Gaia Fried's Preface
In embarking on this project we ask ourselves what a human is and what it could be. We examine humanity without limits. We examine ourselves, and our values. We grapple with meaning and purpose. We see what we take for granted (emotions, aging, heritage, the ability to learn) and also what we do not have (immortality, infinite access to memory, the ability to fly). We see what we value as a group, and what we as individuals prioritize (selfhood? the planet? emotion? language?). We realize that these are questions we should ask not just of the cyborg creators but of ourselves, if we want to have children; ourselves, when we are planning our paths; ourselves, when we are assessing our strengths and weaknesses. We see that we are all programmed and planned, and also the immense agency we have. We stretch the every-day ideas of what it is to be a person; we broaden anthropology.
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