Hybrid creatures have two main functions: they bring together the symbolic strengths of different animal, and they represent the fundamental unity of existence. They carry a positive symbolic meaning; they inhabit a dimension that spanned this, and other worlds, and thus could serve not only to help mankind in the struggle against dark forces but also to act as messengers from the gods and as sources of wisdom in themselves. To the minds that invented them, hybrids presented no inherent contradictions, because if all creation was interconnected, there was no reason why certain ingredients should not be permutated in new and different ways. There is much evidence that the ancients did not separate imagination and reality in the way that is habitual to us. If something could be imagined, there was a sense in which it must really exist.
I’m wondering if humans have become hybrid creatures. Taking the thread of my last entry, and also Sean’s comment to that post, I was struck with the thought that perhaps technology has become an extension of human existence. We define ourselves through the technology we use, express ourselves creatively (hello, blogs), solidify friendships, make plans, educate ourselves (and yes, I include wikipedia among that category)… it seems like every aspect of human behavior, even down to sex (cyber, anyone?), can be technologized.
In a book I re-read recently – Anthem by Ayn Rand – the world has somersaulted into the future losing technology and the concept of individuality. Humans work physically and mentally to survive, absent electricity/machines/etc. One man treads debaucherous territory when he discovers, randomly, the power of electricity flowing through two connected wires. Through his discovery, he redefines himself and consequently establishes the idea of the “ego”.
I found it both interesting and poignant that Rand illustrates the power of humans to assert individuality through the discovery of technology – but it makes complete sense when you think our current situation. Written in 1937, the world had not yet spiraled into what it is today, but her allusion to a future where we define ourselves through the technology we use still holds strong.
Take, for example, the “Get Chipped!” campaign run by Applied Digital Solutions – the implant of computer identification chips in our bodies (a non-reversible process). Not only are people getting their dogs chipped, but they have now introduced the possibility to implant a computer chip in your newborn baby.
The chip is pictured below:
Their website Get Chipped! explains that it would prevent baby-switching in hospitals, provide patient identification in emergency situations, and apparently to prevent residents in old-age homes from “wandering off”… hmm. A device that could track where you are, who you are, in any location globally? Sounds like we’re entering into a Brave New World indeed.
I’m a little scared, to tell you the truth.
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