Cyborg
Cyborg is short from cybernetic organism. The term was first used to describe self-regulating human-like machines for exploring outer space. As Donna Haraway explains, “A cyborg is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism,
a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction.” This implies that cyborg is a creature that consists of both organic and artificial components and expresses the richness of human imagination, yet organically fits into acceptable social world.
Donna Haraway also states, “The cyborg is a condensed image of both imagination and material reality, the two joined centers structuring any possibility of historical transformation.” This implies that cyborg is something, which is constructed of the existing well-known parts as representation of material reality and newly invented, artificial parts that represent imagination. However, these elements are rapidly gaining status of naturalized as they emerge into one organism, and with time it becomes practically impossible to distinguish cyborgs. As technology advances the distance between people and cyborgs shortens and people not only create cyborgs, but also actively engage in activities with them and, furthermore, in a way, become similar to cyborgs themselves.
This evolution of “wearable computers” by Steve Mann demonstrates gradual incorporation into human life elements
that are usually attributed to cyborgs, thus implying that the line between people and cyborgs is becoming blurry.
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