Is it possible that humans will ever become part mechanical?....?

Question

like say, instead of a heart they have something similar to a CPU? instead of a brain they have a HDD.

if yes, how and why?

if no, same as above.

Answer 1

Many people are already part mechanical. From the almost standard replacement of joints with manufactured pieces, to the implant of electrical devices (pacemakers), we're already supplanting organic pieces with mechanical replacements.



More drastic examples are readily found as well. Chip implants allowing manipulation of computer interface devices (moving mouse cursors) and providing the abilty to interface with articulated appendages (artificial hands/legs) are both currently in use experimentally.



Medical science is only in its infancy in this genre and there is no doubt that it will only advance dramatically over the coming decades.

Answer 2

The heart is a pump. A CPU is not a pump. Therefore, a CPU can not replace the heart.

The brain is a place where data is constantly processed and analyzed - only a part is used for storage. Therefore, replacing the brain with a HDD would make the owner unable to move, sense, think or even breathe.



There are humans walking around with an electrical replacement for the sinoatrial and/or atrioventricular nodes, called a "pacemaker". There are humans walking around with replacement hips, legs, arms, kidneys, hands, eyes and ears. It has already happened.



But human development will never automatically feature metal, electrical or computational components without the use of outside intervention: the human body can not process metals*, so any artificial component will have to be added from the outside.



* eating metals, digesting metals, turning metals into solid components, keeping those components dry and using them to build hugely complex electrical systems are things the round and squishy biological cells won't be able to cope with.

Answer 3

It is already happening. People are already getting nerve-controlled bionics that interface with living nerves to replace amputated limbs. Research is already under way to even give these bionic limbs the ability to sense hot and cold.



They have even successfully implanted chips in the retina to give blind patients hints of vision, and bionics to give hearing to the deaf Also, they have placed sensors onto peoples´ skulls which react to their brain waves, allowing them basic control over machines.



As for the brain itself. That would be millennia off, if possible at all, but I don´t imagine it would be wholly impossible, being that it is mostly just a super-complex network of electrochemical reactions.



At that point it becomes more of a philosophical question: if, hypothetically, we were able to build a computer that was powerful enough to mimic a human brain to the point of being able to mirror our native logic, learning capacity, memory, etc. perfectly, and said computer was able to interface with our living Central Nervous System...if you had half your brain removed and replaced with a bionic counterpart, would your consciousness and "sense of self" also transfer?

Answer 4

Eventually yes. There is a scientist who planted electrodes to his nerve endings in his forearm and was able to remotely control a robot arm. I forget his name but saw a show about it on the Discovery channel.