HYBRID

You might be thinking in a Toyota Prius right now after
reading the name of the keyword. This car is actually a good example of a
hybrid because it gets its energy from two different sources, an electrical
motor and an internal-combustion one.

“Something of mixed origin or composition”. This is a
concise definition of the word from the Free Dictionary Online. It gives us a
starting point to understand Donna
Haraway’s use of the term, in “A Cyborg Manifesto”, to define and describe
cyborgs.

Haraway argues that by the end of the
20^th century humans were already “hybrids of machine and organism”
(118). By this she means that humans are too connected to tools, devices and
machines that we become half human half machine. For the skeptical she gives a
very good example by mentioning handicapped people, who have in some cases
machine parts attached to their bodies. (144).

What’s interesting to me is that
Haraway came up with this concept about hybrids 21 years ago. This makes me
think about what’s going to happen in another 20 years. Are we all going
to be hybrids to some extent or would there be no difference between machines
and humans?