In Dalton Trumbo’s 1939 WWI novel, Johnny Got His Gun, the main character has lost his arms, legs, eyes, nose, ears, tongue, both jaws and all of his face — but his mind still functioned perfectly. He is still who he is, he just doesn’t have his body anymore which suggests that our bodies are not essential to our self-consciousness or self awareness.
Rene` Descartes philosophical principle, I think, therefore I am" could also be interpreted as,“ I think because I have a brain, therefore I am because I have a brain. Or, I am my brain, and my brain is me.
If that is true then the notion that the brain can be detached from the body and transferred into a synthetic body without the loss of the self is more than just science fiction. In fact the idea of a human brain being transferred into a mechanical body is closer to reality than it might seem. Science has already made much headway in that direction. For example, humans are now fitted with artificial heart pacemaker and an assortment of artificial limbs. This combination of human and machine is called a Cyborg. A Cyborg is an organism that has both artificial and natural systems and is an idea that has been around in novels back before WWII. In 1908 a French novelist wrote a novel, The Man Who Can Live in Water, in which the superhero was a Cyborg. Also C. L. Moore’s 1944 short story, “No Woman Born” was about a dancer whose brain was placed into a mechanical body. There have been a number of other books written on the subject as well, including, the Book of Ob.
The Book of OB is set in the future in another galaxy where the transfer of brains into mechanical bodies is common place. The entire planet of Zimmnel for example is populated by Cyborgs. They are not the same Cyborg terminators as portrayed in the film The Terminator. The Terminators were a group of aggressive, violent Cyborgs bent on destroying other planets and human life. The Zimmnellians, who call themselves, “electro-people”, are quite the opposite. Their large, peaceful planet is in a galaxy where humanoids and Cyborgs co-exist. The Zimmnel electro-people do not travel around the universe trying to destroy or conquer other planets; instead they try to bring peace and stability to the universe.
In this story we journey to a small organic planet called OB where our main character, Kenom Ornam and his friend Enew are spending a few weeks as planet patrolmen in an obsolete war dome owned by humanoids from the planet Flexton. They must share the dome with the humanoid Flextons along with electro-people from planet Verton as well as fellow Zinmellians. To complicate matters they are not allowed to disclose that they are electro-people for fear it will frighten the humanoids and cause instability on the planet. This is cause for some deception, but for the most part it is a harmless charade where no one gets hurt.
Kenom asks to be stationed in a remote area of the dome hoping he will be able to relax, think and observe the beauty of the primitive vegetation on this planet. But things get complicated as two religious factions within the dome begin to face off. Kenom is reluctantly put in a position of authority where he is forced to arbitrate to keep things from getting out of hand.
Because Kenom is a non-aggressive Cyborg from a peaceful planet and by nature a peaceful non-violent person, he tries to find peaceful ways to solve problems. Moral lessons are learned on the planet Ob as he comingles with brains of various power levels, some with belief systems quite different than his own.
Katika kitabu cha Dalton Trumbo cha 1939 Johnny Got His Gun, mwigizaji huyo amepoteza mikono, miguu, macho, pua, masikio, ulimi, taya zote mbili na uso wake wote, lakini akili yake bado inafanya kazi kikamilifu. Yeye bado ni yeye ni, yeye tu hana mwili wake tena ambayo inaonyesha kwamba miili yetu si muhimu kwa ajili ya ufahamu wetu wa kibinafsi au ufahamu wa kibinafsi. "Kama ilivyoelezwa na René Descartes, ""Nafikiri, kwa hiyo mimi ni"" ni kanuni ya kifalsafa ambayo inamaanisha ""Nafikiri kwa sababu nina ubongo, kwa hivyo mimi ni kwa sababu nina ubongo.""" Au, mimi ni ubongo wangu, na ubongo wangu ni mimi. Ikiwa hiyo ni kweli, basi wazo kwamba ubongo unaweza kutenganishwa na mwili na kuhamishwa kwenye mwili wa synthetic bila kupoteza nafsi ni zaidi ya hadithi tu ya sayansi. Kwa kweli, wazo la ubongo wa kibinadamu kuhamishwa kwenye mwili wa mashine ni karibu zaidi na ukweli kuliko inavyoonekana. Sayansi tayari imefanya maendeleo mengi katika mwelekeo huo. Kwa mfano, sasa wanadamu wamewekwa kifaa cha kuanzisha moyo wa bandia na viungo mbalimbali vya bandia. Mchanganyiko huu wa binadamu na mashine huitwa Cyborg. Cyborg ni kiumbe kilicho na mfumo wa asili na bandia, na ni wazo ambalo limekuwa likizunguka katika riwaya kabla ya Vita Kuu ya Pili ya Dunia. "Mwaka 1908 mwandishi mmoja wa Kifaransa aliandika kitabu ""The Man Who Can Live in Water"" (Mtu anayeweza kuishi majini) ambacho katika kitabu hicho, superhero alikuwa Cyborg." "Mwanzoni mwa mwaka wa 1944 katika hadithi yake ya ""No Woman Born"" Moore aliandika hadithi kuhusu mwanariadha ambaye ubongo wake uliwekwa ndani ya mwili wa mashine." Kumekuwa na vitabu vingine kadhaa vilivyoandikwa juu ya mada hiyo pia, kutia ndani, Kitabu cha Ob. Kitabu cha OB kinapatikana katika siku zijazo katika galaksi nyingine ambapo uhamisho wa ubongo katika miili ya mitambo ni mahali pa kawaida. Kwa mfano, sayari nzima ya Zimmnel ina watu wa Cyborg. Wao si terminators sawa Cyborg kama ilivyoonyeshwa katika filamu Terminator. Terminators walikuwa kikundi cha Cyborgs wenye jeuri, wenye jeuri waliojitahidi kuharibu sayari nyingine na maisha ya kibinadamu. Wazimnellians, ambao hujitaja, "electro-watu", ni kinyume kabisa. Sayari yao kubwa yenye amani iko katika galaksi ambako wanadamu na Cyborgs huishi pamoja. Watu wa umeme wa Zimmnel hawaendeshi kuzunguka ulimwengu wakijaribu kuharibu au kushinda sayari nyingine; badala yake wanajaribu kuleta amani na utulivu kwa ulimwengu. Katika hadithi hii, tunaenda kwenye sayari ndogo ya kikaboni inayoitwa OB, ambapo mhusika wetu mkuu, Ken O'Nan na rafiki yake Ean, wanatumia wiki chache kama polisi wa sayari katika dome ya vita iliyopitwa na wakati inayomilikiwa na humanoids kutoka sayari ya Flexton. Wanapaswa kushiriki dome na Flextons humanoid pamoja na watu wa umeme kutoka sayari ya Verton pamoja na Zinmellians wenzake. Ili kufanya mambo yawe magumu, hawaruhusiwi kufunua kwamba wao ni watu wa umeme kwa hofu ya kuwaogopesha wanadamu na kusababisha ukosefu wa utulivu kwenye sayari. Hii ni sababu ya udanganyifu fulani, lakini kwa sehemu kubwa ni mchezo usio na madhara ambapo hakuna mtu anayejeruhiwa. Kenon anaomba kuwa katika eneo la mbali la dome akitumaini ataweza kupumzika, kufikiri na kuchunguza uzuri wa mimea ya asili kwenye sayari hii. Lakini mambo yanazidi kuwa magumu wakati vikundi viwili vya kidini ndani ya mnara huo vinaanza kukabiliana. Kenom anawekwa katika nafasi ya mamlaka ambapo analazimika kuamua mambo ili mambo yasipite mikononi mwake. Kwa sababu Kenon ni Cyborg asiye na jeuri kutoka sayari ya amani na kwa asili mtu wa amani asiye na vurugu, anajaribu kupata njia za amani za kutatua matatizo. Masomo ya maadili yanafundishwa kwenye sayari ya Ob wakati anapochanganya na ubongo wa ngazi mbalimbali za nguvu, baadhi na mifumo ya imani tofauti kabisa na yake mwenyewe.