transgenders and cyborgs (Modified by Leo Sullivan)

[Leo Sullivan <hilarleo@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

"You know, transgenders and cyborgs have something in common: they both 
know what it’s like to go through profound physical transformations."
Michael Chorost became a cyborg on October 1, 2001, the day his new ear 
was booted up. Born hard of hearing in 1964, he went completely deaf in 
his thirties. Rather than live in silence, he had a small computer chip 
implanted in his skill that would allow him to hear. The melding of 
silicon and flesh has long been a science fiction staple, but as 
Chorost reveals, it's now commonplace. Human and machine are becoming 
one. REBUILT is the story of Chorost's journey - from deafness to 
hearing, from human to cyborg - and how it transformed him. Despite his 
fear of technology's dehumanizing effects, Chorost's cochlear implant 
allowed him to connect with the world in surprising ways. It also 
altered his perception of reality: with every upgrade to the implant's 
software, his experience of the world changed. Written with a 
self-deprecating, dry wit, REBUILT explores the biology of hearing the 
physics of sound, and the engineering of software that can now mend the 
senses when they break down. This quirky coming-of-age story unveils, 
in a way no other book has, the magnificent possibilities of a new 
technological era. A graduate of Brown University, Michael Chorost does 
research in educational technology.

MICHAEL CHOROST reads _REBUILT: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More 
Human_
 across the country this week;
tonight, Friday 24June 7:30pm,  at Cody's/Telegraph Avenue, Berkeley.

>http://www.michaelchorost.com/