Yes, I do support the use of prosthetics and other biomedical engineering research in the name of assisting people live fuller lives. However, as this country debates health care reform, I do think about the cost that these new medical technologies cost and the relatively small number of people it helps. But it's difficult to make some kind of quick judgment to cut this kind of work. People I know and love could benefit and who am I to say other people's loved ones can't have it. It's fascinating work but I just wonder if other areas of medical research and treatment that would affect far more people don't get ignored or under-funded because they're not as sexy. I also wonder how many people are fitted with prostheses in this world because of military wounds. The age-old peacenik refrain: use the war money for medicine or other peaceful endeavors. Then we wouldn't have to make bionic people. I definitely don't support the use of this technology for purely military purposes.
I don't trust us humans with using technology responsibly. We don't have a particularly good track record. This makes me nervous when it comes to the widespread use of this technology.
How would you rate "the control of artificial limbs by thought alone"?
As a side note: A friend of mine, when I mentioned this topic we covered in class, told me that a family friend had a stroke a few months ago. In her rehab sessions she plays a lot of Wii. So the overlap between medical therapy and video game technology is already happening! So Wii may be healthy for the stroke patients, perhaps not so much for the rest of us. This, too, raises similar issues as the bionic man question. However, the idea that a person stuck in a body without being able to move could actually have some freedom of movement seems beautifully miraculous. I do wonder, considering the power of the placebo effect, if things could change without surgery and other complicated medical technology. But this is quite exciting work.
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