Natural-Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence

Natural-Born Cyborgs offers an interesting perspective on the debate surrounding the integration of technology into everyday life. While Clark acknowledges some of the concerns surround posthumanism, he maintains a generally optimistic view of humanity's ability to successfully integrate technology into our lives, and of the benefits of doing so.His argument revolves around his belief that humans have always incorporated non-biological tools into their lives in order to counteract their limitations - essentially that we are natural cyborgs.It's certainly an interesting discussion, and many of his arguments are very convincing. While I don't share his unadultered optimism (yes the plasticity of our brains allow us to change and adapt, show more but not all change is good) I do think he's right in talking down the dooms-day stance taken by so many people. Worth a read, even if you disagree, since it will give you plenty to contemplate. show less

People are "cyborgs," not by actually having stuff hooked up to the innards of their bodies ("the old biological skin-bag"), but just by virtue of their constant interactions with technology. Clark thinks that this moderately interesting idea is worth writing a whole book on. Any author who observes that "the conscious self is just the tip of the I-berg," though, is far from being witless.