Oct 17 2011: This is an interesting topic, it reminds me of the 'Ship of Theseus' by the Greek historian Plutarch.
"The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned [from Crete] had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place, insomuch that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same."
—Plutarch, Theseus
I cannot stand to believe that a lack of limbs or functionality will make one less human. We are not that different from machines in the first place except for the limited time span we inhabit the planet, each of us, a bio-machine, how can we ascertain what it means to be human by physical nature alone. The pillar of humanity has always been around building societies, knowledge and expansion. The core fundamentals of what makes us human in my opinion should not be limited to our physical nature but our actions and their consequences as well. Computers are approaching an age where everything is faster, 'smarter' but still infantile in development. Being human to me means development and I think that technology is not there yet to stand completely alone.
TEDCred score: +0.20 TEDCred reflects your contribution to the TED community.
A comment on Conversation: As unmanned drones, algorithms and prosthetics blur the distinction between man and machine, what, if anything, does it mean to be human?
"The ship wherein Theseus and the youth of Athens returned [from Crete] had thirty oars, and was preserved by the Athenians down even to the time of Demetrius Phalereus, for they took away the old planks as they decayed, putting in new and stronger timber in their place, insomuch that this ship became a standing example among the philosophers, for the logical question of things that grow; one side holding that the ship remained the same, and the other contending that it was not the same."
—Plutarch, Theseus
I cannot stand to believe that a lack of limbs or functionality will make one less human. We are not that different from machines in the first place except for the limited time span we inhabit the planet, each of us, a bio-machine, how can we ascertain what it means to be human by physical nature alone. The pillar of humanity has always been around building societies, knowledge and expansion. The core fundamentals of what makes us human in my opinion should not be limited to our physical nature but our actions and their consequences as well. Computers are approaching an age where everything is faster, 'smarter' but still infantile in development. Being human to me means development and I think that technology is not there yet to stand completely alone.