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Entangled Agencies: New Individual Practices of Human-Technology Hybridism Through Body Hacking

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Abstract

This essay develops its idiosyncrasy by concentrating primarily on the trend of body hacking. The practitioners, self-defined as body hackers, self-made cyborgs or grinders, work in different ways to develop functional and physiological modifications through the contributions of technology. Their goal is to develop by themselves an empirically man-technique fusion. These dynamic “scientific” subcultures are producing astonishing innovations. From pocket-sized kits that sample human DNA, microchip implants that keep tabs on our internal organs, blood sugar levels or moods, and even 3D printers that produce tailored hip replacements, the technical innovations of the body hacking trend are beginning to filter into mainstream use, and the repertoire increases every day. These physical transformations with intersecting techniques actively challenge long-held normative beliefs about what bodies do, what they should look like and how they should behave. They provide an alternative discourse on man’s correlation with the world and its biocenosis. Sculpting oneself has become an existential data. Medical technoscience crystallizes the effectiveness of new powers over the organism. Scientific temptation to recreate and enhance the human according to its normative principles has brought up experimental practices that have become the edge of a radical activism operating in the core of western societies, which will be the theme of this paper.

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Notes

  1. Cf.http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/superman/2013/03/cyborgs_grinders_and_body_hackers_diy_tools_for_adding_sensory_perceptions.html

  2. http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/superman/2013/03/cyborgs_grinders_and_body_hackers_diy_tools_for_adding_sensory_perceptions.html

  3. http://www.theguardian.com/technology/shortcuts/2012/aug/19/grinders-cult-of-man–machine

  4. Fiévet [12] has written the first book on this underground trend and he advocates that body hacking consists of a voluntary initiative carried out by individuals who are willing to alter their bodies by linking artificial components to them, as well as new technological devices that can be applicable to the body. A hacker, regarding cybernetics, makes use of technological tools and adapts their operations after extensive research. Once the hacker discovers the functioning of these tools, he or she does not hesitate to make modifications in accordance to his or her needs. The hackers’ behavior would be transposable conceptually to body hacking, except that it is suitable to the human body.

  5. “Enhanced man” constitutes the intersection of digital technology and nanotechnology, allowing humans to go beyond the current limit of the body as well as the mind [5].

  6. Mankind has always invented tools to enhance its capacity. Today the use of machinery, prostheses and implants have inspired scientists and artists ([1, 2]; [5]).

  7. Unfortunately we lack quantitative data related to body hackers and grinders in western world. Still, we deny any claim disqualifying or reducing their significance. An attentive observation all through forums, websites, blogs and tutorial videos provided by these enthusiasts (including those which are mentioned along this paper) announce the growing interest moving into this flow, although there are lesser adaptations when compared to mainstream body modification (such as plastic surgery, tattoos and piercings). Just as it is almost impossible to establish borders between scientific knowledge that cures and the one which enhances (whereas the later is a continuation of the former), it is hardly possible to monitor individual willingness to use these improved technologies on their fashion.

  8. In these cases, they can be used for therapeutic or even esthetic purposes ([3]; [6]; [13, 14]; [14]; [25]).

  9. These new functions are allowed thanks to the latest technological advances. Made in the field of robotics, bionics, or biotechnology, their results have enabled the design of prostheses and implants which are brain controlled and also the development of exoskeleton interfaces.

  10. Author’s self-translation.

  11. The formula “technocorps” from Pierre Musso [26] means the project of an enhanced man who is the symbol of the social, a man who has had his parts changed, who was manufactured by men themselves with the certainty of rational machines.

  12. We could also mention the artist Stelarc, for example, based in Australia, who incorporates themes related to man–machine interfaces in his works. One of his most representative works, entitled « Ear on Arm », involves engineering a soft prosthesis constituted partly of his own skin, having the form of an ear, in which he has installed a miniature microphone before attaching surgically on his forearm, in order to « listen through the arm ». One of his other projects related to body enhancement was the creation of a mechanical - and functional - human hand which was attached to his right arm (project named « Third Hand »). The characteristic of most of his projects is the design of prosthesis, not as a sign of something lacking, but as body augmentation.

  13. Radio-Frequency Identification.

  14. Another important case involves Dr Kevin Warwick, professor of cybernetics at the University of Reading, England, and creator of the “Project Cyborg.” He proclaimed himself to be the first cyborg in history, after having implanted an RFID chip on his forearm. This implant has allowed him to be recognized in some environments and control equipment in his workplace. Other phases of the project consist of the installation of a grid of thumbnails with one hundred electrodes connected to the median nerve in his arm, allowing him to manage remote devices.

  15. Retrieved April 1st, 2014, from http://www.hackingthefuture.org/

  16. He first followed the path of his parents who were owners of a company located in Phoenix which specialized in the manufacture of implants and surgical steel tools.

  17. Retrieved 1st April 2014, from http://www.stevehaworth.com/

  18. See the website « Body modification e-zine », BME, an online magazine about the current world of body modification, such as magnetic implants.

  19. Retrieved 1st April 2014, from http://augmentationlimitless.blogspot.com.br/2013/04/implanting-magnet-1-prosthesis-implants.html

  20. It is possible to buy magnetic implants online, and to perform the operation at home.

  21. Retrieved 1st April 2014, from http://archive.wired.com/gadgets/mods/news/2006/06/71087?currentPage=all

  22. There are other uses of these magnetic implants, for instance, holding an iPod or a watch.

  23. These additional sensory abilities are defined as “magnetic vision”.

  24. This project was first shared during an interview part of the author’s ethnographic research. The readers will be able to understand the goals of Olivares through this project in her own piece arranged in this Special Number.

  25. Retrieved 2 April 2014, from http://www.news.com.au/technology/us-bodyhacker-rich-lee-has-magnets-that-act-as-invisible-headphones-implanted-in-ears/story-e6frfro0-1226672890483

  26. Retrieved 2 April 2014, from http://www.voncyb.org/

  27. It is a jewel piercing wherein the central bar is exposed to the outside of the skin, the shape of which is similar to a clip.

  28. Retrieved 2 April 2014, from http://motherboard.vice.com/blog/the-diy-cyborg

  29. The objective of Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline, who worked for NASA in 1960, when they invented the “cybernetic organism” where cyborg, that is to say the amplification of human, was to allow survival in space and conquer the planet Mars.

  30. You can buy online kits to construct RFID toys, the invisible earphone, implant the magnetic and even the Cincardia 1.0. A quick search at the internet presents many ways to accomplish this fusion and instructions in order to avoid recurrent mistakes.

  31. Retrieved 1 April 2014, from http://www.emaxhealth.com/1506/dangers-extreme-body-modifications

  32. Modified people usually have fewer job opportunities. Employers, in general, are not willing to offer the same opportunities due the physical transformation. It can be seen that the body modification community is fighting for less discrimination and equal employment possibilities. Beyond that, the new media, the powerful mediator of social understanding of events, also contribute to present and “frame” this cultural experience. Issues are problematized and definitions of situations are advanced. The typification of events and social phenomena may impede group’s ability to secure their legitimacy. Official and professional claim-makers state that body modification is a pathological and mental health problem (Pitts 1999), or as dangerous and harmful activities. And their claim is accepted because of their authoritative discourse operating in the public sphere.

  33. His theoretical approaches can be found especially in the following works: Par-delà nature et culture (Beyond nature and culture), L’écologie des autres: l’anthropologie et la question de la nature (The ecology of others: anthropology and questions about nature) and Diversité des natures, diversité des cultures (Diversity of natures, diversity of cultures).

  34. The works of David Le Breton, Philippe Descola and Bruno Latour are the source of this critical finding ([19]; [21, 22], 2008 ; [9, 10]).

  35. Author’s self-translation.

  36. It is undeniable that science progress has legitimized human body enhancement ([23]; Marzano-Parisoli 2002) as it can be noted in the latest findings in computer science and medical bionics researches. These have led to the exploration of new promising ways to address serious functional disorders, correct disabilities or improve the life of people who were severely affected in their physical integrity.

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Acknowledgments

Bárbara Nascimento Duarte gratefully acknowledges the research funding of Capes Foundation − Ministry of Education of Brazil − and the award of the Prix de l’Observatoire Nivea/Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique-CNRS (Prize Nivea Observatory and National Center of Scientific Research) which supported her work on this essay and research. She would also like to acknowledge the support of Dr. John Wells who assisted with the English in several consecutive versions of this paper.

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  1. Federal University of Juiz de Fora, University of Strasbourg, Juiz de Fora, Brazil

    Bárbara Nascimento Duarte

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Duarte, B.N. Entangled Agencies: New Individual Practices of Human-Technology Hybridism Through Body Hacking. Nanoethics 8, 275–285 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11569-014-0204-z

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