Face Lights Up: RoboRoach; At what point would you say 'no' to Cyborgs?

Saturday, August 10, 2013

RoboRoach; At what point would you say 'no' to Cyborgs?

THE BIG IDEA...

I take a living creature (in this case a cockroach), as if it were inert material for the purposes of my experiments, a machine to override, a computer to hack...

I 'operate' on the living creature; I remove some parts of its body and cut into other parts, insert electrodes and superglue large (for a cockroach) plastic units on its head and back: with the aim of being able to 'remote control' the cockroach with my smartphone, according to my whim.

I make this idea available to everyone, along with the detailed methods and technology needed to carry it out. In particular I aim this project at 'children of all ages', and encourage them to 'tinker' with the living being and become a DIY neuroscientist. (see site backyardbrains.com)

Cockroach remote controlled by smartphone

I sell this idea as 'the first commercially available Cyborg'. I aim it at children with an emphasis on fun, hands-on learning. A Cyborg is a Cybernetic Organism, half animal half robot, an idea which has emerged from a mixture of science, science fiction and the sordid world of video gaming.

This idea is now, thanks to the World Wide Web, available to everyone without any restrictions; available to the power hungry and the mentally unstable, the ignorant and the cunning, the greedy and the rich, the desperate and the desperately poor...

I launch my project in schools

I attract a renowned sponsor, (TED ed) who help organise favourable interviews with the BBC, magazines etc, and I get myself invited into American High Schools to give demonstrations of my product.

I 'teach' the next generation of children at a vulnerable age:

That living beings are no different from inert matter, that I can use according to my creative whim
To 'override' their natural sentiments of disquiet, disgust or horror in the face of the mutilation of a living being in a demonstration which shows utter indifference to life, to think of their reaction as 'irrational' or 'irrelevant' (see TEDed talk, Cockroach Beatbox, backyardbrains.com)
That living beings are a kind of machine, robot or computer and may be treated as such
That it is acceptable for all to experiment on living creatures without the least sense of discomfort
That it is acceptable to 'override' or 'steal' the freedom of a living creature to behave naturally.
To develop an understanding that life is essentially 'mechanistic' (electrical, neurobiological etc) without question.

APPEAL TO ADULT SCIENTISTS AND EDUCATORS; YOUR RESPONSIBILITY

The right to experiment on animals is a privilege accorded to scientific researchers, and should not be given to 'everyone and anyone' without safeguard or supervision.
The right to experiment on animals should be reserved for the most extreme cases where human health and welfare is concerned, and where no other method is possible, not as hands-on fun learning for kids.
As educators, parent educators and world citizens we all have a responsibility to educate our children to respect life, and not to disregard it
We need to remember that the machine imagery we use to describe certain life process is imagery, and not reality.
As adults and scientists, the inventors and their mentors and sponsors have a particular responsibility to envisage likely future outcomes of what they put in place globally, outside the controlled confines of the scientific domain.
As parents and educators we try to teach a respect for life and not disregard for life. Children have a natural affinity with animals and nature; one of the early signs of a psychopathic or sociopathic disorder is a child who experiments on, tortures or kills animals without remorse. This kind of 'educational' project goes against all we try to build with our children and young people.