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Yep, from what I can see, humans are machines, we're just super-complex, very imperfect machines. I hate it in The Animatrix when that robot is at the United Nations saying, "Your flesh is a relic......blah...blah..." or does it say, "Your flesh is irrelevent??" Well, either way, if it was the first one, flesh is one of the most complex pieces of machinery there are. Now a smart machine might realize that this kind of complexity doesn't necessarily equate to a better machine, but it's still super complex, more complex then any robot human-made machine, even the ones in The Matrix and The Animatrix. For one, flesh and muscles and all that....PEOPLE, are made up of cells. Cells are EXTREMELY tiny, yet one cell has God knows how many different pieces inside of it, some of these which may be lving organisms by themselves that live and produce inside our cells. These little tiny PIECES of our cells are more complex then the most complex machinery ever created. And that's just one cell. Then you have the biological machinery that all the cells make up. Now of course, like I said, highly complex but very fragile, thus not necessarily better because of that complexity. But that kind of complexity means humans are far superior to a machine. It's just we lack some of the types of machinery, and the ability to attach types of machinery to ourselves, which reg. machines could do. For example, there are biological organisms that can generate electricity, all people it's believe have the capability to calculate numbers like a calculator, it's just that that ability lies dormant in most people, there are orgianisms that can sense changes in the Earth's magnetic shift (cats), there are organisms that can see ultraviolet light. My point is, the only difference is one human-made machine could be made to do all of these things where-as we humans can't because our machinery is so friggin' complex you have to really know genetics and all that to try to modify it.
So when people talk about the combining of "man and machine," that DOES NOT have to mean having computer chip stuck in your brain. Hell, it could mean having an "artificial" brain, one made out of nanomachines, tiny, tiny machines that can take in resources from the outside and manipulate them for survival (basically mechanical cells), and have that put into you. Such a brain might be modeled after the one you have, only the difference is that it's nanomachines (or cells) could be resistant to all types of diseases and cancers, and could fend off drugs and such. Hence, to an onlooker, such a brain might look like a normal one, if it consisted of trillions of tiny nano-machines put together to make a brain, only this brain would be superior. That is what I would consider the true merging of humans and machinery. And the same thing with organs. Nanomachine organs that are superior to normal organs. Or hell, genetically enhanced organs that are even more enhanced by the presence of nanomachiens that could repair injuries far quicker (so if you got shot or something, you'd heal fast as hell. Now I know of course that that kind of stuff is far off, but I'm sick of hearing about people worrying about humans combining with machines. HUMANS ARE MACHINES, and if we combine with machines, it will probably be nanomachine like machines, not having big mechanical parts placed under your skin in place of reg. muscles and bone and flesh. Something like that could never even repair itself. Think about it. If someone throws acid on your skin, it'll scar badly because the cells are programmed to reproduce super hard, tough versions of cells in that area; to adapt in case that area gets injured again. Reg. cells, with the aid of nanomachines, or nanomachine skin even, that was identical in every way to normal human skin, except made from nanomachines, could be made where if someone threw acid on our skin, it would repair the area, but it would just repair it by putting back in nice, normal skin. These types of machinery, combined with genetics and such, are what I think the true combination of humans machinery would be, and such a thing would produce a raise of extremely physically perfect beings. Note that when I mentioned that nanomachine brain, I mean a physically perfect brain. People themselves, in terms of intelligence and all that, I think should remain intact because that is what produces art, culture, music, philosophy, etc....but a good combo of genetics and machines would produce a race of physically perfect humans, which I think would be great; now, of course, I could go into the philosophy of IF such a race were made to exist, then how would we know if our love in relationships was real love or just based on sex, as everyone would be perfect. At 60, your wife still looks great and you have a fine sex drive, so no one complains. I guess that subject requires another discussion (LOL). MAybe we shouldn't try to physically perfect the race; ALSO, it would take all the benefit out of workout out and exercising, maybe; that also requires another discussion because you could have a race that is perfect provided they take care of their bodies and exercise and eat healthy, etc....they just don't have genetic flaws and such; or, "perfect" might be defines as a race with no flaws, where everyone has a great physique, health, etc.....but not I'm getting way ahead of myself. Sorry, write back and tell me what you think.

P.S. I know I talk a lot, as I went from why I think people are machines to the philosophical questions of "what is 'perfect,'" exactly???

It all depends on what your definition of machine is.

i wouldn't say machines...humans are just greedy.

"Your flesh is a relic, a mere vessel"
Nice quote
I dont think humans are machines, rather machines are humans...

"Who was to say the machine, endowed with the very spirit of man, did not deserve a fair hearing?"

A machine is a machine thats it. A machine can be human-like but to say a machine is human doesn't make sense, because if it's human it is NOT a machine, it cannot be both at the same time.

Hmmm, just noticed I posted this article in the wrong forum (LOL) anyway, a machien is just somethign that takes in work and outputs work. That's all it is. You need to define why a human is different from a machine. The only difference is that a human is made up of materials like carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, etc...where as most machiens are things like metal, copper, etc.....but there is not difference between human and machine really. It's just the human is a much more advanced and complex machine. And if you "throw in" the human soul, then yeah humans ARE separate from machines. But I'm referring to the human body here. The human body takes in food and water and outputs work. It pumps blood, pulls and pushes muscles and bones, etc....just through the actions of muscles and so forth which contract and relax when told to do so due to electrical impulses given them. You can't say, "A machine is a machine that's it." THAT makes no sense because you're not looking at what a machine really is. You're looking at what you think a machine is because you're so used to the traditional view of a machine.

wrong place indeed but to respect the tradition around need to say welcome !

Yeah thanx, and hi all peoples.