Abdulla Binissa

Professor Collins
English 115
23 October 2015
Multi-Modal Essay

If youre not first, youre last. People strive to be the best at things. Being the top
basketball player in the NBA or being the top reader in class. This is an evolutionary trait that all
living things have. Since all living things want to be the best, there is a lot of competition.
Throughout history, species and species have competed to be the very best. To be the top
predator on the food chain. Species have come and gone and now currently it is us humans that
hold the title of the top predator. We humans are the parents of the animal kingdom and decide
what the other living creatures on the planet do and what is allowed to be done to them. These
rules are decided by us and we call them rights. We give certain living creatures certain rights.
However, we give ourselves the most rights of course. Humans have rights that belong to solely
humans. We cannot give a fish the right to drive a car, so we do not do that. Saying this we also

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do not give machines rights. Because machines are property unable of human thought. However
a mix between machine and human becomes a complex ideology. This mixture is called a
cyborg. Should this type of species be given rights of a human, or any rights at all for that
matter? After all they are not technically human. Logically they should not have human rights.
Although cyborgs are not human and therefore cannot have human-rights, they should still be
granted rights that pertain to their cyborg needs because they should still be considered a living
creature.

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First of all, what is a cyborg? Some
people would call a man with his cane a cyborg.
As a cane would be a mechanical/technological
addition to his already human body. This is no
different from a hearing aid to a deaf person or a
walking stick to a blind person. Most people
would say these people are still human.
However, what if humans were to not only to
use technology as an aid? Instead to use
technology as a means of enhancement. As in
night vision goggles or telescopes. Although this
adds a new dimension to cyborgs, people with these technological enhancements are still
considered human. There is no ethical problem in which such technological enhancements cause.
It is merely no different to a spider using a web to catch a fly or a chimpanzee employing a stick
with which to extract termites from a mound, which can be seen a vital functioning for those
creatures(Warwick 2003). Since it is common to do this, creatures with enhancements should
not be considered an ethical problem. This includes humans with technological enhancements.
Well if humans with technology that aids them as well as enhances them arent considered any
less human, what is? It is the case in which a persons thoughts are directly affected by
technology. When an individuals mind merges with a machine. It is then when a persons
autonomy is to be questioned. Whether this person is really a person at all. Whether this person is
human or something else.

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Assuming the definition of a cyborg
is a human with the merge of a
machine through direct involvement of
the individuals consciousness, we can
state that a cyborg is no longer human.
A cyborg is just exactly that a
cyborg. A separate race apart from the
human race or the chimpanzee race or
the ant race. Thus, it is understandable
to not grant them the same rights as we
do to humans. We do not give dogs the
right to drive cars at the age of 18, nor do we give the right for cats to go to public schools.
Saying this, creatures other than humans still have the right to live. Laws set by the government
prohibit certain acts against animals giving them rights to live. Federal laws give most birds the
right to be free. To trap, kill, or possess certain birds is illegal. Saying this, we can apply these
rights to cyborgs. If cyborgs were walking around on the streets todays, it certainly would have
basic rights. Basic enough to allow it to be living at least.
But what other rights would they have? Would they have rights similar to a bird, or rights
similar to a human? Assuming these cyborgs do not take over our place as top predator on our
planet, we would have to decide what rights to give them.