Page - 155 - in Cyborg Mind - What Brain–Computer and Mind–Cyberspace Interfaces Mean for Cyberneuroethics

Cyberneuroethics • 155 At the same time, with an ever-growing number of individuals reflecting new forms of bodies or neuronal interfaces, the norm may change. It follows that what may have been considered as monstrous in the past may eventu- ally be accepted as a new normal. Moreover, it is worth noting that there is always something mysterious about humanity that resists definitions and any scientific reductionism. Even in the U.K. Parliament and the European Parliament, for instance, no definition of humanity exists in law, though all legislation enacted in these parliaments is based on a certain understanding of what it is to be human. Humanity, the Human Brain and the Human Mind Ever since ancient times, it has generally been assumed that some spiritual element in the physical human body must exist that brought it into life. The organs, by themselves, did not make all that much sense, but blood did, and clearly a substantial amount was required for a person to remain alive. Thus, blood was considered to be the key to life in antiquity, though the ‘breath of life’ was also seen as important. For centuries, the point in time when a person stopped breathing and his or her heart stopped beating was seen as determining the time of death. However, with an increasing understanding of genetics, new insights into existence and nature were offered. The quest for the human genome became a kind of search for the book of life. Genetics seemed to explain why human- ity was so unique and, as such, was seen to be useful in defining human beings. But this had its own problems once it was realised that about 50 per cent of human genes were found in bananas and more than 98 per cent were shared with chimpanzees. It was only when science moved from examining genetics to the brain, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, that a new emphasis became possible. This then discussed the nature of humanity as being associated with neurology and, more particularly, with the cerebral cortex  – the part of the brain giving rise to thoughts. Interestingly, this ‘corticalistic’ view of humanity reflects, in some way, the seventeenth-century idea of a small intelligent being, a homunculus, locked inside the biological brain-machine. Of course, the existence of such a being has now been dismissed, but questions about how a network of connected neurons can create consciousness, thoughts, intelligence, desires and other similar concepts remain intractable. Within this context, one suggested path used to explain these abilities reflects the idea of emergence. This begins by observing that once a simple brain exists, such as the neurons in a worm, it can perform basic functions, but when a more complex brain, such as that of a bird, is considered, it can begin to conceive basic tools, while also adapting to different settings. If This open access edition has been made available under a CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license thanks to the support of Knowledge Unlatched. Not for resale.