If you glance to the horizon of tomorrow you’ll see human beings are on the verge of fully merging with our technology. When we finally grow into the cyborgs we seem destined to become- we’ll finally live as our own creations made in our own image. This may or may not be a good thing.

For now, we have “grinders” to blaze the trail. They’re also known as “body hackers.” The nicknames refer to their ethos and the blunt methods they use to implant foreign objects in their bodies and perform somewhat crude body-modifications. They’re some of my favorite people in the world. Grinders can’t wait to live in our presumed future. They want those sci-fi body-mods they’ve seen in films and anime and they want them now. My favorite amongst them are the ones who enjoy an invisible love affair with electro-magnetism – that ever-present electrical hum of our digital lives. In order to savor this with a “sixth sense,” to feel this odd sensation, they shove tiny magnets under their skin.

You may wonder: Why would anyone implant a tiny magnet under their skin?

Well, to say it plain, these folks aren’t satisfied with the limits of their senses. They want to “get off” feeling the magnetic field that pervades our modern world of laptop, televisions, electric cords, outlets, microwaves, cellphones. If you’re worried about these horizon-runners shoving foreign materials into their bodies for some kinda kinky fetish thing- don’t. The magnets they implant are tiny.

The human body is an amazing creation. It took billions of years to develop, with lots of starts and stops. For some folks, awesome as it is, evolution just moves too damn slowly.  So they choose to sorta jump-start it by shoving these magnets in their bodies, and once their nerves grow accustomed to the presence of the magnets, their mind begins to actually “feel” electro-magnetism as easily and clearly as you can sense light, heat and pressure.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KR-WQzsg32Y&w=584&h=390]

The neomydium magnets they use are usually encased in something like silicone. Or if you’re a little more punk rock, one can use a hot glue gun, cover the magnet, then let the glue cool and shove the mass into an incision in your finger. This is not recommended. Since some of these folks live on the fringe, to them this isn’t as brutal as it sounds. The science works out, but there are better options.

If you’re steadfastly against performing surgery on yourself… as many responsible grinders are… one can, with a little effort and research, find a tattoo artist or body modifier willing to attempt this unsanctioned and possibly illegal procedure, it exists somewhere in the gray area of liability. The legality question depends on how they define “surgery” in your home area.

As far as the “legal liability” that’s up to the body modifier/tattoo artist and how much they’re willing to risk it. In case you want to sue him/her after your arm develops a life-threatening infection and doctors have to saw your hand off at the wrist to save you. So the people you approach may be a bit leery to do this surgery for you. This is understandable. So let’s return to the notion of you doing-it-yourself.

You’ll want to disinfect the area and numb the point of incision. Most grinders inject legal anesthetic, while others use maybe something they didn’t get over the counter. The point is to make sure your finger is really and truly numb, because once it’s numb you’re gonna take a surgical grade razor, or perhaps all you have is an artist’s exacto knife, but I understand this is highly not recommended since infection is always a major concern and exacto knives are ironically not very exact when used for DIY surgery. You need something that won’t require you to keep cutting and digging and gouging in your finger. You want a very sharp precise blade.

Once you disinfect and numb the area, you’ll wanna make a deep incision into the skin and muscle of your finger. Next, you’ll use wooden tweezers and a sterilized chopstick to position the magnet. Otherwise, it will stick to your metallic tweezers.  And why make your surgery anymore difficult?

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kznWw1EcHXs&w=584&h=390]

Using your wooden tools, you’ll shove the tiny magnet inside the incision and then situate the magnet somewhere inside your finger. Once it’s set, you’ll want to quickly sew up the incision with a few stitches. Tie off your knots. Disinfect the area again and bandage it. You’ll want to change your bandage daily, possibly apply antibiotic cream like Neosporin- always careful to monitor for infection.

After a few weeks, once you take off your bandage and you’ll begin to feel the magnetic world around you. Apparently, the perception grows stronger and stronger for roughly the first 6 months. As long as your body doesn’t reject the implant or develop an infection. If this happens, you’ll have to go through the whole surgery again.

Also, there’s no certain medical opinion on how long you should leave the magnet inside your finger. It really depends on what it’s covered in and how slowly that material degrades to the point that the magnet is exposed and your body begins to react badly to its presence. The human body doesn’t really like foreign objects shoved under the skin. It triggers a rejection response. Some body hackers write in forums about how their bodies pushed the magnets out of the skin. Which just sounds horribly painful. As always there are general risks for any at-home DIY surgery. Consult with someone qualified before you cut yourself open.

Body hacking requires imagination, passion and commitment. The real question is: What would you be willing to go through to gain a “superpower?”

Here’s a video of an implant being performed.  If you don’t like blood, don’t watch.

Until modern medicine catches up with the imagination of grinders and body hackers, the forefront of our cyborg revolution is happening in kitchens and basements all over the world.  Whether or not you wanna join the revolution, body-hackers are out there bringing the future to us now… and in the bodies of those grinder we can glimpse our shared future.

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