Science fiction movies often portray people as part human and part robot. In the Terminator, I-Robot, Ex-Machina and others, robots are often indistinguishable from human beings (until their super powers or lack of human emotions are revealed). Many years ago, I read stories of “enhanced” humans written by Isaac Asimov where people lived for hundreds years or voluntarily replaced an arm or leg with a more powerful robotic prosthetic one.
More recently, the Black Mirror series depicts a near future where minds are uploaded into digital worlds, bodies are synthesized and human “life” is decoupled from the biological limitations of today. Some of these episodes seem farfetched, while others seem just around the corner.
In the movie Avatar, a man’s mind was “transplanted” from his paralyzed human body into the body of a graceful, beautiful creature living on another world.
When we see the havoc brought by the Covid pandemic, when we think about Russia invading Ukraine like it is WWII again, and when we see the wealthiest people prosper at the expense of the middle calls and poor it’s hard to imagine some futuristic (and hopefully promising) world ever coming to fruition.
You might think this transformation is far off in the future.
You’d be wrong.
We’re already transforming into Avatars and Cyborgs today.
The ubiquity of the Internet and cell phones is taking us there. Think about it. Most people are walking around with a cell phone at all times. We have instant access to:
- Answers for any question
- Maps directing us to anywhere
- World history
- Up to the minutes news – worldwide
- Entertainment
- Education
- Music
- Videos
Anyone who uses a smart phone is already part cyborg – human and machine.
If you think you’re not, I challenge you to try what I do each day. I go for several hour long walks without my cell phone. I also swim for an hour with no music, mp3 or sound.
During these walks, I often want to snap a picture of something I see. Instead, I can only observe something and trust my memory to capture the image. I think of questions like: What kind of plant is this? Are the pools open on June 19th? What’s the weather forecast? How much is the MRSP of that sweet looking Ford Bronco? I hum or sing fragments of songs. I count my steps. I count hundreds of strokes underwater over and over.
When I get back to my phone, I pop in my earbuds and listen to a podcast. Or I search for an answer to some random question. Or I read. Or browse.
It’s become painfully obvious to me, despite my attempts to live otherwise, that I feel incomplete without with my phone.
I’ll bet you feel this way too.
We are cyborgs.
My foray into online dating opened my eyes to the Avatar world. I now know that much of what I see online is not real.
I “knew” about Photoshop and that skilled graphics people could edit and retouch photos. I’ve seen magazine covers of wrinkle free celebrities and unrealistically lean, muscular actors in their 40s and 50s.
But now there’s Facetune – an app where anyone can whiten their teeth, remove all wrinkles, change their facial structure, resize their eyes and basically create an Avatar of themselves with a few clicks and no skill.
I knew the Kardashians were fake. Their huge butts, ultra slim waistlines, giant breasts and blemish free, plasticky looking faces are a dead giveaway. The same goes for many instagram photos I’ve seen of “beautiful women” who have the bleach blond hair, perfect bodies and pumped up lips that are currently in vogue.
Until recently, I hadn’t realized anyone could edit photos so easily.
And now, they can do the same thing with video. Google “instagram vs. reality” and you’ll be shocked at what you can be done with free Instagram filters and mobile apps.
Suddenly, I understand why actors have such beautiful white teeth. Because they are enhanced. I see how someone like J-Lo (over 50) and Madonna (over 60) appear to look like they are in their 30s. I see that it’s not just makeup and lighting and diet and plastic surgeries. It’s photo and video editing too.
Regular, everyday people are doing this editing everyday.
No wonder when people look at Instagram and TicToc they get depressed.
The images are beyond unrealistic looking. They are unattainable without editing.
I know what people look like. Being a regular at the swimming pool gives me a front seat to aging.
I see the lifeguards and college swim team members. Many of them are stunning with sleek, stunning bodies that athletes have when they are 18-21. Yet they still have acne, braces, pasty skin, sunburns and raccoon eyes from goggles.
I see what older people look like. Once we’re in our 40s there is cellulite, drooping arms, man boobs, hairy backs, stomach pooches, wrinkles, age spots, double chins, balding pates and loose skin.
People who are over 50, like me, look like we’re over 50. It doesn’t’t matter how hard we exercise, diet and take care of ourselves, we’re going to show our age.
And we do.
When I was younger, looking your age was expected. The people who surrounded me were poor. Most had poor diets, smoked, drank and worked. Many were relatively fit, but the years were not easy on their bodies or faces.
I knew one or two people who had plastic surgeries. One woman had facelifts. She looked 20 years younger than her age and was always made-up and dressed to kill. Another woman had big fake torpedo breasts. They were attention getting, but the older she got, the stranger they looked on her.
Everyone else just got yellowed teeth (or missing ones or false teeth), went bald, grew longer ears and noses, showed laugh lines, forehead creases and liver spots.
We were not Avatars or Cyborgs then.
We are now.
The future is here.