Personally I find the whole idea of becoming "cyberized" facinating. Do you agree with the concept, or do you find it wrong or flawed in some way. Or do you think something else entirely about it.

Please discuss. You can also talk about certain things that you find interesting about the cyborg bodies, ask questions about them that've been boggling your mind, etc.

Have fun, and keep in mind not to flame others because of their ideas, opinions, etc. Try to keep this an intelligent, acedemic discussion. ;)

The thing about becoming "cyberized" or cyberneticly enhanced is that you either do it fully or not do it at all, as the brain will age either way, but the problem with that is you you loose your humanity, what will make you a human and not just another piece of equipment? So, cybernetic parts for those who lost there original body parts is the only use for this technology. Some might think that hey it be better if I get all this mechanic parts so that I be really strong and fast, unfortunately and fortunately that won't happen, not with what we can achieve in the next 50+ years.

I will not attempt to discuss the very prominent social/moral/ethical issues that cyberization poses (though I'd really love to delve into the subject if I had more time), for it is a very complex issue that the characters in the GiTS universe struggle with even though it is a rather usual occurrence.

But one thing that does bother me now and then is how would they deal with professional sports (or even recreational sports for that matter)? Very rarely are sports mentioned or observed in the GiTS universe (the episode from the 1st GIG w/ Batou trying to uncover the activities of a former boxing idol of his), perhaps due to shifting values in society or, as I suspect would be the most prominent factor, the inability to establish regulations which keep sports fair.

Being a former athlete, these thoughts have always amused me, but with no specific mention of sports in GiTS (save for the boxing) I'm left with only speculations.

Well, there is a case today with an athlete who lost part of his leg and had it replaced with some brand new top of the line foot. And people don't want to let him participate in the Olympics because they say it gives him an unfair advantage.

Well, my thoughts are that with cyberization, sports don't necessarily have to he competed in the physical realm.

Arenas and rules, etc. could be made where the "athletes" perform with their minds. In this case, however the best athletes wouldn't necessarily be the strongest physically, but the strongest mentally; the ones that can control their minds with the greatest ease and precision.

And with mental sports, things could be done that were never possible before. If you wanna play that sport in the Harry Potter universe, for instance, you'd be able to.

Of course there's gotta be anti-hacking/cheating procedures put in place, but I'm sure it could be done.

Then again, if you DO want to compete physically, there could be teams where all people have the same cyberization, OR instead of having team uniforms, you'd have team body configurations. It would seem rather easy to swap from one body to the next, and everyone in the same league would have the same body type so the only advantage that someone has is better control over the body.

Also, keep in mind that the vast majority of the population is still "natural", save for their cyberbrain case. Except in unusual circumstances having a cyborg body shouldn't be much of an issue.


Aside from all the sports talk, what really interests me is what they do with your body if you become full-cyborg. Do they bury it in a cemetary with the tombstone reading "here lies the remains of *insert name here*'s humanity," or do they use it for medical purposes (reaserch, organ transplants, etc.)? Hell, would there even be a need for medical reaserch if everyone is full cyborg (only in the case where everyone is full-cyborg)?

I would guess they would either burn them or use them as organ donors.

PuMan

Then again, if you DO want to compete physically, there could be teams where all people have the same cyberization, OR instead of having team uniforms, you'd have team body configurations. It would seem rather easy to swap from one body to the next, and everyone in the same league would have the same body type so the only advantage that someone has is better control over the body.

Good point, reminds me a little of stock-car racing where (I believe) you're allowed to use different parts and all that good stuff as long as you follow guidelines that have been established i.e. horsepower cap, etc..

PuMan

Aside from all the sports talk, what really interests me is what they do with your body if you become full-cyborg. Do they bury it in a cemetary with the tombstone reading "here lies the remains of *insert name here*'s humanity," or do they use it for medical purposes (reaserch, organ transplants, etc.)? Hell, would there even be a need for medical reaserch if everyone is full cyborg (only in the case where everyone is full-cyborg)?

I agree with Gat insofar as disposing of biological remains or organ donation. But as to whether or not full cyberization would indeed eliminate the need for ongoing medical/pharmaceutical research and development, I believe that such advancements would still have to be made, albeit in regards to various issues that could crop up due to cyberization. Cyberbrain autism and sclerosis come to mind and the resulting development of the Murai vaccine and micromachine treatment from 1st GIG.

One thing that made me wondering is..
If a man can turn himself into metal, why would he still dead? In this case, just say a full-scale cyborg in Gits universe can change their bodies for unlimited times, why would he still dead? It means immortality.

I wouldn't become a complete cyborg. Being full cyborg means I'd have to live way longer... living for too long is boring, yeah... immortality like that, watching everything progress while I still remember the past... I'd hate it.

But maybe partial cyborg would be fine. I want my brain to be my biological one, but maybe stronger limbs wouldn't be so bad.

mobz

One thing that made me wondering is..
If a man can turn himself into metal, why would he still dead? In this case, just say a full-scale cyborg in Gits universe can change their bodies for unlimited times, why would he still dead? It means immortality.

I don't think full-cyborgs die, from natural causes anyway. Unnatural deaths clearly still do occur, typically after the destruction of the cyberbrain. It's something similar to say any machine. If you abuse it too much, it will cease to operate. Also, not everyone in the GitS universe is full-cyborg; the price tag for such is probably beyond most civilians who most often simply have certain parts replaced with prosthetics.

One thing I thought off today is that there are a lot off plastic operations this days, and I mean huge right now and still a fast growing number of younger and older people getting plastic operations done or seeing themselves doing so in the future, I can easily see in the future people trading there limbs of fake once just so that they could look better.

About sports with the mind, well you might as well play video games, thats not sport, thats just who has less life.

Being a full cyborg would mean one; you have tons off money, two; you will have tons of more money, and three; you can only go as far as your mechanic.

The thing about full cyborg is, your brain is still human. Preserve it all you want, it'll still wear out after a while. Especially once you get alot older. Hell, maybe you'd become a senile robot! Either way, as long as your brain is still organic, change bodies as many times as you want, your brain is still gonna die eventually.

The only people that are full-cyborg (in the GitS universe, at least) are special millitary/government personnel, those that are suffering from a major body-wide disease or have sustained a massive injury, or are just plain rich. And like gat said, you can only go as far as there is a mechanic. That makes travel outside of your country very tough, and unless you have a technician traveling with you, you won't get very far without needing "assistance".

Oh, and partial cyborgs have a different set of problems: even though you may get an arm that would be able to lift, say, 100 kilos, you would only be able to lift as much as the bond between your prosthetic and your body would allow. If you try to lift more, your artificial arm would just pop right off. And don't even think about trying to jump like a full-cyborg, 'cuz if you do, the joint between your body and your leg would either pulverize your bones, or rupture some blood vessels. Either way it's a messy situation and can only be done if you have a full-cyborg body that can withstand the pressure.

Btw, I got most of this info from reading the first GitS manga. If you wanna get a more detailed description, I'd suggest you start there.

PuMan

The thing about full cyborg is, your brain is still human. Preserve it all you want, it'll still wear out after a while ...

Nice, very interesting. I wasn't aware that cyberbrains suffer the same wear and tear as organic brains. I should read the manga I suppose!

But on another note, which may just be a continuation error between manga and Stand Alone Complex, in the episode where they were trying to figure out what was happening to all the abducted girls, the Russian assassin who was in charge of the abduction ring was described as having lived well beyond her natural years. I think she was full-cyborg.

But anyway, maybe I'm just misreading what you''ve typed. I didn't think any organic bodily parts remained when describing somebody as a full-cyborg.

Well, technically speaking only the brain and spinal chord remain from your original body once you go full-cyborg. I'm guessing that's because they are the parts of your body that contain your "ghost" (soul) and without it, you'd be no better than an limited AI.

While they may be encased in the titanium shell or whatever it's made of, the brain [i]will[i] deteriorate. It's just a matter of when. Usually if encased from early on in your life, you'd be much more likely to live way past what an ordinary human would, but I think that if you switch over much later in life, you won't have the benefits of a much longer lifespan. But longer or not, the brain will still loose functionality and just wear out.

PuMan you right that the brain and the spinal cord would remain, but not because they are the ghost or have a ghost, but because for one the brain contains you, your thoughts, your patterns of thoughts and your behavior, replacing that with a cyber brain is almost impossible. The spinal cord would be used to control the mechanic body, as a link between the brain and the body.
Also, the brain would deteriorate at any stage, I would actually guess that it would deteriorate faster if it was placed into a mechanic body at an earlier age.