If you could have a bionic body part, would you?

[TheFifthElement]

Hopefully I'm not showing my age too much by assuming that most people here would have an idea who the Six Million Dollar Man (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Six_Million_Dollar_Man) was, or if not the Six Million Dollar Man perhaps, at least, the Borg (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borg_(Star_Trek))?

So the idea is this: imagine you could have bionic implants fitted which would enhance or amend your natural abilities. So, for example, you could have your legs replaced with bionic legs which would enable you to run faster; or perhaps you might have your eyes replaced with bionic eyes which would enable you to see farther and in greater detail, or perhaps enable you to see the full electromagnetic spectrum; or perhaps you could have your lungs replaced with bionic lungs which would enable you to breathe underwater. And these bionic implants would look and feel like the 'natural' article, so your eyes would still look like normal eyes, and your legs like normal legs and so on.

Would you? And if you would, what would you have bionically enhanced? (Men, answer this question carefully. Remember, this is a family friendly forum ;) )

And if you wouldn't, why not?

[papayahed]

:DWould I have to become part of the collective?

[Lulim]

I could do with a new set of eyes, really. And I'd love to be able to read all my books without having to resort to the magnifying glass, even those in small print.

An (ex-)colleague who was extremely short-sighted did it, had his cornea treated with laser and they implanted some sort of artificial lenses behind his natural lenses, and he doesn't even need ordinary glasses anymore.

[Niamh]

(dont forget bionic woman!)
Dont think i would. When i think of bionics now all i can think of is the cybermen/women in Doctor Who. :blush: dont fancy that!

[Virgil]

Would you? And if you would, what would you have bionically enhanced? (Men, answer this question carefully. Remember, this is a family friendly forum ;) )


Now was it necessary to add that? Yes! Because it came to mind. :hand:

I guess it would have to be heart because it would improve all your muscle performance in some fashion and you would not have to ever worry about cholesterol. :D

[Hurricane]

Bionic eyes would be nice. I already am (hopefully) getting laser eyes through PRK next year though, so in that case I'll take bionic lungs. Swimming underwater without that lovely drowning feeling would be nice.

[Lokasenna]

Eyes!

It would be lovely to wake up and see the sunrise in the morning without having to scrabble for my specs on the bedside table...

[Scheherazade]

Brain.

[Nax]

Ive been holding out for a cyborg arm for ages now, but those bloody scientists dont reallly seem to be getting anywhere quickly.

I would definately get cyborg parts, its the natural progression of human evolution. We have ceased to evolve and instead our machines evolve in our place. Eventually (just like the transformers) we will have to decide if we should stay organic, or transfer ourselves into our creations.

Were not that far off, nanotechnology has created nanites, which are little robots small as blood cells that can travel around and hunt infections etc. Only problem is they are afraid they will be hacked, or just go haywire and create wat is referred to in the profession as "grey goo". The result of the nanites going berserk, they essentially liquify you from the inside out, and spread and multiply until all living creatures are consumed.

Some cybernetic limbs already do exist using the nerve recepters from previously existing limbs (generally due to amputation) however these are very unrefined and require hours of training just to do simple tasks.

Yes cyborg eyes, and even ears already exist too aswell as cyborg hearts.

Currently the big trend (beside nanotechnology) is combining stem cells and other cultured cells with mechanical framework, so in theory you could have a cyborg liver, with a self cleaning and indestructable casing, filled with cultured liver cells. Or some such thing

Its an incredibly facinating are of science if u ask me.

[TheFifthElement]

Its an incredibly facinating are of science if u ask me.
I agree Nax. The idea of nanites is a bit scary, because apart from the deliberate act of sabbotage there is always the possibility that, despite their smallness, we know so little about sentience that we have no idea if they could gain it by themselves, and aside from that human error could cause a catastrophe.

[MarkBastable]

Eyes!

It would be lovely to wake up and see the sunrise in the morning without having to scrabble for my specs on the bedside table...

Try Lazik. I woke up the next morning and I could see individual tiles on the roof of the house across the street. It was breathtaking.

Moorfields Eye Hospital, Mr Julian Stevens, three grand or so; it takes about fifteen minutes. Sell a kidney if necessary. He might even do trade-in.

Speaking of which, a bionic liver would be handy.

[Lokasenna]

Try Lazik. I woke up the next morning and I could see individual tiles on the roof of the house across the street. It was breathtaking.

Moorfields Eye Hospital, Mr Julian Stevens, three grand or so; it takes about fifteen minutes. Sell a kidney if necessary. He might even do trade-in.

Speaking of which, a bionic liver would be handy.

It's something I'm researching, though I kind of nervous when it comes to eye treatments - I'm a bit paranoid about losing my sight altogether!

Also, I am a penniless student, who is nonetheless rather attached to his kidneys... perhaps when they start paying me, I'll go for it!

[Nightshade]

Id have an extra set of bionic arms a la inspector gadget! That way I can catch the books before they land on my head...!

[Lulim]

Id have an extra set of bionic arms a la inspector gadget! That way I can catch the books before they land on my head...!

erm ... are there normally books flying about at your place? :D

[Katy North]

I get asthma sometimes so bionic lungs would be excellent...

A bionic heart too so there would no longer be any worry of cholesterol as Virgil said...

[Jozanny]

We are already living in the preliminary stages of the bionic era. Certain amputees re-enlist in the armed services because their artificial limb is as good or better than the flesh and bone, but to my mind, we aren't there until we can repair and regenerate damaged brain tissue. I am actually already living in a future where certain spinal cord injuries can be reversed using stem cells, and it would be a bounty indeed if TBI and other cerebral conditions could be corrected at birth--but I have read too much Asimov to be entirely sanguine about artificial life replacing the natural, chemical living matter.

I can hear Atheist getting ready to thump me over the head, but all the same, I can't shrug it off.

Robotics experts use the same optimistic analogy that Nax does, but I am uneasy about deconstructing human exceptionalism to an atavistic relativity; this is a conservative argument already lost, however, as I've actually seen an SCI patient recover nearly a 100% mobility, and from where I have been that was once impossible.

[Nightshade]

erm ... are there normally books flying about at your place? :D

unfortunatly yes, the early reader books are over my seat and when the window is open ( like today because the a/c) is broken they eventually all fall on my head like flying deck of cards....

[Maximilianus]

A pair of powerful eyes with night vision capability, so that I can see from afar what people are doing when they claim to be doing one thing, while I suspect they are doing another. Mutatis mutandis for a pair of ears.

And a lower back replacement, as my natural equipment is malfunctioning in that part, and a pair of legs to walk, run and kick better. At least a heel replacement would do for me, as mine tend to ache when I walk or stand for too long.

[BienvenuJDC]

Two things...
1) my memory
2) ....oh, what was the other thing again?

[Mariner]

Bionic legs, for sure so I could jump around and stomp things to death. And maybe a MegaMan arm, I'd like to be able to blast something in a pinch

[kilted exile]

only part i can think of would be my stupid shoulder - but then I wouldnt have an excuse to get a nice massage.

[Nax]

Megaman style arm would rock, or the shotgun arm from Ghost in the Shell

And your right about not having to worry about cholestoral with a cyborg heart, just have to worry about getting an oil change and the spark plugs cleaned lol

[JuniperWoolf]

It's something I'm researching, though I kind of nervous when it comes to eye treatments - I'm a bit paranoid about losing my sight altogether!

Ugh, me too. My dad was saving up for lasik surgery for me, but I decided that I was too scared and also that it'd be more useful to have the money for school. Everyone that I know who's had lasik gushes over how awesome it is though.

[Heathcliff]

I'd like a bionic... Nothing. Wait - can it be hacked into by a computer? That would exclude all of the main organs.

Bionic finger and toe nails would be nice. They can't really get infected and they wouldn't snap. And if they get hacked I could just cut them.

[Emil Miller]

Ugh, me too. My dad was saving up for lasik surgery for me, but I decided that I was too scared and also that it'd be more useful to have the money for school. Everyone that I know who's had lasik gushes over how awesome it is though.

I was speaking to an optician recently who was wearing glasses and I asked him why he hadn't had laser eye surgery. He said that it damages the cornea and, while this isn't an immediate problem, it can lead to greater deterioration of vision at a later stage. He also said that the lazer surgery doesn't last, because the eye, like all body parts, ages naturally and that further surgery or reverting to wearing glasses is inevitable. It seems that it is what they don't normally tell you that is the important thing.

[Maximilianus]

I was speaking to an optician recently who was wearing glasses and I asked him why he hadn't had laser eye surgery. He said that it damages the cornea and, while this isn't an immediate problem, it can lead to greater deterioration of vision at a later stage. He also said that the lazer surgery doesn't last, because the eye, like all body parts, ages naturally and that further surgery or reverting to wearing glasses is inevitable. It seems that it is what they don't normally tell you that is the important thing.
How interesting to know this many years after my ophthalmologist wanted to practice this type of surgery on my eyes. He never mentioned anything of this. Maybe that's why so many people undergo these surgeries more than once in their lives.

[MarkBastable]

I was told all that, Mr Bean. Of course, the eye continues to deteriorate - they haven't yet come up with a surgery that stops time.

However, without the surgery ten years ago, I'd now be struggling with different glasses for reading, walking around, driving and bird-spotting. My natural short-sightedness would be competing with my age-related long-sightedness and my stronger right eye would be be out of whack with my weaker left eye.

But - as the surgeon predicted when I chose the optimal focal length for the kind of life I lead (yes, you get to decide how you'd like to see best) - I haven't worn glasses or contacts at all for a decade, and I'm starting to need them now only for reading menus in dimly-lit Indian restaurants. I go for that half-moon-lens professorial look, which my wife rather likes. I met her, incidentally, at Moorfields on the evening of the surgery - although I'm afraid I can't guarantee that absolutely everyone who goes for the procedure will happen across the love of their life in the waiting room.

Overall I'd strongly recommend it,though I'd tend to avoid the very cheap ten-pounds-per-eye options advertised during the breaks in Come Dine with Me.

[Hurricane]

Frankly, I'll take the possibility of having to wear glasses again when I'm much older to go from 20/200 to 20/20. My mother and sister have both had it (around 10 and 3 years ago, respectively), and neither have had any complications.

[Abras]

Of course, I wouldn't go through with getting a bionic implant. When your machine parts take over your brains and turn you all into techno-zombies someone's got be around to fight a civil war, save the human race from extinction, etc. (No need to thank us ma'am, it's what we do.)

[janesmith]

Definitely bionic ears. It would be brilliant to be able to hear exactly what people are talking about from a distance.

[Nax]

Abras dont be a fool

Nothing can stand against our cyborg supremecy! You wouldnt stand in the way of evolution would you? If so, we will have to crush you like a puny ant in our giant cyborg hands.

PEWPEW