In the newest case of the blurring between science fiction and science fact, we have cyborgs! Well, not completely . . . but we’re sure getting closer!
Most of the religions on the planet have a legend about a holy figure who could make the blind see and the lame walk, and now science is once again making miracles seem commonplace.
Thought-Controlled Arm (From BBC)
The BBC ran two stories recently – one based on an article in Nature about paralyzed patients using chip implants in their brains to control robotic arms, performing simple tasks, and the other based on a Nature Photonics article about retinal implants that allowed two totally blind men to perceive light and basic shapes. You can read the first story here and the second here.
Bionic Eye (From BBC)
But while the BBC was unwilling to connect the developments to either the vision of scifi cyborgs or religious legends, I have no problem doing so. First of all, these are implants, and genuinely the first step to curing many disabilities through technology. In a few decades, between this technology and stem cell research, there will likely be a cure for blindness. Heck, there might be a couple of different cures. And it looks like you won’t even have to wear a visor like Geordi La Forge on Star Trek: The Next Generation. I suppose that means that real science is actually centuries ahead of where science fiction estimated only a two decades ago. Moving arms with thought is great, but the real trick will be creating legs that can support human weight and making it possible to walk with those using thought. I’m not sure that will ever be the most economically efficient way to deal with being unable to walk, but it’d be a worthwhile development in any case.
As far as religion is concerned . . . well . . . let me not rub it in any more than I have. I know who the real miracle workers are, though, and they put in a lot of thought and sweat and actual work to accomplish great feats. I just wish they got at least a fraction of the recognition that legends of the distant past have accumulated.