[Synapse elist] cultural conformity and drifting metaphors

[ju90]

>
I think the cyborg as imagined in different ways in sf has a lot to  
teach us about the reception of 'augmented' humans. As with  
McCaffrey, and however they are created, fictional cyborgs typically  
lack freedom of movement and equal rights with humans. Similarly,  
today disabled people do not have equal human and civil rights with  
non-disabled people, and are seen as being in need of containment and  
control.

I'm not sure how many people know that disabled people are not  
protected fully under the UN Convention on Human Rights? The UN  
Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities was only agreed  
last year, and only on 3 May did it receive enough ratifications - by  
20 countries - for it to become live and functioning. Now the UK  
government has refused to ratify it without reservations i.e. the UK,  
one of the richest countries in the world and the birthplace of  
democracy, has refused to ratify the whole thing as it stands.

Would non-disabled 'augmented' humans face a different reception? And  
will it continue to be disabled people and artists who take the lead  
on experimenting with, and imagining the possibilities of, human  
augmentation?

--
ju90
mail at ju90.co.uk
www.ju90.co.uk
Webmaster/site slave and Multimedia Storyteller
Created by Nature, Modified by Life


> My second though is about Anne McCaffrey s The Ship Who Sang (1969)
> short story about a"shellperson" Helva   -a cyborg who as young
> physically disabled but highly intelligent child was hardwired into a
> life support system, with sensory input and motor nerves tied into a
> computer. . augmented and made into a differently functioning social
> utility/servent.
>
> In this sf future this is how all people born differently are
> treated..  mccaffery's characters are framed as heros serving as
> starship pilots, colony administrators ect, for several centuries to
> pay off their debt for education and hardware - and then they can
> choose life as a  free agents.
>
> There is whole series of  stories which deal with the various
> adventures of 'shellpersons'
>      * PartnerShip (1992) with Margaret Ball,
>      * The Ship Who Searched (1992) with Mercedes Lackey, I
>      * The City Who Fought (1993) with S.M. Stirling,
>      * The Ship Who Won (1994) with Jody Lynn Nye,
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