Stefan Lorenz Sorgner, We have Always Been Cyborgs

• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/prometheus.38.3.0342
• Published date: 20 December 2022
• Date: 20 December 2022
• Pages: 342-347
• Author: Marietjie Botes

Prometheus 342

BOOK REVIEW

We Have Always Been Cyborgs, Stefan Lorenz Sorgner (2021) 240pp., £85 hardback, Bristol

University Press, Bristol, ISBN 978529219203

‘Transhumanism is the world’s most dangerous idea’ (pp.1–2), at least according to American polit-

ical scientist, economist, and writer Francis Fukuyama in 2004. This sentiment echoes a time when

even Walt Disney and his ideas were considered the world’s most dangerous by German philoso-

pher Theodor Adorno. Adorno was fascinated and concerned by Disney’s animations and how they

influenced the cultural industry (especially after World War II), not only by luring people into mind-

less entertainment, but also by keeping them unmotivated and uninspired to pursue things that really

mattered. During the rise of the Disney empire in America in the early to mid-1900s, the majority

of the Western world suffered from world wars, colonialist consolidation and accelerating com-

modification which, according to Adorno, caused people to fall back into the very barbarism that

civilization had prided itself in overcoming. It is against this historical backdrop that Adorno criti-

cizes Disney’s culture industry and, more specifically, the ways in which it tried to justify self-

numbing as a necessary price of self-preservation during these times of hardship, as opposed to

uplifting or challenging people to think about ‘how life could be more than the struggle for self-

preservation’ (Adorno, 2003). But regardless of these fears, this entertainment industry and its influ-

ences on culture and self-preservation have remained. The industry has increased its foothold in

society while evolving to meet the needs and expectations of people and investors alike. What was

once considered dangerous is now embedded in the fibres of every society.

In many respects, transhumanism is feared for the same reasons. It is a cultural and philo-

sophical movement which, in essence, aims to enable human beings to transcend the boundaries of

their current existence; some may fear its influence on and relationship to society and civilization

in general, as well as its function and role in the human condition (Johnson, 2013). Some may see

enhancement practices that aim toward transhumanism as a way of luring people towards easy fixes

instead of encouraging them to find meaning in their lives by developing a strong character by

facing and overcoming personal challenges and struggles (Homiak, 2019). As with the rise and

perseverance of the Disney empire, transhumanism is here to stay and is only gaining momentum,

especially during equally tumultuous times that include pandemics, environmental disasters brought

about by global warming and an increasing push towards the digitalization of everything. In this

context, it is easy to see how transhumanism may also be seen as self-preservation, as in Adorno’s

criticism of Disney’s culture industry. Instead, transhumanism should serve to secure a life of value,

higher in quality than one of mere survival.

This is when Sorgner offers his arguments favouring transhumanism and how it must be

viewed as part of the natural evolution of human enhancement. In We have Always been Cyborgs,

Sorgner defends a non-utopian version of transhumanism and is very clear that the ultimate goal of

any transhumanistic venture should be to enable a person to live a good life and that neither cryon-

ics, mind-uploading or any other technology that promises immortality can promote this goal (p.7).

In this book, Sorgner explains transhumanism via two approaches to enhancement: 1) through bio-

technology, or what he calls ‘carbon-based transhumanism’, in which enhancement is achieved

through gene editing, vaccinations, the selection of a fertilised egg or even through the taking of

Adderall; and 2) cyborg technologies, or what he calls a ‘silicon-based transhumanism’, which

includes implanted RFID (radio-frequency identification) chips, brain–computer interfaces and

even technologies as rudimentary as smartphone interfaces. The persuasiveness and crux of his

arguments in favour of transhumanism and the technologies that enable it can be found in the logic

DOI:10.13169/prometheus.38.3.0342