Chapter 1 – Making of a Cyborg
Paradigms – Changing the World View
Trying on a new pair of glasses
In science, there is a term called a paradigm. It basically is another word for the way one looks at the world – one’s perspective, one’s point of view. Take the example of Plato, for instance. He was a Greek philosopher who lived around 300 B.C. and he believed that the entire universe revolved around our planet Earth. To the people of his time, it was the only reasonable explanation – people are important, people live on this Earth, the gods created Earth, and so the universe revolves around us. No questions asked. Later scientists such as Ptolemy even backed up his idea with scientific calculations!
Then came along a fellow by the name of Copernicus. His ideas were even stranger than his name. He thought that everyone was wrong, that the Earth revolved around the sun. Now that was a really revolutionary idea, but nobody took him seriously for a long time and even made him look like a fool. That was, until about half a decade later when the marvelous Johannes Kepler arrived. He made new astronomical calculations and proved to the world that indeed, we revolved around the sun. The dramatic paradigm shift was to change forever the manner of thinking of everyone in the world. No longer were humans to be regarded as the greatest thing to happen in evolution since nature invented food, and everyone ate humble pie for a few centuries.
Then, just when the people thought it was OK to start feeling arrogant again, a guy by the name of Charles Darwin came along, with his leaky old ship, the H.M.S. Beagle. Darwin told us that, hey folks, guess what, our ancestors ate bananas, climbed trees, and looked a hell of a lot like apes. What a riot.
So you see, history is filled with paradigm shifts. In truth, there is no “reality” out there. Nobody knows for sure what “reality,” really is. Science is continually coming up with new theories about the universe. Nothing is permanent or set in stone. That is why scientific theories are called theories. They are liable to change. Even if a statement is referred to as a “law” – such as, the first law of motion by Isaac Newton – that “law” is itself part of the bigger theory – the first law of motion in the theory of Newtonian physics. When that theory is challenged – by Einstein’s theory of relativity, for instance – then those “laws” may have to be revised or discarded altogether.
Let’s take a look at a more apt example of how paradigm shifts can affect us in the world, and let me tell you a story from my own life. In the summer of 1985, my brother, my sister and I were staying over at our friends’ place in the suburbs. We had a lot of fun that day, then it was time to sleep. I shared the guest room with my brother, and my sister shared a room with our friends. Around 4 am in the morning, I woke to the sound of glass shattering, and smelt something strange in the air. Instantly I knew something was wrong. In fact, I heard the parents of our friends yell from outside the room, there’s a fire, there’s a fire!
My brother and I instantly reacted to the situation and, to cut a long story short, we both got out of the house safely. My sister, however, having woken up because of all the shouting, went to the window and looked out. Our friends asked her what she was doing, and she said that she was trying to see where the fire was. “Right here!” they told her, “Let’s go!” Can you imagine the dramatic paradigm shift she must have experienced?! The whole situation was changed. Her life was in danger! Anyway, the story had a happy ending, because everyone managed to get out of the house. It’s funny now, to talk about my sister’s absolutely idiocy but without the proper perspective, without placing herself squarely into the reality of the circumstances, she would not have known the enormity of the situation.
Thus, life is full of paradigm shifts. All the time. There’s nothing strange or weird about this. You experience them everyday, in varying degrees. In fact, everything in the universe, in life, in school, is simply a matter of perspective – of paradigms – and the key to changing yourself, the key to turning yourself from a lazy bum staring at the wall, into a person who is totally passionate and excited about excelling in school, and getting onto the honour roll, is a matter of shifting your own paradigms about who you are, and what you’re doing.
And the end of my quest for enlightenment thus became the beginning of a new one: In order to succeed I needed a paradigm shift. A big shift. I needed to view myself as in charge of the situation, in control, and in the game. I needed to feel like school was the most interesting thing that can happen to me, and to have the perspective of mind to be eager to meet the challenges that presented themselves each day.
Norbert Wiener invented the field of cybernetics. He defined it as the study of feedback loops and control systems. In other words, cybernetics dealt with systems, whether mechanical or organic, with internal structures that allowed for self-regulation. An air-conditioning system with a thermostat is one such example. However, cybernetic systems include combined organic and mechanical systems. For instance, unlike other flying-machine experimenters, the Wright brothers built airplanes that were flown by human pilots. The movement of the ailerons, and thus the movement of the plane, was controlled via the feedback loop between the plane’s actual position in the sky and the pilot’s perception of how it should be flown. Therefore, the entire pilot-plane system was self-regulating.
Nowaways, the term “cybernetics” has taken on new meaning. It describes the interaction between humans and machines. In fact, the “cybernetic relationship” requires that there be little distinction between the component organic and mechanical parts. A person with a surgically-implanted device, such as a pace-maker, is a prime example. The key to the use of the word “cybernetics” in the context of this book is to realise that cybernetic devices enhance organic functions. I will discuss not only cybernetic hardware, but cybernetic principles as well. In the competitive world of the urban jungle, it takes more than animal instinct and brute force to survive. Indeed, these two traits, so vital once long ago, may even be counter-productive in this day and age. Because of our biological limitations, and because of the modern demands placed on every person to perform at higher levels, it is foolhardy not to take advantage of advanced technology to assist us in our endeavours. It is this cybernetic assistance that I will show you.
Unfortunately, as encountered by most cutting-edge technologies, there is a tendency for people to meet the new frontier with skepticism and fear. In fact, what they fear most is change. There is an inborn predisposition for humans not to change. It is as if we were psychologically imprinted with that infamous phrase, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” That is a handicapping piece of advice, if I ever heard one. Yet when it comes to new technologies, people are usually reluctant to accept them in their lives. This happens whether in business, school, or everyday living. Even if people do decide to “jump off the deep end” and give the new technology a try, they are hard pressed to let other people know for fear of being labelled “weird.” Apparently, there is a subconscious limit on the social acceptability of certain new ideas. More important, there is a social stigma of the person who tries “too hard,” the person who is a “wannabe.” Let me tell you, right off the bat, that it is only those who try hardest who are winners. Remember, there have been a lot of technologies that were looked down upon, or even made fun of, that have become household words. When the very first executives brought along their portable computers to work, were they applauded for their pioneering spirit and visioneering ability? I doubt very much. More likely, they were regarded with a jaundiced eye, because they did not conform. The same probably went for the first C.E.O.s who took up jogging every morning before work, while their competitors were still in bed. Now, even the President of the United States jogs – traffic jams notwithstanding! Companies that take extreme meaures, such as enlisting their employees in survival courses such as those offered by Outward Bound, are initially regarded with disapproval, but later on are followed and credited. When gauging the worth of new technologies, the determinant is, of course, ultimate success. Remember, ordinary methods get ordinary results. The average executive will earn the average pay, and the average student will get an average grade (which, by definition, is just a C). In other words, it is my belief that to be extraordinary, you have to do extraordinary things.
When I realised this, I concluded that the “usual” methods of success didn’t work for me. I needed to find other methods. I had to take “extraordinary measures.” I would not care if anyone thought I was trying too hard, or acting strangely unconformist. My grades would prove the value of my techniques. So I shifted my paradigms, and decided that the situation had turned into war. The college campus had become a battlefield, and the enemy was anything that stood in my way of success. I could not afford to fail in my task. I had to seek out the enemy and destroy it – no prisoners taken. I had to be stronger and more powerful than ever before. I needed total guarantee of success. Even before I started partying too much, and consequently do badly in school, I had a lot of personal interest in computers and telecommunications. I just never knew how extensively I would soon make use of them. On the other hand, I was sorely lacking in other information, so I read a myriad of literature on personal power, success, accelerated learning, and enhancing the human potential. I read with a fervour, because I needed find the secrets. I needed to become supercharged, fully-loaded with all options, and totally invincible. I had to become a cyborg…
