Body Hacking and Conceptions of Corporeality

Abstract

This paper is the culmination of my independent research into the phenomenon of "body hacking": DIY techno-body modification that typically involves the surgical embedding of electronic or computing devices into the body. Body hackers are operating largely within a transhumanist vision (body hacing to improve and/or transcend the self or the human condition) and outside of traditional medical institutions. My paper addresses conceptions of the hacked body, including the deliberate and physical transition into "cybrog" and the blurred line of "humanness" that comes from a surgical merge with technology. I focus on the perspectives on corporeality that come from body hackers themselves; I find that there are varying opinions within the body hacking community on the value of the material body. Many body hackers aim to transcend or render obsolete the physical body - in search of a more enlightened or convenient existence, for example - but others see body hacking as a practice that makes them more human.  Many body hackers see the physical human condition as a very limited one that is in need of improvement. My paper explores these perspectives and presents a nuanced picture of the modern body hacking philosophy, as a fascinating example of the interface between materiality/coroporeality and technology.