“Cyber organism” or “cyborg” is a self-regulating organism that combines natural and man-made components. Humans are already considered cyborgs due to our integration with technology. The growing cyborgization of humanity raises ethical debates on therapy versus enhancement. The controversy over whether humanity should transform into a cybernetic race is a major problem of the 21st century.
“Cyber organism” is the long version of the more familiar term “cyborg,” a self-regulating organism that contains a combination of natural and man-made components. Cybernetic organisms have often been featured in fiction and philosophical explorations of the subject. Often, cyborgs have been presented in dystopian contexts, believed to be an expression of our society’s discomfort with dependence on technology and a desire to return to a more “natural” state.
According to some definitions, and the analyzes of many thinkers on the subject, human beings are already cybernetic organisms. Witness how integrated we are already with technology: simple tools such as pen and paper, glasses or more advanced medical prostheses such as pacemakers can be considered the first precursors of humanity’s transition to a more cybernetic form. Futurists such as Ray Kurzweil have argued that in the coming decades we will inevitably become even more cybernetic and embrace the fusion of biology and technology.
The public’s experience with cybernetic organisms has been largely in the context of fiction, such as the TV series The Six Million Dollar Man and the Star Wars and Terminator film series. But it must be recognized that the growing cyborgization of humanity is all around us and millions if not billions of dollars are being invested in research to create cybernetic organisms. Often, “cybernetic” body components such as cochlear implants satisfy basic human needs, such as the need to hear.
A frequent ethical debate raised in the context of cybernetic organisms is the division between therapy and enhancement. The Presidential Council on Bioethics, led by Leon Kass, published a book in 2003 called Beyond Therapy that criticized what they see as the excessive cyborgization of humanity and the need for limits. A book by environmentalist Bill McKibben titled Enough makes similar arguments.
The controversy over whether humanity should improve itself with technology and transform itself into a cybernetic race is likely to be one of the biggest problems of the 21st century.
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