Augment

I wanted to talk about my attempt on Movember, but as of an hour ago, it had been silenced by this.  Biohackers implemented light emitting diodes (LEDs) into their hands.  Why?  According to them, it's a gesture to embrace integrated tech instead of wearable tech.

Now, this is an interesting segment in a few ways: because first of all- what the hell is up with that?  Secondly, I'm blogging about an actual real-world application, and more importantly, it raises an interesting question.

When the time comes for humans to develop improvements that are not only a step above portable tech, but is mobile and ubiquitously accessible, what happens next?  

Humans as a growing species will always look to better ourselves, to strive for the next big thing: microbots become nanobots, intercontinental travel becomes interstellar travel, etc.  We are expanding ourselves further into the universe, getting smarter in the process.  Eventually, we will decide that in conjunction of looking outward to the stars, we should turn to ourselves and see how we can improve our physique.  I'm not talking about living a healthier life; I'm talking about prolonging life.  And that's a different ball game, as we have the capability (and the technological advancements) to diagnose some diseases at a younger age.  

Decades ago, mental health was swept under the rug as a seldom-ventured field. A whole slew of cancers were only discovered when the patient has reached its advanced stages.  Renewable energy was only reserved to the extremely wealthy, as it wasn't profitable back then.  Times have changed, and it will continue to do so.  The insatiable hunger for knowledge drives humans forward.

Personally, I think that integrated tech is an inevitability.  We have already started augmenting ourselves already via prosthetics for amputees, robot exoskeletons for the elderly, and increasingly intuitive tech.  Wearable tech might be an interesting thing for now, with the Fitbits, Apple Watches, "smart" clothes, but I am not completely bought over by these things.

Granted, the idea of sticking a coin-sized LED into my hand isn't exactly a pleasant idea as well.  However, integrated tech could be extremely important in understanding how our body works.  Imagine having a sensor in your blood stream which can display real-time compositions in your blood, monitoring cholesterol levels and whatnot.  I'll have to admit, I'm speculating at this point, but let's get creative with the potential improvements.  

The point is... we are slowly merging electronics with biological materials.  Biomedical engineering and 3D printing has laid down foundations to improve our healthcare and recovery from physical harm.  What if we can take it a step further and replace metal with computer chips?

Call me a fanboy of the Deus Ex video games, but it can't be denied that we're moving into a new age of on-the-fly technology.  Plus I haven't even gotten into the ethics of human augmentation.  That's a whole other dialogue to pursue.

Half Crazy - The Barr Brothers