When Oscar Pistorius ran at the Olympics on a pair of things that, whatever else they were, were not legs, it raised the question: How far is this going to go, where’s the limit, at what point does it stop being a test of human speed, agility, strength and stamina and start being a pageant of prosthetics, a test of technology and, if so, is that the way we want to go?
Gentlemen, We Have the Technology
Well, then, today I was reading the story of Philippe Croizon. Croizon is a Frenchman who had an unfortunate accident a few years back involving a metal ladder, a TV aerial and a power line, the end result of which, when they’d finished separating Croizon’s body from the ladder, they had to amputate both his arms and legs.
Which must make life a bitch, I’m sure, but Croizon has proved to be adaptable, and tough. He has provided humanity with the greatest example of lemons dealt by life being turned into lemonade ever. With some paddle-like appendages, he swims… across the Suez Canal, across the English Channel, across the Bering Strait.
Of course, he also wears a rubber suit against the cold.
So, where does it end? The blind could be outfitted with new, camera style eyes, better than regular eyes, directly connected to a computerized calibration system connected to the brain and the limbic system. They would win all the marksmanship medals. The deaf will have super hearing. The world will have superheroes.
It is more than a short step from Oscar Pistorius to Steve Austin, or Kit in Knight Rider. It’s a long, long series of short steps. But it seems those steps are being taken in rapid succession.
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I think life can be a beach intead of a bitch.