Cyborgs. It’s a familiar trope to those of us who enjoy science fiction. I’ve always thought that I’m a bit too old to experience being a cyborg in any non-trivial way but then I read this article by Alberto Navarro . He tells the—possibly apocryphal—story of David, an American cyborg who can work anywhere as long as his body remains connected to the Internet. Then one day he has one of his cybernetic prosthetics (spoiler: it’s called a smart phone) stolen from him by muggers. The result is devastating to his psyche.
So far that sounds like a lame story that introduces the cyborg concept gratuitously but there’s more to the tale. David begins to experience phantom vibrations and even auditory illusions from the missing phone. His experience is, in fact, exactly like those who experience phantom sensations from a lost limb.
The story, true or false, is based on research performed by Navarro and documents an actual phenomenon. Some people do experience phantom sensations when they lose their smart phones or other electronic assistants. You can see the same idea in many science fiction stories: a character endures acute psychological trauma when suddenly disconnected from “the network”.
The article explains how these phenomenon arise but what I found most interesting was the idea the cyborgs are already here and walking among us. That, in fact, we might be one of them. I don’t think that I’d experience those phantom sensations if I were suddenly deprived on my iPhone but, of course, it never leaves my side so I don’t really know.
In any event, I found the article really interesting and am sure that many Irreal readers will too. It’s reasonably short so give it a look if the idea interests you.