Becoming Cyborgs, Opportunities and Challenges | Hacker News Reader

Becoming Cyborgs, Opportunities and Challenges

scrib.am

24 pointsastonfred5 comments

Privacy oriented individuals do not as easily show up in statistics since by definition they are attempting to limit information leakage. Relying on public information to judge whether people prefer privacy has severe selection bias.

What is a privacy oriented individual? I see the term thrown around but it usually just strikes me as a pre-emptive Scottsman fallacy meant to maintain the credibility of the absolutists in the digital privacy movement. I frequently meet lots of people concerned about their privacy who nonetheless still use services like social media, participate in surveys, etc. because the scope of their concerns is mostly centered around mitigating the potential for problems from people they know irl or their work.

> Do we really want our brains to be interconnected in a giant data mesh? Don’t we aspire to some level of complete privacy, fully off the grid?

Good lordy no, but I hate the dichotomy proposed here in the first place. I love the internet, I spend a lot of time with it. I also think it would be neat to have a more intuitive way to utilize it while out in the world or busy doing things. I want that, but I don't want the implied permanent connection, 24/7 availability, location tracking and push notifications.

Smartphones for example are a great formfactor for personal computing on the go, with intentionality and outcomes that benefit how you participate in the real world this could have been a real boon to everyday life. But the actual outcome has been very different, pulling people out of the real and capturing their time and focus on apps that monetize your information and attention.

If that's what we can expect from neural links, and I think it is, then no thanks.

> Being constantly - and intimately - integrated with the information network will raise a number of sociological and ethical questions. Do we really want our brains to be interconnected in a giant data mesh? Don’t we aspire to some level of complete privacy, fully off the grid?
We could argue that at some point (temporary) disconnection will become a privilege for the happy few. As we’ve seen in recent crises such as the aftermath of 9-11 or the COVID-19 pandemic, most people are ready to give up some of their privacy in exchange for security or health benefits.

Moreover, if everyone around you gets gradually enhanced, you’ll probably prefer to join the microchip movement instead of losing out to the cyborgs. The gregarious sense of belonging is usually stronger than the urge for freedom and self-expression.

Solving all the fundamental ethical problems of giving up your individual self in less than three paragraphs. I love it!

Interesting to see this post because the only exposure I have to Transhumanism is from watching "True Life: I'm a Transhumanist" (maybe it was 'I want to be a cyborg' don't remember). It's a valid pursuit in theory and this article makes me more interested in finding literature on the subject. But I do hope Transhumanists fulfill their pursuit in a safe and "scientific" manner.

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