Grinders are hackers, but the hardware they aim to hack is the human body. They are transhumanist in the most literal sense. Grinders want to transcend human form. For many grinders, that means augmenting their bodies with cybernetic components—becoming cyborgs.
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To the grinder, it seems obvious that instead of carrying wallets and keys and IDs and cellphones, we’ll one day interface with the world via microchips implanted under our skin. Such ideas are not always welcomed warmly. For many of us, our smartphones may as well be attached to our bodies, but there is something about moving technology past the barrier of the skin that just gives people the heebie-jeebies.
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“People don’t like change,” [Jeffrey] Tibbetts told me. “This is obviously something that could change the world. And people fear that.”
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Other grinders have implanted devices that emulate bioluminescence, that allow them to swipe on to public transit using only their hand, and that continuously measure body temperature.
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A lack of obvious usefulness, though, is probably the movement’s greatest hurdle.
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Unlocking my apartment door with my hand sounds cool, but setting up an NFC-compatible lock honestly seems like more of a hassle than just remembering my keys.
Read full, original post: I Spent a Weekend With Cyborgs, and Now I Have an RFID Implant I Have No Idea What to Do With
