Week 13 Assignments - Bionics and Our Biophysical Future

Would I support the development of a "bionic" person?:

As I may have mentioned on another of my blog entries, (or it might have been in Chemistry, not sure) - my only sister is disabled, and has been wheelchair bound her entire life (she is older than me by 18 months). In addition to her disability (cerebral palsy), I have been around many different people with many different kinds of disabilities, and I do think that this field of study has some promising applications possible. On the other hand, it does seem to me that people who have disabilities often have developed amazing compensatory abilities that they would not otherwise have been compelled to explore and discover. Additionally, I believe that adversity creates in us as human beings a unique opportunity to examine ourselves and our lives, and can lead to a deeper and richer experience of life; I have known many disabled people in my life who have been utterly inspiring in their strength and compassion and capacity for acceptance and joy of living. Who's to say that it is a good thing to attempt to change that by mechanical or technological means? I sometimes think that humanity has lost its way in that we sometimes seem so obsessed with "perfection" and somehow apply that to "health" and quality of life.

How would I rate "the control of artificial limbs by thought alone"?:

It seems to me that there is still a long way to go with this technology, but that what they have developed so far seems amazing and really promising. Once again, though, I have to refer to my comments above - in that I am not sure that altering the circumstances in an artificial and technological manner, which have been handed us in this life, is necessarily a good thing. Also, even though the article about the "Darwin Machine" was compelling evidence about the brain's ability to regenerate itself - I have to still wonder if this would still be true with an application of a technology which is by definition outside of the realm of the normal "wear and tear" that is exerted on the brain in the course of a natural lifetime?