1. Destiny

In the 1960s, Marshal McLuhan pointed out that modern communication interfaces attach themselves to the body stating “media are extensions of the senses” (1964). If the medium is the message (Mcluhan,1964) then knew media both extends and mediates our senses. Like a lens shows our senses the illusion of being close to something a long distance away. The lens also distorts our sense of space, time, and often our vision with imperfections. Our cyborgation (Wikipedia, 2005) would have started with our first use of technology to extend our biological abilities. The term technology, often thought of as hardware items, is actually a system of practical knowledge. The word technology being derived from the ancient Greek word techne translated to refer to art, craft or skill. Plato viewed techne and systematic or scientific knowledge, as being closely related. Aristotle went a step further by asserting that techne was the systematic use of knowledge for intelligent human action. Intelligent human actions are a main part of our survival adaptation technique.  

Vannevar Bush who had co-ordinated over six thousand scientists during WWII wrote at the end of war about the need to extend human memory by mechanization. He has built a civilization so complex that he needs to mechanize his record more fully if he is to push his experiment to its logical conclusion and not merely become bogged down part way there by overtaxing his limited memory  (Bush 1945).

Then in 1948, Norbert Weiner laid out the relationships between statistical mechanics and time-series, information and communication, feedback loops and oscillations, and the analogy between computing machines and the brain which form the foundations of cybernetics in its modern sense. Cybernetics was first used by Plato for steering a ship from the Greek Κυβερνήτης (meaning pilot, or rudder), then by Aristotle for steering a community, and more recently also by Ampère for steering a government. Cybernetics has become the discipline that studies communication and control in living beings or machines.

The term Cyborg, derived from cybernetic and organism, coined by Manfred Clynes in Cyborgs in Space an article he co-wrote for Astronautics magazine in 1960. In this article, 'cyborg' signifies a human astronaut with an enhanced homeostatic system and, as the authors suggests: "for the exogenously extended organizational complex functioning as an integrated homeostatic system unconsciously, we propose the term, 'cyborg.'" The essay primarily emphasizes the importance of synchrony between a homeostatic system and its environmental conditions. Rather than question the mismatch between homo sapiens and space, the authors invoke traditional metaphors of adaptation and evolution, suggesting that man will 'conquer' space in the same way that ichthyostega conquered land. The authors do however, provide a strict taxonomy for the cyborg, categorizing its man-machine interface as an unconscious homeostatic control, an autonomous self-regulation, and distinctly separate from detachable prosthetics.  Interestingly, the two authors always presume the humanity and self-identity of the cyborg, regarding it as a benevolent superhuman: “[the cyborg] may well provide a new and larger dimension for man's spirit as well.” The idea of the posthuman is remarkably absent from this essay. (Clynes and Kline1960).

The slogan for the Augmentation Research Centre (ARC) in the early 1960s was "augmentation not automation", the goal being the enhancement of human abilities through computer technology. In their original use of hypertext, tele-conferencing, email and mouse continued to increased users potential for cyborgation.

Alexander Chislenko in 1995 wrote a questions to test if someone had become a cyborg or as he calls them a functional cyborg or flyborg defined as a biological organism functionally supplemented with technological extensions.

Fyborg Self-Test  

·Are you dependent on technology to the extent that you could not survive without it?

·Would you reject a lifestyle free of any technology even if you could endure it?

·Would you feel embarrassed and "dehumanized" if somebody removed your artificial covers (clothing) and exposed your natural biological body in public?  

·Do you consider your bank deposits a more important personal resource storage system than your fat deposits?

·Do you receive most of your knowledge about the world through artificial symbolic language, rather than natural sensory experience?

·Do you identify yourself and judge other people more by possessions, ability to manipulate tools and positions in the technological and social systems than primary biological features?

·Do you spend more time thinking about -- and discussing -- your external "possessions" and "accessories" than your internal "parts"?

If you answered "yes" to most of these questions, please accept my congratulations (and/or condolences): you are already a cyborg!" (Chislenko1995)

2. Super Human

Faster than a speeding bullet video, sound and text to anywhere in the world and back,

more powerful than a locomotive able to control robots that build locomotives.

able to leap tall buildings in a single bound or see the entire city through video surveillance.

Look! Up in the sky! It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman! Yes, it's Superman - strange visitor from another planet who came to Earth with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men. Superman - who can change the course of mighty rivers, bend steel with his bare hands, and who, disguised as Clark Kent, mild mannered reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper, fights the never ending battle for Truth, Justice and the American Way. (SUPERMAN 1952)

In the 1950s, only Superman had super powers; today, it possible for us to change the course of mighty rivers and bend steel by merely touching a few switches. Via the www we have access to more information than is stored in any one library in the world. We maintain truth by having access to www publishing in order to understand the difference between truth, justice and the American way. (Information Clearing House, 2005). We are able to get instant translations by typing, instead of a instead of the long process of using a human translator (Altavista Babelfish, 2005). We can change our; gender, sexual preference and ethnicity as we communicate via the www. The blind can hear text; the deaf can have conversations with people on the other side of the world. We empower computer agents to do in seconds what we would take years to complete. Despite our intentions to use our super powers, like superman we have our kryptonite in the form of bugs, worms and other problems that prevent us from being fully cyborg.

3. Environment

Gregory Bateson asked his student "Is a blind man's cane a part of him?" (Bateson,1972). Most of his students thought human boundaries were naturally defined by epidermal surfaces. The boundaries of the human subject are constructed and can extend into the universe. The cybernetic machine was designed to extend our self into the realm of the machine. "We are not stuff that abides, but patterns that perpetuate themselves. A pattern is a message, and may be transmitted as a message." (Wiener, Norbert.1954)

 Though our subconscious controls our dreams, we are mostly unaware of what we have dreamt. Sigmund Freud used the metaphor of a mystic writing pad to describe how our conscious mind is clear, while our unconscious mind maintains a memory [wax impression] of what we have perceived (1925). Our cyborg environment is like our unconscious mind. Consciously aware, though not consciously remembering all we have perceived. The level of awareness of our cyborgation seems dependant on our conscious interaction. If our environment is within certain limits [our comfort zone] we rarely consciously react or remember our environment. The extent to which our environment changes and we consciously interact or react usually determines our awareness or intentional cyborgation. We adapt to environmental change, creating a new environment with a new perceived need for change. In adapting to technological change, a new environment is created with a perceived need for new technology. If users stop adapting to new technologies they slip behind those that do adapt. Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’ in natural selection now involves a need to extend our biology with technology. Our need to stay ahead of our competition may have blinded us to our cyborgation. Users experience different levels of immersion depending on the level to which their senses are engaged. In addition to the extensiveness of their experience with similar environments they have been immersed in.

This concept is best expressed by Wiener: One thing at any rate is clear. The physical identity of an individual does not consist in the matter of which it is made... The biological individuality of an organism seems to lie in a certain continuity of process and in the memory by the organism of the effects of its past development... In terms of the computing machine, the individuality of a mind lies in the retention of its earlier tapings and memories, and in its continued development along lines already laid out (1954).

Telepresent is the idea that "immediate proximity" is no longer the immediate environment and source of sensation. We are transported using technology to a location that is not in the same place as the physical body. Our senses are constantly comparing the input from the virtual or machine environment with their known physical environment. Checking sensory fidelity defined in terms of the pattern of energy impinging on the senses; the degree to which the energy array produced by a mediated display matches the energy array of an unmediated stimulus. Comparing the level of sensory saturation, stimuli (information) from the virtual as opposed to the physical environment. Reacting to any decrease in sensory suppression created by dampening, eliminating or minimizing the users’ environment not involved interacting with the interface (Biocca, 2005)

 In almost any virtual environment system with any significant level of embodiment, there are three bodies present: the objective body, the virtual body, and the body schema. The objective body is the physical, observable, and measurable body of the user. The virtual body is the representation of the user's body inside the virtual environment. The body schema is the user's mental or internal representation of his or her body (Frank Biocca, 2005). We have not reached the automatic and unconscious environment Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline speak of in the article “Cyborgs in Space”.

4. Agents

 An example of an intentional cyborg instruction to a computer agent would be to switch the lights on; a simple task that might also require the agent to switch on many different lights on in various locations in a complex sequence and feedback if there were any lights that did not go on. A task for humans that would be physically impossible to do; running from light to light, switching them on in a complex series--we would not be able to remember them all correctly! Autonomous agents (AAs) have the capacity to learn, experiment, and act independently of human control. An autonomous entity with the existence presupposed or implied by asserting the existence of a user and an agenda of its own. AAs interact with other AAs extending our biology in ways we are not fully unaware of. AAs are pre-programmed to carry out the instructions of the computer programmer or coder. Though most coders working on large AA programs are not fully aware of all the outcomes of their coding, or for commercial reasons fully debug their programming. As result users interacting with the agent programs could be compared to the summoning a second rate genie with a restricted number and type of wishes. A calculator is a simple agent that performs various functions with numbers. If the calculator performs a long complex calculation, how does the user know if the result is correct? Unintentionally our agents biological extension maybe doing things we would not do if we were fully aware.  If our biological arm malfunctions our brain is aware of the malfunction and compensates. Users cannot compensate for an agent malfunctions unless they are monitoring every part of the process and reacting to any malfunctions with appropriate compensation to rectify the malfunction. As a result users experience unintentional cyborg effects.

As we grow from childhood to adulthood we make more decisions about our environment. If AAs continue to make more decisions about our environment, we are likely to be more childish than our ancestors. Without the skills to make decisions about our environment we will have a tendency to adapt in ways that are dependent on AAs controlling our environment. Potentially making us unable to make those decisions if AAs stop making correct decisions.

Agents can change the space we live in, bringing things into our environment from distant places without the user moving from their computer. If our AA has stored the users preferences and orders accordingly leaving the user unaware till the agent changes the users’ environment. To the user removing any thought processes involved in the order and eliminating the acquisition space and time; extending the users biology without the user being aware, unless the changes are not what the user wants.  Inspecting a house on the Internet is very different than physically walking through a house. Three dimensional spaces are represented by two dimensional photos. Our movement between the rooms is as quick as our movement from house to house

Space has become relationally representational; distance has taken a new dimension. We have to relate the location of the house to a map that represents a geographical position, and then relate the rooms within the house to a plan that represents their position on the block of land. Internet house inspections can cause a variety of perceptional unintended effects caused by the difference between the virtual and the physical that could be adjusted by visiting the physical house(s). Agents can also change the space we use. Mobile devices mean we can combine tasks that would normally mean traveling to communicate with people or use stationary devices, like mobile phones that can locate our position on the surface of the earth; our agent can change our environment as we move into and out of it. Buildings can react to our presence, adjusting the air and access. New media art can react producing a more subjective artwork for us to look at. AAs could book at seat at a restaurant in co-ordination with other users AAs for a social or business meal. Banking no longer depends on when the bank is open. It is faster and more convenient via the Internet. Many customers would rather visit a bank teller have become unintentional cyborgs due to bank branch closure.  Traditionally, when booking travel arrangement, the most economical way was to see the travel agent, face-to face; now it is cheaper to buy travel via the Internet. All those with limited money that would rather book face-to-face with a travel agent can no longer afford to do so, thus also unintentionally becoming cyborgs.  

The intentionality or empowering an AA with limited information about ourselves will increase with trust as the AA makes successful selections for us. As the AA becomes more intelligent they will make selections based on what they know about us, requiring less input by users thereby leading to users becoming dependant on their AA for their environment with little intention.

With the price of digital storage so cheap most institutions and companies are storing most information as back up in case of a virus or other problem with their computers. How do our archives determine what is significant to archive. Potentially insignificant information may become significant if someone becomes famous or many other significant changes then requiring the archive to store the history that lead up to that person becoming famous or other significant change. It is not humanly possible to process all the information required to search and find all the significant information without AAs. We would then be dependent on the AAs selecting what they thought was significant. Without extensive standards that are not yet in place AAs would be unable to complete automatic archiving. Even large well made search engine AAs like Google do not feedback exactly what is required. Autonomous agents combination of software and robotic entities are capable of independent action in open, unpredictable environments. NASA is progressively using more AAs for space exploration. Lets hope they program them better than HAL 9000 in 2001: a space odyssey.

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5. Games

 Though games are preprogrammed, gamers are experiencing new spaces that can be played in a variety of different ways depending on how the gamer interacts. Rather than seeing social presence as a partial replication of face-to-face communication, we should more generally see social presence as a simulation of another type of intelligence. The simulation is run in the body and mind of the perceiver and models the internal experience of some other moving, expressive body. It is a simulation because the simulation occurs whether or not the moving object has intelligence or intentionality, whether the ‘other’ is a moving human being or an animation composed of nothing more than moving patterns of ink. Social presence applies to the mediated experience of all forms of intelligence. This perceived intelligence might be another human, a non-human intelligence such as an animal, a form of artificial intelligence, an imagined alien or a god (Frank Biocca, 2005). Gamers extending their biology by gaining the abilities of their avatars, yet seemingly loosing all other movement except to make small movements of a hand controller and eyes seemingly fixated to the screen.

Game players are intentional cyborgs, constantly wanting to increase their cyborg skills and do so by spending long hours playing existing games, and are proactive in wanting new games and interfaces. Some game players are so intent that they will write game patches to increase the games functionality or content. But never fully succeeding in interacting in a perfect virtual environment. Game players go into glaze space — immersive spectacle — when they progressively remove their attention from immediate material and cultural surroundings, and plunge into a world with different physical and ethical parameters. In this state, players seem to be in a vegetative condition — their eyes glazed over. But this appearance is deceptive. They are actually intensively active, both consumed by, and actively consuming, the game. In glaze-space (which varies in intensity), players suspend their awareness of their day-to-day world to become cybernetically suspended within a virtualised sensorimotor space of the game world  (Chesher,2003).

Hand eye co-ordination distortions in virtual environments often cause users visual motor system changes that continue after finishing the interaction. Non synchronization between the users’ physical body and the virtual body (avatar) can cause a form of motion sickness.

Spaces created for users may reflect the past or the future while interaction takes place in the present. This form of game time travel provides further immersion with the users actions reflected real time in their avatars actions on screen.

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Figure 4

Gender in the type of game played and the type of character or avatar used can cause gamers to take on cyborg genders unintentionally. Console games are mainly designed by men for play by men. One person fighting to overcome the challenges that steadily increases as the gamer plays. Often female characters or avatars in Adventure games are stronger and more able than the men (Final Fantasy IX).

Figure 5

The best selling game is 'The Sims' 2005, made to appeal to female gender with tools to create things with and flexibility. Over all games, the majority of gender representation is specified by Japanese companies marketing to Caucasians.

6. Education

The biggest change in education has come from access to information and communication via the Internet and www. University students have a choice of either accessing their marks and paying their fees via the internet, or a manual process that takes at least ten times longer. Most choose to increase their cyborgation. Moving in the opposite direction is the format of this academic essay, still required in an academic format without active hyperlinks. Students in most disciplines intentionally extend their biology to computer servers all over the world. Using search agents to compile lists of references that would take years if libraries had to be visited. Sending Email and Bloging are popular ways of communicating with thousands of other students with similar interests, physically impossible to access without the Internet.

 Face-to-face teaching is slowly being replaced by webcast teaching, reducing travel time to and from university, substituting physical space for virtual space. Human teaching is slowly being replaced by computer based learning available for students to interact with when they have time to learn, with instructional techniques that are individualized to each student.

Plato and later Thomas Jefferson were the original advocators of ‘education for all’, those with the greatest abilities given the opportunity to use those abilities. Instead those with the most money can afford the latest intelligent software that searchs, compiles and writes their essays incongruently gaining higher marks than those who search for their research then compile and write their own essays who learn more.Unless all assessment is made by examination, educational institutions will need to find ways of assessing students. Educators already have a problem with some students plagiarizing others work that is readily available on the Internet. Currently both Educators and students need to intentionaly further their cyborg abilities to adapt to evolving new environments.

Perhaps this is a new social order; those with less ethics that adapt to have access to and use the best cyborg technologies will gain the highest positions educationally. Those with more ethics would learn more, but be able to demonstrate less outside examinations. If Pierre Bourdieu’s critical conflict theory of class reproduction: how one generation of a class ensures that it reproduces itself and passes on its privileges to the next generation holds true. It will be esential to be a proactive intentional cyborg to maintain a position in the middle- and upper-class.

7. Identity and Control

 Cyborgation relocates parts of our identity and control outside our bodies. Consciousness, long regarded as the seat of identity, in this model is relegated to an ‘epiphenomenon.’ Agency still exists, but it is distributed and largely unconscious, or at least a-conscious (Borgmann,1999). A few questions to ponder might be: Do we control technology or does technology control us or do we mutually control each other?  Norbert Weiner considered neither animal or machine should dominate. There should be a constant feedback loop between the animal and the machine, one working as the cybernetic controller of the other.

In the past 20 years with the use of computer agents we have gained more control over our environment than during most of the 200k years before. Yet we have not had a similar increase in negotiations and agreements. Should we more intentionally control agents or unintentionally use the latest agents? Controlling them by being their reason for existence would be like controlling a dictator. Perhaps we control them because we instruct them. Yet we do not fully understand how they will process that instruction or are able to fully check what they done for us. Do we trust that what we have been told the agent does is in fact what the agent does. Computer agent programmers programming all but the simplest of agents are not absolutely sure of what the agents do, or fix all the bugs for commercial reasons. So how can anyone tell us accurately what the agent does? If we don't control agents then are we are unintentional cyborgs.

Intelligent agents control the environments of city buildings, yet we do not seem to be consciously aware of the agents control unless the agents’ loose control e.g. the air temperature is to cold or to hot. Is a passive awareness by our senses enough control over our environment not to need control over the agents that control our environment; we trust an airplane pilot to take us safely to a destination.

Do we risk changing our gender thinking by unintentionally using the wrong technologies?

Women talk about technology as a tool to do things with, men talk about it as a kind of weapon. Women talk about using it to create, men talk about the power it gives them. Women ask technology for flexibility, men ask it for speed. Women talk about using it to share ideas, men talk about the autonomy it grants them (Brunner, 2000). What gender bias would we experience by communicating with a machine that we think is a person. Even experts find it difficult to determine the difference (Turing test, 1950).

 A major problem with us becoming (un)intentional cyborgs is our dependence on computers that do have a common sense understanding of our language. Being programmed differently by each programmer, thus making it hard for standards to be set so we have a better understanding of what the computer program does. For example if we read the word glass, we know enough about that word placed in the context of other words to gain meaning. The logical semantic fuzzy logic process our brain goes through we call common sense is extremely complex for a computer.  MIT Media Lab has embarked on an effort to quantify ‘common sense’ to program computers with the capacity to understand and reason about the world as intimately as people do. Open Minds repository is a collection of knowledge that will enable us to create more intelligent and sociable software, build human-like robots, and better understand the structure our own minds (Open Mind 2005).

 Though we don't seem to fully understand what computer agents do on our behalf, legally we are responsible for some of what the agents do for us. Agreements are needed that regulate cyberspace: laws (by government sanction and force), social norms (by expectation, encouragement, or embarrassment), markets (by price and availability), and architecture (what the technology permits, favors, dissuades, or prohibits)(Reagle,1999).Commercially we need to be more intentional and less unintentional in our use of agents for those agreements to reached.

 To maintain a consistent identity some religious groups restrict their environments by excluding technology. Potentially avoiding the problems of control and identity created by cyborgation.

8. Conclusion

We are cyborgs and I expect our cyborgation to continue. We have an intention to extend our biology with technology and engaging in the feedback loop Norbert Weiner wrote about. Though we do not fully control or understand our cyborg environment, making at least part of what they are doing unintentional. We have for the most part not reached the stage of automatically and unconsciously living in our cyborg world. As we allow technology to replace our biology we will become different beings.