February 17, 2009

Aimee Mullins at TED: Give me beautiful legs

In my previous post I made the case for novel and non-traditional prostheses. I'm not implying, however, that this is for all people, nor am I suggesting that there's something wrong with a disabled person wanting to look like a "normal" human.

Case in point is cyber-athlete and double-amputee Aimee Mullins. When Aimee is not tearing up the track with her carbon-fibre blades, she wears artificial legs that look and feel exactly like normal legs -- hair follicles and all. She even likes to paint her nails and wear high heels.

Here's a video of Aimee Mullins at TED 1998 talking about running as a disabled athlete (very inspiring and I highly recommend you watch this) and her assortment of artificial limbs. It's a poignant example of how technologies can help people achieve self-actualization.

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3 comments:

  1. Anonymous10:25 PM

    Thanks for the heads-up about people with disabilities not being normal humans. Always nice to know where the transhumanists stand on that one.

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  2. George1:19 AM

    Uh, you do see the word normal in scare quotes, do you not?

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  3. Richard Blalock11:23 AM

    As someone having an Ertl amputation in 2 weeks, I could care less what the prosthesis looks like. I'm a runner-on-hold and I think the Cheetch/Flex-foot prothesis are things of incredible beauty. Personally, I dislike the fake legs but we all come from different life points. A great industrial type design that works as form following function would be my one desire. Be true to yourself and what you are.

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