Optional Augmentation

Does thinking about this give you the creeps?

Imagine that there are tiny machines swimming in your bloodstream, monitoring your health and transmitting data to an external device. Visualize advanced contact lenses that feed you real-time information about your surroundings, turning the world into a personally tailored augmented reality. Picture neural implants nestled within your brain, boosting your cognitive abilities, or even enabling telepathic communication.

Unsettling images of a dystopian future where human and machine are indistinguishably intertwined are cropping up in your mind’s eye.

But augmentation isn't a novel concept birthed by the technological era. As a species, humans have been using tools to enhance our abilities for millennia. The clothing we wear for protection and comfort, the eyeglasses that sharpen our vision, the written word that immortalizes our thoughts: all are forms of augmentation that we've seamlessly integrated into our daily lives.

We don’t think of cl…