Post 2: Natural Born Cyborgs

When I first started to read Clark's piece I was skeptical of the notion of being a 'natural-born cyborg'. It seemed like a ridiculous notion. However, as I began to understand his argument it began to make sense. The mere act of writing on paper has become a mnemonic tool for me. My thoughts seem very delicate and unclear to me until I write them down; the act alone allowing me to remember ideas even without consulting my notes. While few animals besides humans use tools, it seems that for us they are a necessity. For the fur, claws, talons, fins and beaks we lack, we make up with our ability to create our own solutions.  When faced with some job or task, even a simple one such as removing a frisbee from a tree or just drawing a picture or some letters in the dirt, how natural is it to look for some sort of tool, whether a stick, rock, or some man-made item, to assist.

In class a few students mentioned in opposition to Clark's theory of natural-born cyborgs, the tendency for humans to first reject technology before embracing it. However, in both examples, while the person was rejecting one kind of technology they still clung to countless others. In lieu of the typewriter, pen and paper were preferred, and while the classmate's mother may have rejected text messaging, presumably she still made calls. To me, these examples don't seem to suggest that technology and the integration of technology into our lives are unnatural, but rather that there is a natural inclination to initially reject any kind of change.