future tech, like Data from star trek, I realise thats android rather than augmentation but maybe you could deposit my psyche into a Data like shell or something. Then I would jump at it. Human life is far too short and the idea of only living for 90 years or so is abhorrent to me, if I could live for hundreds of years, maybe even indefinitely as the OS of an android etc, that would be awesome.
 
Eugenics will be supercharged to 100 once someone can monetise genetic enhancement and all the social problems that would inherently provide, if you think classist strife is bad today, holy **** you haven't even.
 
Augmentation is the logical evolution of the human race in the distant future. Biological parts age and get weaker over time. You can't reverse that process, only slow it down.

This is one of the reasons why some astronomers and scientists doing research into AI and finding life elsewhere believe that any civilisation out there advanced enough to travel around galaxies are most likely machine based, because those are the only types of life that could survive the radiation and other problems that biological life would somehow have to work around.

If your civilisation is machine based as well, then you also don't have the issue of time dilation to worry about, all your metal brothers and sisters will still be alive when you get back home :D
 
mrk said:
Augmentation is the logical evolution of the human race in the distant future. Biological parts age and get weaker over time. You can't reverse that process, only slow it down.

This is one of the reasons why some astronomers and scientists doing research into AI and finding life elsewhere believe that any civilisation out there advanced enough to travel around galaxies are most likely machine based, because those are the only types of life that could survive the radiation and other problems that biological life would somehow have to work around.

If your civilisation is machine based as well, then you also don't have the issue of time dilation to worry about, all your metal brothers and sisters will still be alive when you get back home :D
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Tbh I don't think so.

Biological systems are incredibly efficient, versatile, self-repairing, etc... Much more so than any synthetic system ever devised. Biological systems are unparalleled in complexity, adaptability, learning and a whole host of other metrics.

I think the future is biological manipulation, not synthetic augmentation.

We just have to learn a lot more about what makes cells die, etc.
 
Agreed, biomech or biorobotics, or simple biomanipulation is where it will be, easier to 'power'
We'll use advanced exoskeletons for the other, what's inside will be advanced cellular based.
 
Zethor said:
We already have muscle enhancers powerful enough to easily kill people, they are called firearms. Why would I replace my whole arm to compete in a fight when I can use a cheaper, far more powerful alternative such as a firearm?
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First off, you're the one that brought up ripping off your own limbs when throwing a punch. I was calling that absurd, why would I want a stronger arm, I don't necessarily want a stronger arm, but an arm that removed the pain I get from degrading joints would be beneficial to my life. IF it was a little stronger, well, being stronger would be nice, why not. IF someone drunk at a bar decides they want to fight me, as I don't want to ever or need to carry a gun around with me, nor would it be legal to do so, then a stronger arm would mean a better chance to defend myself in such situations.

Why have you started this thread only to bring up contrived nonsensical situations with which to talk about it. As for calling a fire arm a muscle enhancer, that is daft enough on it's own. Can a 'muscle enhancer' such as a firearm, help me complete a construction task such as carrying a load of bricks up a ladder more easily? No, could an actually stronger synthetic arm, yes.
 
I can imagine the future would look very much like the whole We Are Legion, We Are Bob books, after all the human body is just a series of electrical impulses, if the brain could be preserved and transported into a suitable Android body it would function just fine.
 
It's less about strength and far more about the indiscernible, if the arm's were like in say iRobot. Having arm's that can withstand bullet impacts would also be rather interesting.
 
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