How far down the impending Bionic Path, can we still call a Human Being, a Human Being?

Question

When would the line between a fully sentient robot and a fully bionic human being start to completely fade away? …We can already implant BMI's (Brain Machine Interfaces) and alike into humans; and eventually biological organs into robots – imagine a 100 years from now [sorry Prof. Hawking, I know you are worried about the next 100 years. :-)]!

How long before the basic human design as we know it today becomes truly obsolete, and what influence would that have upon our emotional capacity and spiritual quest?

Also, does this mean that given “the substances of the universe” one can eventually create anything?

Answer 1

are you really still struggling with this one? or have you already made up you mind and just want to see who agrees? i think basic humanity has more to do with the soul than actual body.....the 'substances of the universe' thing is totally separate and you already know the answer is yes.......I'm quickly becoming a fan of yours, and am totally not the fan type!

Answer 2

I think that the further we go down the bionic path, as you call it, the more we will realize that what makes us human has yet to be named and found, but it is there. I read somewhere that when a person dies, his body mass decreases by about a pound, even when gas, excrements, air, and all other factors are taken into account and controlled for. I personally choose to believe in a soul, an accumulation of energy that cannot be destroyed or created in any way. Given all this, I cant imagine that there will come a day when humans will be able to create an exact copy of themselves that will have all of our characteristics and be fully bionic, or even partially bionic. I am sure that in intelligence and physical appearance, the line between humans and robots will be gone in less than 100 years, but this still doesnt make an intelligent , learning , human -looking machine a human being

Answer 3

Some people make a distinction between "human" and "person"
where human is the biological organism and person is the rational, soul part. So there would come a time when we couldn't call someone a human if they are composed of many bionic parts, but the important thing is that they are still a person.

I think every generation of humans makes the previous one obsolete and that just puts us closer to our goal, whatever that may be.

Answer 4

Physically, each human cell carries our chromosomes and our genes. The Brain is the part that gives us the experience of consciousness, so even if all the body is a robot connected to the brain - made of human cells, I would consider the entity to be human.

On the other hand we can have a strong CPU connected to a perfectly normal human (whose brain has been smashed in an accident) he might be able to perform all tasks but he is certainly not human any more, as he will perform in the way the CPU has been programmed to.

Answer 5

If we build the bionics--ie. they are a product of Man--than they are a part of Man. It is simply the direction in which we evolve. Who's to say that evolution cannot be grabbed hold of and molded by our consciousness? The final step (or the next step) in evolution is to take control of evolution.

Just a thought I haven't fully realized as of yet.

Answer 6

one would have to anwer what makes us humans, if we take away ine lung are we still human, if only the body remains with no brain is it still human, is a corpse human. I think what makes us human is our abstract consciousness, but we know what part of our brain produces that abstract consciousness.