The concept of transhumanism or the urge to become a “cyborg” hasn’t really evolved despite this era of technology but still, there are some folks who do it for the sake of their own interests and Lepht Anonym is one of them. Anonym is a transhumanist who “had spent the last 14 years implanting over 50 chips, antennae, and magnets into their body to become a cyborg”, according to their blog. This is one of the faces of mankind who want people to recognize them as “cyborg” or “posthuman”, but according to them, they would like people to call them “grinder” which is a mix of both human and a machine.
Anonym’s whole journey of becoming a cyborg is based on taking risks without the consideration of safety. They said in their blog, “I’d like to say I did it because I follow a grand tradition of self-experimenters in science, or that it was because practical transhumanism is more than a philosophy to me (it’s my life), but at least partly, I did it for kicks. I just wanted more senses; still do.” Their blog further reads, “Lepht Anonym is a faceless, genderless British biohacker. It lacks both gods and money, and likes people, science, and practical transhumanism.”
Lepht underwent more than 50 painful operations and this arduous journey started in 2007 when they surgically implanted a chip in their palm to pay for credit card payments rather than using credit cards. By putting a hand on the machine, the chip engraved into the palm automatically scans and makes the transactions. Lepht didn’t stop here. They further went beyond and made another operation in which magnets were inserted between their fingers so that they can easily detect the “distance between their hands and objects”.
While some people call them crazy attempts however others become really fascinated by the procedures by seeing the enhancing capabilities of a human being. But the whole process is extremely painful and this can be stated by the incident when Anonym made a vigorous attempt to implant a “pirate box” into their right arm. The device consists of a USB storage, a chip, and a Wi-Fi antenna and according to their blog, “Users just connect to it via their phone or PC and they can download/upload files, anonymously chat.”
As soon as the device was implanted into their right arm, it started to depict horrible results. In January 2020, Anonym said that the experiment has failed due to the massive nature of the device which couldn’t fit into their arm. The arm got swollen and Anonym had to go through an emergency check to come back to a normal situation. Anonym stated, “The doctors clearly thought this was an utterly bizarre thing to have done, and immediately admitted me for removal. They insisted it be removed and at this point, a hole had opened up over one corner of the device, through which a lot of nasty goo was issuing, so I went with their opinion and let them take it out.”
Lepht ultimately lost the strength of their right hand due to this failed experiment and later advised, “So, cautionary tale. don’t put enormous devices in your arms, folks.” However, the blog has been written to just keep a record of their daily progress in becoming a cyborg and there is no intention to get any fame against the procedures.