This blog post explores how cyborg engineering could transform human identity and what impact it might have on humanity’s future.
Yuval Harari’s “Sapiens” includes this passage: “Attempts to improve us are doomed to fail, because even if the whole could be improved, our minds remain untouchable.” Interpreting this, it implies that if our minds could be altered, our entire being could be improved—and improving our entire being would signify the end of Sapiens. Here, the author addresses improving us from three perspectives. Biotechnology, cyborg engineering, and inorganic engineering are precisely those three. In this article, I will describe how or why cyborg engineering, among these three aspects, could lead to the extinction of us, Homo sapiens.
First, I want to discuss what cyborg engineering is. Simply put, cyborg engineering means using non-biological elements to assist living organisms. Examples of cyborgs are easily found around us: someone with poor eyesight using glasses to aid their vision, or someone unable to memorize an entire phone book relying on a mobile phone for assistance. More advanced forms of cyborgs also exist. For instance, robots like RoboCop or Inspector Gadget, which feel familiar to us. However, the cyborg the author clearly wants to discuss is far more profound than these.
The cyborg discussed in the book does not merely assist us. It extends and develops our capabilities, sometimes enabling us to achieve the unimaginable. For instance, someone in Korea could move a robotic arm in Japan with their thoughts alone, or I, currently in Korea, could experience a trip to Paris through a robot there. This development is not merely technological progress; it alters the very essence of human existence. Such a change could fundamentally shake our identity.
The answer to the question above is precisely how cyborg engineering could lead to the extinction of Homo sapiens. It is about connecting the brain to a computer. Connecting the brain to a computer has two implications. First, the uploading of information from the brain to the computer—that is, storage—becomes unrestricted. Everything I see, hear, and feel is stored in the computer’s database, and I can upload or download it at any time. Second, a computer can exist anywhere. When the brain and computer are connected, each individual becomes a computer. This ultimately means multiple brains connect to form a ‘collective memory bank’. A ‘collective memory bank’ means everyone shares the same memories and feelings. In other words, the mental boundaries between people, between Homo sapiens, disappear.
While each individual currently lives with different memories, thinks differently, and feels differently, uploading all of this to a computer means everyone would live with the same thoughts, feelings, and memories, causing mental boundaries to vanish. As mentioned earlier, if we can manipulate the mind, we can improve our entire being. Therefore, the disappearance of mental boundaries means improving our entire being. This signifies the extinction of Homo sapiens.
But does this truly mean extinction? The author argues it is not extinction, but rather an evolution into a different kind of existence. Ultimately, whether we face extinction through cyborg engineering is not truly important. What matters is why we face extinction. The author states it is because we can genuinely create a superior being more evolved than ourselves. Cyborg engineering has developed in the direction of making humans superior beings. It has evolved to extend our capabilities.
However, we soon arrive at the conclusion that transforming ourselves into superior, evolved beings is preferable to leaving ourselves as we are. It’s merely a matter of time before we accept this fact; it is an undeniable truth.
Why did we reach this conclusion? Because the question we truly seek to answer is not “What kind of beings do we want to become?” but “What do we want to desire?” Ultimately, we did not pursue cyborg engineering to become better beings, but to extend the capabilities of our own species, Homo sapiens. Yet the conclusion drifted toward the idea that we must become better beings, and that this very pursuit will lead to our extinction. In the end, we do not face an end imposed by something external, but an end that arises autonomously from within ourselves.
In conclusion, cyborg engineering possesses the potential to transform human identity beyond mere technological advancement. While it opens new possibilities for us, it simultaneously forces us to confront fundamental questions about who we are and what we desire. On our journey to become better beings, we must ask ourselves: Are we prepared to meet our own end?
