Dilbert creator Scott Adams makes the argument that modern smartphones serve as “exobrains” that provide humans with extraordinary abilities – navigation by satellite, remembering phone numbers, accessing information via the Internet, and more. He believes the fact that we rely so heavily on these devices makes us “cyborgs.” But our current devices are only the beginning, he writes, as these exobrains will provide us with additional capabilities:
Your exobrain will even prompt you on social niceties, noticing before you do that a person has lost weight, or changed hairstyles, or (based on Facebook) taken a trip to Cabo. When you get cornered by a bore at a party, your exobrain will recognize that you aren’t doing any of the talking, and place a discreet call to your wing man or woman across the room for a rescue mission.
If you want your exobrain to show you an image, such as a web page, just hold up a blank piece of paper and its pico projector will display the image in front of you. (That’s from TED again.) In a pinch, just hold up the palm of your hand and project on that. By then the exobrain will have image stabilization software, so you can project a movie on a blank wall and it won’t be affected by your fidgeting. Any time you are near a computer screen, it will ask if you want it to accept images from your exobrain.
Although these devices aren’t physically attached to us, we do keep them on our person 24 hours a day – my phone is literally never out of my reach, constantly providing me with enhanced abilities and access to an incredible amount of knowledge. Even if you don’t accept the fact that external devices make us “cyborgs,” it’s not so difficult to realize a day very soon where implanted gadgets mimic the functionality of modern-day smartphones complete with contacts with overlay displays for displaying data along with implanted microphones and in-ear speakers for two-way communication.
To accurately claim to be a “cyborg,” must one merge physically with non-biological technology, or does Adams have a point in that auxiliary devices already make us so?
Our smartphones, although not physically attached to us, are still “part of us”.
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We can’t imagine our lives without them near us and we feel like our important part is missing if they some how get “out of reach”. Yes, I agree with Adams, they are our exobrains and with them in our hand, we are indeed Cyborgs.
What it meant to be a cyborg is to have their original organic parts replaced with non-organic counterparts that does the same function as the organic part and even more. It doesn’t matter whether we put that part in exact same place in our body where the organic one resides or anywhere else.
To enhance our brain, or to give it a helping hand, we could put the device inside, outside or over the brain, or could carry it in our pockets. Its only the matter of portability and of course – of time [they are saying that Singularity is near
Great comment! I’ve used smartphones as an example of a common human enhancement that is growing more and more ubiquitous. I guess the real conflict, for me, comes when I think if we’re including the use of external devices as “exobrains,” and that qualifies us as cyborgs, where do we draw the line? A pocket calculator greatly speeds up our ability to make calculations, would that count in the same way? Or must an exobrain, by definition, store a significant amount of information?
At some point it becomes an argument about semantics, but it’s still interesting to think about.
Well Eric, there might be a slight difference between devices like calculator and devices like smartphones – “can we live without them?”.
I don’t think that if your calculator is away from you for 5 mins you will start feeling incomplete. You can do small calculations in your natural brain as well or you will grab a paper and pen. But if you are expecting to hear from a loved one from halfway across the state, and your phone goes missing, you will go haywire to search for it as without it or devices like it your natural communication ability would not let you communicate with your loved one. And believe me, at that moment you’ll feel like some part of your body is missing.
This is what it is to be “a part of us”. Ability to be a part of us might be the key to draw the line.
My pair of glasses is a very simple device. But I could almost go blind without it. Sitting on my nose, it has become a part of me now. So, with my very simple vision correcting device, I could be classified as a Cyborg, not so advanced though