Mechanical (bad) dreams

At the end of the 19th century, writers fantasize about the mechanical manipulation of the body. The organism is seen by them as a kind of clockwork with interchangeable parts. But many contemporaries reject such an idea.

In the short story “The Ablest Man” published in 1879, the Russian politician Baron Savitch owes his social rise to a mechanical brain. On the occasion of his wedding, however, the secret is revealed. The traitor finds it wrong to conceal such a mechanical optimization. For the first time, the story deals with the social consequences of bio-mechanical optimization.

Cover picture of the ebook “La Tachipompa e Altre Storie“ by Edward Page Mitchell and Martina Volpe, 2014. First publication: “The Ablest Man in the World“, USA 1879. Collection Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunication

German first edition “Welt – wohin?“ (“Brave New World”), 1932. First edition: “Brave New World“, Great Britain 1932. Source: German National Library

Dystopian novel „Brave New World” by Aldous Huxley, 2007. First published in Great Britain in 1932. Collection Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunication

The engineer Manfred Clynes and the physician Nathan S. Kline first use the term cyborg in the report “Cyborgs and Space”. On behalf of the US Air Force School of Aviation Medicine, they are working on challenges of space travel in relation to the human body. To do this, they combine the words “cybernetic” and “organism” to describe a human being adapted to work in space. They coin the word “cyborg” from the English terms cybernetic organism. The artist Fred Freeman illustrates the page for Life Magazine, thus shaping the image of the cyborg.

Illustration “Cyborg“ by Fred Freeman, 1960, for the Life Magazine of June 6, 1960, USA. Collection Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunication

Space Age Pragmatism

The manned spaceflight has not only extended the limits of technology, but also those of humankind. Thus, research in the field of space exploration is considering how the human body can be adapted to the hostile environment, at least temporarily.

The engineer Manfred Clynes and the physician Nathan S. Kline first use the term cyborg in the report “Cyborgs and Space”. On behalf of the US Air Force School of Aviation Medicine, they are working on challenges of space travel in relation to the human body. To do this, they combine the words “cybernetic” and “organism” to describe a human being adapted to work in space. They coin the word “cyborg” from the English terms cybernetic organism. The artist Fred Freeman illustrates the page for Life Magazine, thus shaping the image of the cyborg.

Illustration “Cyborg“ by Fred Freeman, 1960, for the Life Magazine of June 6, 1960, USA. Collection Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunication

Ten years after the invention of the term, the creators of the word expand the concept of the cyborg. In doing so, they go one step further and additionally include the mental adaptation of humans to work in space. Thus, the physical change is also recognized in its effect on a changed perception.

Figures of pop culture

In the 1980s, cyborgs become popular figures in pop culture. Technical devices increasingly dominate everyday life. This tempts contemporaries to give technology human traits. Thus the “cyborg” as a human machine becomes an ideal representative of this time.

The comic character “Cyborg” has a moving background story: the cyborg, known by his civil name as Victor Stone, is seriously injured in an accident in his father’s laboratory. He saves his life by means of experimental optimizations. He uses his cybernetic body parts, which include weapons, in the fight against evil. Nevertheless, the title character cannot accept the new body. Since the comic was published in 1980, the superhero has appeared regularly in products of the comic publisher DC Comics.

Comic book “Cyborg Man Inside the Machine! #1“ by David F. Walker, 2015, USA. Collection Museum Foundation Post and Telecommunication

Cyborgs are also finding their way into the world of computer games, which are experiencing a huge boom in the 1980s. In “Cyborg”, for example, you play from the perspective of a person who has been optimized for unknown reasons. But not only his limbs are changed, there is also a second, artificial brain. The game revolves around decisions that the player has to make with the knowledge of the optimizations. How can you use it to do good or bad things?

Frontpage of the computer games manual for “Cyborg“ by Sentient Software Inc., 1981, USA. Source: The Museum of Computer Adventure Game History

Mechanical (bad) dreams

At the end of the 19th century, writers fantasize about the mechanical manipulation of the body. The organism is seen by them as a kind of clockwork with interchangeable parts. But many contemporaries reject such an idea.

Mechanical (bad) dreams

At the end of the 19th century, writers fantasize about the mechanical manipulation of the body. The organism is seen by them as a kind of clockwork with interchangeable parts. But many contemporaries reject such an idea.

Mechanical (bad) dreams

At the end of the 19th century, writers fantasize about the mechanical manipulation of the body. The organism is seen by them as a kind of clockwork with interchangeable parts. But many contemporaries reject such an idea.

Mechanical (bad) dreams

At the end of the 19th century, writers fantasize about the mechanical manipulation of the body. The organism is seen by them as a kind of clockwork with interchangeable parts. But many contemporaries reject such an idea.