On the weirdness of doing DIY implants
Hi all
Discussing my latest implant plans on an IRC channel (mentioning how I did my xNT by myself and plan to install a small wifi+BT enabled module for control as per my exocortex thread) I was amazed at how often comments come down to:
"Well, that's all clever and you sound like you know what you're doing but you should be committed and get a psych review"
"Well, that's all clever and you sound like you know what you're doing but you should be committed and get a psych review"
For some reason, it seems socially acceptable to do body modification stuff (piercings, tattoos and even subdermal metal implants to give horns and stuff) for purely cosmetic stuff and most tolerant people will have an "each to their own" attitude, but doing stuff with practical use brings up questions about mental illness etc.
An example of the IRC discussion in question (i'm GiantBearWalksIn - long story, don't ask):
16:45 < parabyte> your wife's going to get you psych evaluated
16:45 < parabyte> that is not normal thinking at all man
16:46 < parabyte> its all very smart shit GiantBearWalksIn but you said cut yourself open
16:46 <@GiantBearWalksIn> parabyte: "not normal" is very different from "pathological"
16:46 < parabyte> man seriously you cant cut yourself open
16:46 <@GiantBearWalksIn> yeah, cut myself open using sterile tools after administering local anasthetic
16:47 < parabyte> yeah i know you will do it correctly you have demonstrated superior knowledge
16:47 < parabyte> but its fucked up
This person also responded really badly after hearing that i'd self-installed the xNT. Yet 1000s of people daily get their ears pierced with piercing guns (which are known for causing nasty infections).
Is it simply the lack of mainstreamness that causes such negative responses?
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I wrote a lengthy post and realized it was more than anyone would want to read. To summarize: "it seems socially acceptable to do body modification stuff (piercings, tattoos and even subdermal metal implants to give horns and stuff) for purely cosmetic stuff"
I disagree, it’s only somewhat socially acceptable. There is a narrow range of mods that “everyone” will accept without comment. Earlobe piercing and tattoos that can be covered by clothes are mainstream (for western culture). Other ear and some facial piercings as well as more body tattoos are gaining ground. Fortunately the narrow concept of "what is acceptable" has been broadening in recent times. In the past sixty years there has been a huge acceleration in accepting body mods.
Biohackers are riding that accelerated curve. You will keep running into IRC trolls but I suspect biohacking will shoot past the extreme cosmetic mods and gain acceptance sooner because most are not as "in your face" visible and, as you pointed out, are functional. Previous functional mods (glasses, watches, Lasik etc) often had an easier time with being accepted than purely cosmetic ones. The hold back here will be the DIY aspect,the average person has strong conditioning to only see a medical professional, and many have an over-empathizing factor (“damn that had to hurt" *their hand moves to cover body part in case a wild piercer jumps out of the bushes and tries to pierce them*).
As the mods mature and new ones are developed that offer significant improvement to a person’s quality of life we will see the common pattern develop of greater adoption and eventual acceptance.
On top of that, it's MY machine and just as I root all my android devices and jailbreak my games consoles I want to mod my body to make it more useful too.
People REALLY do respond badly to this stuff.
Like @chironex, the worst responses have come from my family, to the point where I have simply decided to keep them "in the dark" as I've gone forward. My mother's response was the worst I've had. Her reaction when it moved from my initial talking about doing a mod to my walking into her house with four fingers bandaged up the day following my first implantation of magnets was something I don't care to think about often.
My coworkers have gone from initial skepticism a year ago to acceptance and at least some interest now. I suspect a few will get magnets at some point.
The discussion I had on the DJI forums (drone manufacturer's website) yielded responses that were almost universally supportive and generated alot of interest, but those who fly drones face social stigmas themselves and know that just because you don't understand a thing, that doesn't make it "bad."
My own feelings run like yours, @garethnelsonuk. The body is buggy and while it has amazing capabilities naturally, it's not as feature-rich as I want it to be.
Evolution rarely produces better than "good enough." We, through intelligent design, can do better.