Chapter Fourteen:

Ownership and Self in Networked Spaces

We mentioned previously the commonly held myth of evolution and its implications on how we perceive our own place in culture. A cyborg is not a robot, but one who uses a cybernetic system. It is body and machine, but that machine element need not be necessarily a physical machine--only a technical apparatus. We are all engaged in cyborg behaviors already. Currently there is a rather contentious meme that essentially embodies the signal of 'transcending biology,' but it is our opinion that this biological transcendence is simply a coping mechanism for the neurological augmentation of the individual through technological means. In other words, transcendence has been commoditized as we begin to adopt cyborg technology to transcend learned limitations of behavior and belief.

We've already touched on the emergence of a person as an intersection of a multiplicity of minds, moving beyond the idea of consciousness as equal to a body and a body as a singular individual. This means a person is a part of many different larger minds, and we have been labeling these larger minds egregores or masterminds, depending on whether we are analyzing the group mind or the individuals who make up the group.