Cyborgs – How Science Fiction Failed Us
April 29, 2010 - By Phineas Delgado
I have an uncle who has a PhD in Economics and is a graduate professor at a University in Florida. He enjoys imbibing adult beverages to excess. He also likes to ride his Harley. Sadly, for him, he likes to do both in rapid succession, if not at the same time (which goes to show that even really intelligent people can be really stupid). Now hang with me for a moment, I am going somewhere pertinent with this. His last two misadventures cost him his personality (left frontal lobe contusion from trying to land on his head at 40 mph) and one of his legs. The whole time he was in the hospital, God forgive me, I couldn’t help but replay the opening credits to The Six Million Dollar Man… “Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology… We can make him better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.” If you aren’t humming the theme song right now, I disown you.
Since the last two topics for HSFFU were Robots and AI, I think we successfully concluded that we can’t do better artificially than the Creator did with flesh and blood. So I think it’s time we looked at the obvious marriage of the two: Cyborgs. More than any other device of Science Fiction, I think the cyborg captures our imagination most readily, mostly, I think, because of the relatable human element.
Most cyborgs are reluctantly part machine, and even more have to be so because of some traumatic past event. Perfect examples of this are Jamie Summers (the Bionic Woman), Steve Austin (The Six Million Dollar Man), Alex Murphy (Robocop), Del Spooner (the film version of I, Robot) and of course Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader. Each of them suffered horrible accidents or events, and each of them was saved (or made whole again) by artificial cybernetic prostheses.
But what about people, like my uncle, that could benefit from real life artificial limbs? I’m not talking about the spring loaded legs, and touch control hands we have now, but I mean truly and fully functional artificial replacement limbs. Why don’t we have these things? I blame Mary Shelley, author of Frankenstein; or The Modern Prometheus. Frankenstein’s Monster, arguably the first cyborg (while he had no artificial parts, he was created and existed solely because of the science involved), resonates so loudly in our collective consciousness, that Isaac Asimov referred to the irrational fear of robots and other artificial humans as the “Frankenstein Complex”. Humans, by our nature, are egotistical, and we fear anything that might usurp our role as the dominant force on the planet, even if it’s benevolent.
My real question is would this fear exist without the reinforcement from Science Fiction? Would we be afraid of artificial people, and by proxy, artificially enhanced people, if Science Fiction didn’t tell us that they will eventually try to dominate or destroy us (lest we forget that the T800 Model 101 is technically a cyborg)? Probably. We’re pretty skittish as a species. That said, though, I still think Science Fiction failed us with this. Would a cybernetic limb have to be super strong? Would someone with artificial legs have to run “cheetah fast?” I think perhaps I should refer that question to the @grantimahara (You know…one of the Mythbusters crew), he’s the robot expert.
Let me tell you what I want to see. I can envision a world where wheelchairs become museum pieces; where people who lose limbs, or organs, can continue living normal, happy, pain-free lives. I want to know that if something happens to my pinky finger, I won’t have to pledge the rest of my life to a fictitious government agency because I have a bionic pinky finger that can change the world-wide balance of power. Because you know the Iranians are secretly developing their own Bionic Pinky Fingers, and we can’t let that happen. Cue theme music.
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I don’t know, Phin. The first examples you give are really cool people. Who wouldn’t want to be Steve Austin-esque?
I have to say, this whole failure of sci-fi series is a bit of a downer. Like you, I’m a huge sci-fi fan, and for every example you give of sci-fi’s failure, I think of a counter-example. Furthermore, you’re anthropomorphizing more than a little. There is no entity that is science fiction – it comprises a multitude of individuals, each embedded in a time and place and culture.
Don’t get me wrong – I love the blog, and you can write anything you damn-well please. I’m just sayin’…
I appreciate your feedback, Don. The point of the articles is to make you think, which it appears was successful. I know Science Fiction is responsible for many of our greatest technological achievements, I’m just looking at those ways that science fiction, as a concept, seems to have been short sighted.
On the whole, WE are Sci-Fi, really, so it’s more a look at how humans fail, even when we aim high. This last episode being an example of that. Science Fiction casts a negative light on artificial life because as human beings, that’s our inclination. As a science fiction writer, I will likely do the same.
And certainly the article is a little on the negative side, but I suppose that’s a little bit of my own cynicism coming to bear. I look to Sci-Fi to present a bright future, but the overwhelming majority of it is very dark (even the Utopic Star Trek came out of a post-apocolyptic horror). I’m just working with what I have.
Perhaps you and I can come to a happy medium. I’d be happy to write on a topic you’d like to hear about. Give me the subject and I’ll post the article. Deal?
OK – Your response changed my mind. We fans are always lauding sci-fi for its vision and inspiration. There’s no shortage of praise, so I think it’s cool that you’re taking a look at the shortcomings.
As far as suggesting topic – no offense, but if I think of an interesting topic, I’m gonna blog about it
Interesting post, Phin. Sci-Fi has distorted our perception of Cyborgs. The thought of a half-human, half-robot product sounds cool only because their abilites are made to appear superhuman in nature. But it’s only cool when it happens to someone else.
The fantasy aspect is there because of the entertainment perspective, but in reality it’s a different story. No one wants to be half human-half robot, and the tragic reasons for being a cyborg like Jamie Summers (the Bionic Woman), Steve Austin (The Six Million Dollar Man), Alex Murphy (Robocop), Del Spooner (the film version of I, Robot) and Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader are logical because there’s really no positive reason to be one, even in the entertainment industry. It HAS to be a tragic event.
But if Science Fiction has failed us in this area, then wouldn’t it ultimately be own fault for not being able to clearly differentiate between reality and fantasy? I don’t think you can blame Sci-Fi for our own inadequancies to wish for something a certain way while we’re not realizing the reality of what it’s really like.
And if an event happens to one like it did your uncle, it’s dreadful indeed. And I’d love to think he could walk out of there like the Six Million Dollar Man because I think they can do it. I just don’t think our insurance covers such things.
That is a good question, has science fiction failed to promote science ‘upgrades’. Soon, in probability, there will be bionic (or compatable) limbs, maybe people (if there arn’t already), and other concepts. The answer is all three! The first as a medical process, replace certain body part to be equal to the original. The second (as seen on TV) military type improvements that surpass the original ability. And the last is total chaos, just like in science fiction, at times. With that said, and technology catching up to ‘science fiction’ in most catagories, there will still be science fiction.
We already have replacements that are better than the originals, at least for some things. A world-class sprinter was turned away from the last Summer Olympics because his prosthetic foot gave him an “unfair advantage” over his non-cybernetic competition.