According to Mitchell, what has technology done to our bodies? In your opinion, what will we gain from this? What will we lose from it?

Technology has made our bodies anti-spatial. We no longer need to physically be at locations in order to communicate and function. Beginning with the telegram, telephone, and television, we were able to send or receive information without face-to-face communication. (Millions of people were able to view on television the live transmissions of the astronauts walking on the moon.)

Today we have the internet with web sites where we can access information on any topic. We have visual satellite communication where we can hear, see and interact live with other people around the world. Virtual reality has even made is possible to experience imaginery situations. (Remember the holograph suites on the Star-Trek series?)

What have we gained from this technology? We have gained access to information. We have gained the ability to stay at home (or who knows where) and operate our businesses. We have gained enormous entertainment devices. We have gained freedom from discrimination since we are anonymous words on a page where the receiver does not know what we look like or where we live.

What else have were gained from this technology? We have gained many advantages that once were unattainable due to our physical bodies. In the medical professions, microscopic cameras can enter our bodies and eliminate surgeries. Robotic cameras can explore the ocean floor or the inside of a volcano and provide valuable research information. Pacemakers and other monitoring devices provide assisted living possibilities and prolong life. (Remember the bionic man?) People with physical handicaps are able to function in society with technological assistance.

What have we lost from this technology? Are we going to become slaves to this technology? Mitchel talks about the "digital hermit." (p. 18) This refers to the person who does not participate in the technology age regardless of reason. Do we want to sit at our keyboards and communicate or do we need "...the joys of direct human interaction..." (p. 19) to remain human? Do we want our organs and other parts of our bodies to be repaired and replaced so that we become immortal? In "Cyborg Citizens," Mitchell describes a near future society engrossed and dependent upon technology.

In my opinion technology is wonderful and offers us many opportunities, but like anything, too much of something can be bad for you. I think it is wonderful that we can use technology to repair our bodies, but at what point do we disconnect all the machines and let life go? This is an area of major concern in our society today. Also, what is this technology doing to our healthy bodies, especially to our young children? We are a nation of couch potatoes and Play Station zombies who do not get enough exercise. I even pay an aerobics instructor to "exercise me," since I sit at a desk all day at a computer and do not use my muscles to burn the calories I intake.

I do not think we should lose site of our humanity, our need for social contact, and the physical foundations of life. Even on the Star-Trek Enterprise, they say the replicator nonalcoholic Scotch is not as good as the real thing.