In this blog post, we’ll take a closer look at the content of “The Awake Watchmaker”—a work that explores the potential of cyborg engineering and the future of humanity—by proofreading and editing it.
Imagine you’re walking down the street and pick up a watch. When you look inside, you see hundreds or thousands of parts assembled into a complex structure. Naturally, you would conclude that there must be a watchmaker who made this watch, because the parts couldn’t have suddenly come together to form such a structure out of nowhere. If even a small watch is this intricate, consider the structure of the human eye—it is incomparably more sophisticated and complex. So, might there be an “intelligent designer” who created humans? This argument, commonly known as the “watchmaker argument,” sounds quite convincing at first glance. However, its biggest flaw is that the human body—specifically that of Homo sapiens—has a highly inefficient structure. Let’s take a look at the human eye mentioned above as a clear example. When comparing the eyes of a squid to those of a human, the squid’s optic nerve lies behind the photoreceptors, whereas the human optic nerve is located in front of them—that is, inside the eyeball. Consequently, a hole is needed for the bundle of optic nerves inside the eyeball to exit, and this is called the “blind spot.” Since there are no photoreceptors in the blind spot, it cannot detect light, meaning the human eye is always unable to see a specific point. Furthermore, compared to a squid’s eye, the structure of the human eye is more vulnerable to conditions such as glaucoma and hemorrhages. Judging solely by eye structure, humans appear to have a less efficient design than squids. In addition, the human body contains organs—such as the appendix, the coccyx, and wisdom teeth—whose functions have greatly diminished or have become vestigial in modern times. Nevertheless, insisting that a designer exists is tantamount to arguing that the designer was a “blind watchmaker.” So, what about a life form designed not by a blind watchmaker, but by a rational and intelligent “sighted watchmaker”? Could such a designer not create a human being who is far more powerful, possesses superior abilities, and is even more efficient than Homo sapiens?
Throughout history, humanity has strived ceaselessly for a better life, and in the process, science and technology have advanced at a dazzling pace. Advances in life sciences have saved humanity from countless diseases, while developments in robotics have made it possible to deploy robots in place of humans for dangerous tasks. Furthermore, the convergence of these two fields has driven the advancement of biomechatronics, providing prosthetic arms to those who have lost a limb and prosthetic legs to those who have lost a leg, as well as various assistive technologies for communication to the physicist Stephen Hawking, who suffered from ALS. Thanks to these scientific and technological advancements, modern humanity has reached a stage where it is researching life-design technologies at a level that would have been difficult to imagine in the past. This intellectual design can be broadly categorized into biotechnology, cyborg engineering, and inorganic engineering. However, biotechnology faces many challenges that need to be addressed, such as the inherent limitations of Homo sapiens and ethical issues, while inorganic engineering is also a field that still requires significant technological advancement. In contrast, cyborg engineering has already advanced to a considerable degree, and some people are currently reaping its benefits. A prime example is Stephen Hawking, who maintained communication through various assistive devices; medical devices such as prosthetic arms and legs, cochlear implants, and artificial retinas are already widely used in actual medical settings. Furthermore, because cyborg engineering is an approach that does not directly alter human genes, it tends to generate relatively fewer ethical controversies compared to biotechnology. If parts of the human body can be replaced with mechanical components, it may be possible to improve the inefficient aspects of the human body mentioned earlier. In other words, unlike humanity as designed by a “blind” watchmaker, it becomes possible to redesign it from scratch from the perspective of a “sighted” watchmaker.
Before delving into cyborg engineering in earnest, we first need to understand what a cyborg is. The term “cyborg” is a portmanteau of “cybernetics” and “organism,” referring to a human whose body parts have been replaced with mechanical devices or who has been fused with mechanical devices. It’s easy to understand if you think of Genji Shimada from the game ‘Overwatch’. For a more familiar example, Darth Vader from the ‘Star Wars’ series can also be considered a classic cyborg. Both Genji and Darth Vader are characters in whom a significant portion of the body has been replaced by mechanical devices. Many people think of only these examples when they hear the term “cyborg” and consider cyborg engineering to be a technology of the distant future, but in reality, the scope of cyborgs is much broader. Not only does it include medical devices such as prosthetic arms, legs, and eyes, but in a broader sense, it also encompasses people who use devices that augment human bodily functions, such as glasses or hearing aids.
Cyborg engineering is advancing rapidly as it merges with neuroscience. Modern cyborg engineering has reached the stage of researching and applying technologies such as prosthetic arms that can be controlled by thought alone for people who have lost an arm, and artificial retinas that provide visual information—albeit limited—to people who have lost their sight. These examples hold significant meaning in the field of cyborg engineering. This is because, as examples of connecting mechanical devices to the human nervous system, a prosthetic arm controlled by thought alone represents an instance where the human brain controls a mechanical device, while a device that transmits visual information represents an instance where machine-generated information is transmitted to the human brain. Although there are still significant limitations in the amount and accuracy of information that can be transmitted, if neuroscience and brain-computer interface (BCI) technology continue to advance, it will become possible to connect the human brain to mechanical devices more directly. If this happens, research could also be conducted on technologies that allow memories to be stored on digital devices or that enable the more efficient use of various types of information with the help of machines. Furthermore, with the help of mechanical devices, humans might be able to exert much greater strength than they do now or process various types of information even more quickly. There is also the possibility that an era will arrive in which mechanical devices assist with simple decisions or calculations needed in daily life.
Just as smart devices and electric vehicles have entered our daily lives much faster than expected, cutting-edge technologies are sometimes commercialized at a pace that surpasses our imagination. The same is true for cyborg engineering. While only a select few currently enjoy the benefits of this technology, cyborg technology may become a more commonplace part of daily life in the future. Just as most people use smartphones today, it may become natural in the future to use mechanical devices to store memories or assist with bodily functions. Of course, cyborg engineering may evoke greater resistance than other technologies due to the necessity of implanting or attaching mechanical devices to the body. However, while the human body has biological limitations, mechanical devices can continuously improve their performance as technology advances. Over the past several thousand years, the human body has undergone no significant biological changes, whereas mechanical engineering has advanced at an astonishing pace in just a few decades. Consequently, some predict that it is entirely possible for a mechanical device designed by a “sighted watchmaker” to surpass the efficiency of the human body designed by a “blind watchmaker.” If this trend continues, the gap between those who use technologies to augment their physical and cognitive abilities and those who do not may gradually widen. If that happens, more people will opt for cyborg technology, and social resistance to it is likely to diminish over time.
If an era arrives in which cyborg engineering becomes this widespread, it will be necessary to reconsider whether we can still refer to them as Homo sapiens. First, we need to examine the definition of Homo sapiens. While there is no clearly agreed-upon definition of what a sapiens is, there are several commonly accepted characteristics. Homo sapiens think independently, communicate through language, and possess genetic traits unique to Homo sapiens. So, can we truly consider a being that relies on mechanical devices for a significant portion of its thinking, communicates through mechanical devices, and continuously replaces the inefficient parts of the human body with mechanical technology to be the same as the Homo sapiens we know today? From this perspective, the situation resembles that of a watch designed by a sentient watchmaker eventually replacing the watchmaker himself.
The final hurdle in cyborg engineering is the human brain. While technology has made significant strides in supplementing or replacing human arms, legs, eyes, and even the heart with various mechanical devices, the brain remains the most challenging area. This is because neuroscience itself has not yet advanced sufficiently. The brain is far more complex than we imagine, and because it is an organ directly linked to life, it is difficult to study or intervene in directly. As the saying goes, “If the brain were simple enough for us to understand it, we would be too simple to understand it,” and no one can say for certain whether the day will ever come when humans fully understand their own brains. However, if we ever overcome these limitations, cyborgs—the first beings created by the awakened watchmaker—may one day naturally take their place among us.
