A public count, kept in the open
28of 35
ways of changing a human being on purpose have been tried in at least one living person.
How much of a human being can we change on purpose today?
Not in a story, and not someday: today, with a device, a drug or a procedure that at least one person has actually had, counted from the public record and never guessed. The one change that would matter most, a direct link between a brain and a machine, has a branch of its own.
No reading of the news against the upgrades has run yet; the first one is coming, and this line will say when it ran. See the story so far.
- nothing recorded yet
- idea only
- shown in animals
- first human
- in clinical use
- in wide use
Each part of the figure is one of the seven branches, shaded by the furthest stage any upgrade under it has reached. Click a part to see what is there.
An upgrade, here, is one specific way of changing a human being on purpose: an implant that gives back some sight, a pill meant to slow ageing, a chip that lets a paralysed person type by thought. Each one is written down with a plain test of what would count as a person having it, the public record that settles that, and a stage: idea only, shown in animals, a first human, in use by doctors, or in wide use. The stage is a fact about what has happened, not a guess about what will. There are no odds on this site. The seven branches are the seven things about a person that can be changed: what they sense, how they move, how they think and remember, how they feel, how long they last, what they pass to their children, and how directly they can be joined to a machine.
The seven branches
what is recorded under each- 1 of 76 upgradesSensesSeeing, hearing, touch, and senses we were not born with.Furthest stage: in wide use
- 2 of 75 upgradesMovement and bodyLimbs, muscle, bone, and the machines that move with us.Furthest stage: in clinical use
- 3 of 74 upgradesMemory and thinkingRemembering, learning, attention, and the quiet merge with always-on tools.Furthest stage: in wide use
- 4 of 74 upgradesMood and driveHow we feel, what we want, and whether that can be set on purpose.Furthest stage: in clinical use
- 5 of 75 upgradesLifespan and repairLiving longer, healing faster, and replacing what wears out.Furthest stage: first human
- 6 of 74 upgradesInheritanceWhat we pass to our children, chosen rather than left to chance.Furthest stage: in clinical use
- 7 of 77 upgradesThe link to machinesA direct connection between a brain and a computer, and how much can pass through it.Furthest stage: in wide use
Why keep count
One idea about the future says that as machines get smarter, people keep up by joining with them: better senses, better memory, a direct line from brain to computer. Whether that is happening is a question with an answer, and the answer is a list. This site is that list, kept in the open so that anyone can check an entry, argue with a stage, or add what is missing. The rules for deciding a stage are under how the numbers are worked out, every change is dated in the story so far, and the place to push back is Disagree with something.