Recently, a TPD listener reached out to me directly, and we enjoyed a healthy little exchange. Here’s the bulk of it:
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Listener: A cyborg is defined as “any individual who relies extensively on technological devices and artifacts to function.” That means we are already cyborgs! and it’s only a matter of time before we’ll be able to access this information/technology internally without reaching into our pockets for our phones. In 1,000 years WE will be the aliens studying the evolution of earth inhabitants who are monkeys in the jungle right now. Just my thoughts.
“Phil”: You are correct! We are already on the Sci Fi cyborg path, for sure. My personal opinion: It feels to me like our species has been hacked. Meaning: The natural, organic evolution of humans has been hijacked by entities outside our 5-sense “reality.” They want access to something that we have – something that they are lacking. Call it the “soul” or “connection to infinity” or whatever. They want to fuse themselves with us in order to gain access. I don’t think it’s a good idea to surrender to them without putting up a fight. I think they are malevolent entities, what religions would call demonic.
Listener: I think the reason they’re creating hybrids with us is because they can’t sustain life on earth as themselves. Like maybe they need more oxygen or nitrogen to breathe, maybe they overheat because they can’t sweat, maybe our atmospheric pressure is too much. They are creating a hybrid so they can inhabit the earth. Maybe they are us in 1,000 years trying to inhabit another planet. We would need different genetics if we wanted to live on another planet, right?
“Phil”: I can’t knock your theory at all. But either way – whether it’s for spiritual or environmental reasons – it feels like a hostile takeover by an invading force. The question is: What should we do about it?
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Over the last week or so, I’ve been thinking about this exchange quite a bit.
In retrospect, the Listener’s notes are pretty neutral. Meaning: I don’t get a clear sense of whether or not the Listener is for or against the idea of humans becoming cyborgs. Maybe the Listener actually likes the idea, or has come to accept the seeming inevitability of it. I could be reading too much into it. I could be wrong.
In any case, I’ll stick by my guns on this one. As I said to the Listener: To me, it has the feel of a hostile takeover – no matter the reason. And I’ll circle back to my question: What should we do about it?
Know the Enemy (and Yourself!)
Sun Tzu, the Chinese military-strategist-cum-philosopher, said the following in his famous treatise, The Art of War:
“If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.”
A Chinese reference, you ask? Yes, I know.
But being as how Sun Tzu lived about 2,500 years before the Marxist lunatic, Mao Zedong, sodomized China into becoming the malignant state that it is now, I’m going with Sun Tzu as a trusted reference on human nature.
Anyway, the main point is this: If we assume that we are dealing with an enemy that is nefariously playing a long game to transform humans into cyborgs, the best possible approach according to Sun Tzu is to simultaneously (1) know Ourselves, and (2) know our Enemy.
Knowing Ourselves is the easier part, I think – assuming we can allow ourselves to do it, get out of our own way, so to speak. We all have instincts that let us know when something is amiss. We just need to respect those instincts and act accordingly, rather than getting sidetracked by fear and/or herd think.
The other hurdle – knowing our Enemy – requires that we first admit that an Enemy actually exists. This is a tricky one. For example: The above Listener, although totally clued in to the general play-out of the cyborg game, may not agree that an identifiable Enemy is behind it all.
I’ll be the first to admit that I can’t point my finger to who exactly the Enemy is. That’s because I think our Enemy may actually be a part of a non-human consciousness that is lurking behind a sensory veil.
What I can do is point my finger at humans who do the Enemy’s bidding. Those are the folks I typically refer to (collectively) as The Man or The Elite. Sometimes I call out individuals by name. And I can also point my finger at the things that manifest in our physical world as the result of the Enemy’s bidding – and this, I think, is a fairly good way to come to know the Enemy, or at least know the nature of the Enemy.
Another smarty-pants philosopher once said this:
“Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thorn bushes, or figs from thistles? . . . . .Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.”
So . . . Let’s take a look at some of those fruits. The below survey is by no means comprehensive. It’s just a short list of some fun cherry-picks.
Starlink
As of May 2024, there are over 6,000 functioning Starlink (subsidiary of SpaceX) satellites in orbit, and the plan is to have as many as 42,000 of them in the next few years. Thanks, Elon! China has similar plans, with ambitions to soon have another 26,000 “communications satellites” deployed into Earth’s orbit.
The stated goal of these satellites is to “provide global mobile broadband.” It’s a service to the people, you see. The real goal may be to create an incredibly sophisticated surveillance and/or biological disruption network.
Biological disruption can manifest in a lot of ways. Honey bees’ homing mechanisms might go haywire. People might get sick with mysterious flu-like symptoms. And so on.
Fun fact: Guess where and when full-coverage 5G was first tested on a human population?
Wuhan, China. October 2019.
Ain’t that a peach?
Apple Vision Pro
In another “service to the people” offering, folks who are so inclined can spend about $3,500 to have what Apple calls “augmented reality on a continual basis.”
Ummm . . . No thanks. It’s not the cost that troubles me (there are cheaper options) – it’s the tech.
Why would anyone voluntarily choose to strap this thing to their head and let a computer company actively manipulate their reality? Surely, individuals’ instincts and sense of personal sovereignty will help them steer clear of this one, right?
We’ll see. (Pun intended.)
Neuralink
If you’re keen to avoid the ridicule that would surely come from wearing the Apple headset contraption, then maybe Elon Musk’s Neuralink is for you? This handy little brain implant will let you be directly connected to The Cloud without anyone around you getting wise to your naughty little game.
Neuralink’s stated mission is this: “Create a generalized brain interface to restore autonomy to those with unmet medical needs today and unlock human potential tomorrow.”
Sorry, I just threw up a little while typing that. I hope you didn’t notice. It’s the part about “restoring autonomy” to the less fortunate that gets to me, I think.
Anyway, human trials are already underway. And – oh joy – there’s been great success! Musk reports that early Neuralink participants can learn to control a computer mouse with their brain (in a rudimentary way), about a month after having the chip implanted in their grey matter.
I wonder what the chip inside Elon Musk’s head looks like? You know, the one that compels him to tinker with this stuff?
Biometric Scanners
Not to be outclassed by airports and other high-security facilities, the Amazon-owned, hipster-beloved Whole Foods grocery store chain is rolling out biometric scanners at most of their locations around the U.S.
This takes palm reading to a whole new level.
The idea is for unwitting customers to enroll themselves in system that lets them pay for their food and other goodies by using a hand-scanning device at the register. Simply cough up a little dignity by surrendering a little bodily data and presto(!): You no longer need to worry about handling dirty old cash or credit cards. And as a special treat you get . . . wait for it . . . bonus points that you can use to buy more stuff on Amazon. How marvelous and convenient.
Behind the scenes, mighty Amazon is linking customers’ payment information to their biological data – in this case, their unique palm print. Not just an equally-unique finger print, mind you, but just a little bit more than that.
Why might Amazon be so interested in making the investment to collect all this biometric information, I wonder? Do you thunk it’s to provide a better “customer experience?” Or do you think there might be other reasons?
Phil’s Two Cents
Know our Enemy.
Indeed.
Based on the above (and many, many more) examples, it would seem that there is an ever-broadening category of “innovation” that is focused on the overlap of technological and biological systems. Whom does this benefit?
More pointedly: If such systems are successfully combined, which system – biological or technological – stands a better chance of benefiting at the expense of the other?
While some technologies are clearly forced upon us by The Man (face scanners in airports, for example), we do still (thankfully!) have a choice, individually, about whether or not to accept or reject a lot of things in our lives. Which of the above technologies would you like to accept or reject?
I respectfully suggest that we should all be conscious and present when making such decisions. Blind acceptance of any and all new gadgetry may take us down a road we’d rather not travel. The road to Cyborg City.
– “Phil”
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