4 ms·

Biohackers give me the creeps. I remember this one big failure story of a women that spoke at a CCC event a few years ago. The magnet she implanted into her fi

Biohackers give me the creeps. I remember this one big failure story of a women that spoke at a CCC event a few years ago. The magnet she implanted into her finger dissolved in her and they had a pretty hard time pulling out the individual bits. I cant get rid of the feeling that these people have read too much scifi.

beaconstudios 8y ago
biohacking definitely has a tinge of "DIY cyberpunk" to it. I find the area interesting, but my concern is that the mods they do right now aren't actually useful, and the surgical aspect is totally unnecessary. This leads me to think that magnet/RFID implants are more about in-group signalling (about being a hardcore hacker or being into cyberpunk or transhumanism) than they are about enhancing your abilities.
- SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
  Meh, I wouldn't get something like this done myself but fair play to the people advancing the art. It's their bodies after all. Piercings and tattoos were also pretty primitive for the longest time (not that I have any of those either, but I certainly appreciate the more creative ones).
  - beaconstudios 8y ago
    oh yeah, I wouldn't want to stop them; some of my friends have these implants. I just think it's a little odd because I lean transhumanist myself but the current implants don't seem to be very useful, hence my suggestion that they might be social signals instead. Don't mistake my analysis for wanting them not to do it.
    - nkrisc 8y ago
      I always thought "bio-hacking" was a pretty grandiose term for shoving a magnet under your skin. As far as I'm concerned, "bio-hacking" occurs every day as doctors prescribe medicine or repair and enhance broken bodies.
      - beaconstudios 8y ago
        I think "hacking" is used here in a very similar way to "punk" - anything that's done without the approval of authority in an individual, anarchistic fashion. So implants are a very rudimental form of biohacking, but I think that's related to how relatively immature the field is. The real question is how it could scale to practically useful "hacks" if you need an operating theatre and access to trained surgeons. Personally I think it's a bit of a dud and biohackers would be better off venturing into things like nootropics, non surgical human enhancement (like that magnetic-north belt mentioned elsewhere in the comments) and genetic engineering.
        harimau777 8y ago
        A little off topic, but: My understanding was that all of the things claimed to be nootropics (other than stimulants, drugs, and medicines) didn't have any evidence that they actually work?
        beaconstudios 8y ago
        That depends on what those things are. As far as I'm aware, all nootropics are medicinal drugs. Except noopept which is specifically designed as a nootropic, but that works too.

beaconstudios 8y ago

biohacking definitely has a tinge of "DIY cyberpunk" to it. I find the area interesting, but my concern is that the mods they do right now aren't actually useful, and the surgical aspect is totally unnecessary. This leads me to think that magnet/RFID implants are more about in-group signalling (about being a hardcore hacker or being into cyberpunk or transhumanism) than they are about enhancing your abilities.

SmellyGeekBoy 8y ago
Meh, I wouldn't get something like this done myself but fair play to the people advancing the art. It's their bodies after all. Piercings and tattoos were also pretty primitive for the longest time (not that I have any of those either, but I certainly appreciate the more creative ones).
- beaconstudios 8y ago
  oh yeah, I wouldn't want to stop them; some of my friends have these implants. I just think it's a little odd because I lean transhumanist myself but the current implants don't seem to be very useful, hence my suggestion that they might be social signals instead. Don't mistake my analysis for wanting them not to do it.
  - nkrisc 8y ago
    I always thought "bio-hacking" was a pretty grandiose term for shoving a magnet under your skin. As far as I'm concerned, "bio-hacking" occurs every day as doctors prescribe medicine or repair and enhance broken bodies.
    - beaconstudios 8y ago
      I think "hacking" is used here in a very similar way to "punk" - anything that's done without the approval of authority in an individual, anarchistic fashion. So implants are a very rudimental form of biohacking, but I think that's related to how relatively immature the field is. The real question is how it could scale to practically useful "hacks" if you need an operating theatre and access to trained surgeons. Personally I think it's a bit of a dud and biohackers would be better off venturing into things like nootropics, non surgical human enhancement (like that magnetic-north belt mentioned elsewhere in the comments) and genetic engineering.
      - harimau777 8y ago
        A little off topic, but: My understanding was that all of the things claimed to be nootropics (other than stimulants, drugs, and medicines) didn't have any evidence that they actually work?
        beaconstudios 8y ago
        That depends on what those things are. As far as I'm aware, all nootropics are medicinal drugs. Except noopept which is specifically designed as a nootropic, but that works too.