Cyborgization of the human body: Global studies and Ukrainian experience
Abstract
The primary purpose was to highlight the results of the empirical study of the attitude of Ukrainian youth towards the topic of cyborgization of the human body, both someone else’s and their own. The article analyzed the current scientific developments on young people’s attitude to the latest technology in general and the cyborgization of the human body. The empirical research is represented by the all-Ukrainian survey among the students of the 7th-10th grades, which took place in November-December 2020. The total number of participants was 1,681, including 918 girls (54.6%) and 763 boys (45.4%). The survey consisted of different blocks and numerous questions; this article highlights the results on the cyborgization of the human body. Respondents were asked if they would be willing to treat kindly people who have a robotic body part without which they cannot walk/ move their arms/ hear/ see/ talk/ think or memorize. Respondents also answered whether they would be willing to modify their bodies with robotic applications, choosing among the provided options of the latest technologies built into the body or autonomous from the body. As a result, we found a high readiness of young people to treat okay people with robotic prostheses or implants (48 to 80%) and a relatively moderate negative reaction regarding the possibilities of improving one’s own body with the latest technology (44 to 59%). Respondents expressed the greatest aversion (20% and 26%, respectively) to implants that modify thinking and remembering, i.e., affecting the cognitive sphere of the individual. An analysis of the sex distribution showed that girls tended to be more tolerant to people with implants related to the physical component of human health. In contrast, boys showed a more tolerant attitude towards cognitive implants and a slightly greater willingness to make technological changes in their bodies than girls. The study’s limitations lie in the formulation of several statements that may provoke a more tolerant attitude toward certain types of cyborgization. In the future, this will be taken into account, and all ideas will be formulated to clearly distinguish the motivation for each of the technological body modification options. Prospects for the study are to refine the current scale of the attitude toward human body cyborgization and to develop this topic horizontally, including new directions, such as exploring awareness of the possible risks that the installation of technological implants can cause. The practical value of this study and future developments on cyborgization is explained by the growing relevance of the topic of technical modifications of the human body itself. These areas are the active spread of public and private cyber ware programs and the rapid development of technology in improving the human body, psyche, and even the genome through technology, supported by the many medical intervention processes technologization. Understanding how a possible bearer of a cyber-implant will feel in society or how society will react to them will help set the suitable vector for technological developments and further social and psychological research
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