Bionic Legs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cgamzhPd4b8

This a clip of Ralph Green a skier in the Paralympics. He was shot and lost his leg.  Later he became involved with skiing. I saw him on CBS Sunday Morning and thought about our first class. I wondered why he didn’t use a bionic leg like the woman model/runner we saw in class. There is also the famous Oscar Pistorius, who has prosthetic legs and fought to be part of the Olympics. If anyone one would like to read more on Oscar there is a great article about whether he is a cyborg or not. I found out a lot about the Paralympics, which both men compete in. It was started after World War II for soldiers with spine injuries. It was first organized in England by Sir Ludwig Guttmann.  It has never had as large a following as the Olympics. I wonder because we have the technology now, why not allow those who want to compete and have bionic ligaments to be in the Olympics?  Why have the abled and disabled segregated if technology can allow them to compete? Is it that cyborgs are scary to some people? Or is it that people are afraid of developing “super-humans” with technology.  While researching bionic legs I came across this great clip of a pair of legs designed by Honda.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rsQnq-31nuE

If all this technology helps us…should there be a dividing line between what is necessary or fair? Or should we just accept it as it is? Personally, I think we should not separate the cyborgs from everyone else.