Would you be willing to become a cyborg if it meant protecting yourself from a potentially fatal disease? Apparently for many men, the answer is yes, researchers from the University of Stirling and the University of Edinburgh report in the latest edition of Science as Culture.
In the study, lead author Dr. Gill Haddow and her colleagues explained that males tend to have a surprisingly positive reaction to the idea of having cancer-detecting biosensors implanted in their bodies, essentially making them part man, part machine. These sensors assess the biological activity of cancers, and can autonomously aid in the repair and/or treatment of tissues.
“Inserting such technology into the human body creates cybernetic organisms; a cyborg that is a human–machine hybrid,” the study authors wrote, explaining that in interviews conducted with a dozen men, they found that guys seemed to prefer “the masculine cyborg status” of the biosensor system versus the “stigmatization” of being identified as “a ‘leaker and bleeder.’”
In science fiction, Haddow and her fellow investigators explained, cyborgs are typically views as emotionless machines. However, they’ve come up with a new term, “everyday cyborgs”, used to refer to regular people who just happen to have high-tech, life-saving devices implanted in them.
Cyborg status less of a threat to masculinity than cancer
During their interviews, the researchers found that the implants were well-received by the men, and that they believed the biosensors could be used as a long-term warning system. The potential risk of the device malfunctioning was seen to be an improvement over the potential loss of masculine identity sometimes associated with prostate cancer, Haddow said.
The research also found that having cancer made an individual more willing to try anything, even going through life with a robotic implant, in order to overcome the disease. In this light, cyborgs go from being robotic sci-fi movie monsters to being people using implanted devices as a way to try and save their lives.
“Men recovering from prostate cancer are extremely willing to have a biosensor inserted; to become cyborgs every day,” Haddow’s team wrote. “Furthermore, participants assumed, indeed wanted, the biosensor to have a longer term functionality beyond that originally envisaged… Our participants did not self-identify as a cyborg. Yet, as a consequence of being permanently implanted and monitored, a cyborg status would be created for these men.”
“What the everyday cyborg adds to previous versions then is a recognition that a willingness to become cyborg is contextually dependent, for example, to avoid cancer. The present data suggest that prostate cancer threatens masculinity in a way that existence as a cyborg… which offers action and control, does not.”
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Feature Image: Thinkstock
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