Narratives about Cyborgization in the Context of Technoevolution

Abstract

The article is devoted to cultural narratives about cyborgization, in which the relationship between man and cyber machine is described. In this new approach, the machine becomes part of the human body, allows man to improve the quality of life, but also can complement human natural abilities with new (“artificial”) competences. The author of the article analyses the problem of three cultural narratives regarding human cyborgization. These three narrative models are engineering-pragmatic, biological-evolutionary and cultural-humanistic. They constitute the contemporary social imaginarium on the subject of technoevolution and the relationship between man and cyber machine. The author of the article, on the example of Andy Clark’s concept of the natural cyborg, verifies the thesis whether agreement is possible between these narratives. The issue of social acceptance for cyborgization is particularly important in the context of technological progress and questions about the essence of man and technology in the light of new opportunities offered by modern biotechnology and robotics with the view of improving the quality of human life.