I use the term, tongue in cheek, to refer to humanity’s increasing dependence on technology. The Borg are a Star Trek culture of space-faring cyborgs – part human and part machine. Of course, the Star Trek version of cyborg society includes a hive mind and enslaved peoples from many planets whose machine enhancements have rendered them mindless drones that are part of a collective. That’s not what I imagine when I think of the borgification of humanity.
The technological enhancement of humans is just a couple of breaths away, I think. We’re already part of the way there. What are orthopedic joint replacements if not technological enhancements or replacements for failing bits of our natural anatomy? Pacemakers and cardiac valve replacements are as well. I myself have a synthetic eye lens, and Susan has two. There are now probably hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of diabetics using Insulin infusion pumps regulated by continuous glucose monitoring devices. It isn’t quite an artificial pancreas, but it is a big step in that direction.
Hell, I wear a watch that reports my pulse, blood pressure, and oxygen saturation on command. We are becoming cyborgs bit by bit. That gradual evolution from wholly human to partly human with technological enhancements is the way that I see the borgification process. It isn’t one of assimilation or enslavement as depicted in Star Trek but rather one of voluntary adaptation in which individual identity and agency are preserved. There is no collective nor a need to resist. It is evolution by conscious choice.
Today, I decided to stop sweeping and mopping; my back no longer tolerates these activities well, and I do not want a fusion or any kind of spinal surgery. It is a deliberate choice; so, today I ordered a high-end Roomba with a base station and an M6 mopping module.
Resistance is Futile.