Neil Harbisson, who dons an electronic eye that enables him to hear color and is the world’s first government-recognized cyborg, has famously said, “I don’t feel that I’m using technology. I don’t feel that I’m wearing technology. I feel that I am technology.”
With each adoption of the latest technologies, humans change. Furthermore, as Neil demonstrates, how we see ourselves changes too.
For example, smartphones have enabled people to communicate and have access to information from anywhere. As a result, we’re no longer geodependent in the same way as in the past, and our brains are adapting in response.
Consider this interesting study in 2010 that revealed reliance on using GPS in areas that are familiar to drivers causes decreased function of the hippocampus, the part of the brain controlling spatial orientation and memory. Yet an online survey conducted by the Space Foundation indicated that GPS was the #1 technology people couldn’t live without.
So, for this inaugural discussion post, which technologies will change us and how we perceive ourselves most significantly?
Discuss in the comments…
[Image credit: Metropolis courtesy of Shutterstock]
