Jonathan Oxer
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Blog > To Cyborg Or Not To Cyborg?
>> To Cyborg Or Not To Cyborg?
Mon, Mar 27th 9:15am 2006: Tech Toys
James Purser has expressed his discomfort with my decision to stick an RFID tag in my arm. Totally understandable, too: the questions he asks are ones I've been asking myself, and even having got to the point of actually sticking in the implanting tool I can't say it's resolved in my own mind. Once it got to the point where it was resting against my skin I had to "turn of my mind" and just do it without really thinking about it, but that was probably partly due to the fact that I was doing it without anaesthetic and it takes a remarkable mental effort to overcome the self-preservation instinct that prevents us inflicting harm on ourselves.
Do I still have reservations? Absolutely. Even now typing this it's a wierd feeling to know that under that bandaid on my left arm is a tiny microchip under the skin. Somehow my left hand is not quite my own anymore in a very odd way I can't really describe.
I wonder if recipients of medical implants such as artificial heart valves feel the same way? My mother had knee replacement surgery last year so now she walks on titanium joints, but do they feel like they are still her legs? I must admit it's a question I never thought to ask until just now, but I should. And what about organ donor recipients? I'm sure it would be quite a mental hurdle to overcome for a lot of people.
Compared to what people in those situations go through my own "alteration" is trivial. It's really no more significant than a big splinter in my arm, at least physically. The real significance is philosophical, emotional, ethical. For example, I'm Christian - yet many Christians consider RFID tagging to be the Mark of the Beast and would say I'm now damned for eternity. Obviously I don't agree or I would never have done this, but I put in this implant more to explore those sorts of headspace issues rather than the technical issues of comms protocols and RF fields. The technical problems have been overcome: this stuff can be done right now by anybody that really wants to, as myself and others have demonstrated. The interesting thing is the implications for society generally and for the way we view our bodies personally.
James Purser has expressed his discomfort with my decision to stick an RFID tag in my arm. Totally understandable, too: the questions he asks are ones I've been asking myself, and even having got to the point of actually sticking in the implanting tool I can't say it's resolved in my own mind. Once it got to the point where it was resting against my skin I had to "turn of my mind" and just do it without really thinking about it, but that was probably partly due to the fact that I was doing it without anaesthetic and it takes a remarkable mental effort to overcome the self-preservation instinct that prevents us inflicting harm on ourselves.
Do I still have reservations? Absolutely. Even now typing this it's a wierd feeling to know that under that bandaid on my left arm is a tiny microchip under the skin. Somehow my left hand is not quite my own anymore in a very odd way I can't really describe.
I wonder if recipients of medical implants such as artificial heart valves feel the same way? My mother had knee replacement surgery last year so now she walks on titanium joints, but do they feel like they are still her legs? I must admit it's a question I never thought to ask until just now, but I should. And what about organ donor recipients? I'm sure it would be quite a mental hurdle to overcome for a lot of people.
Compared to what people in those situations go through my own "alteration" is trivial. It's really no more significant than a big splinter in my arm, at least physically. The real significance is philosophical, emotional, ethical. For example, I'm Christian - yet many Christians consider RFID tagging to be the Mark of the Beast and would say I'm now damned for eternity. Obviously I don't agree or I would never have done this, but I put in this implant more to explore those sorts of headspace issues rather than the technical issues of comms protocols and RF fields. The technical problems have been overcome: this stuff can be done right now by anybody that really wants to, as myself and others have demonstrated. The interesting thing is the implications for society generally and for the way we view our bodies personally.
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