The Convergence of Man and Machine

I wonder what awaits in a Transhuman future

It’s strange to notice as I wade through this temporary illness that a disease as simple as a common cold has no instant cure. I have always been fascinated with science fiction tropes. One-pill meals, one-pill cures, and a rather weird desire of being able to view the various ‘cogs’ in our body that rotate when we make the slightest of movements.

A bit of a road-freak that I am, there have been instances where I have come close to death in road accidents. I have always taken considerable time to heal, but I am lucky to be alive, no question. But through these bleak periods, I have pondered the nature of life and death, and man’s attempts to conquer death. A simple walk down history’s lane, and I can see hundreds of references where man did incredible things to favour life over death. And some bizarre things too — why would anyone indulge in human sacrifice?

Eternal life has remained a cornerstone of man’s aspirations. We can see traces of this aspiration carved in stone, etched in tablets, all the way to creating technology that can extend life. Machines are slowly becoming one with man and changing the way we live our lives.

I am quite curious about all these new gadgets that will get embedded in our bodies in the future, neural implants, physical and mental augmentations. But I am very much interested in the dynamics of this transition and how humans will radically alter their lives around it.

Our access to instant information is now shaping our lives, making us take decisions faster than before. Every Uber ride I take ends with me rewarding the driver with a name tag — hero — and every driver gets to rate whether I was a gentleman or a douchebag. We live in a veritable state of being rated by others, being validated by others, so much so that we are quite oblivious to the effects this has on our minds.

Most people consciously advocate not paying heed to others’ opinions but this reward-based ecosystem taking shape all around us is encouraging this very behaviour.

I wonder what will happen when we get a slew of networked devices implanted in our bodies, each device communicating with devices others’ bodies. I wonder if the nature of our conversations will change? I wonder if the nature of our language will change? I wonder will we remain human at all?

Too many thoughts for the night? Told you never to read before going to bed!