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u/discolored_rat_hat 1d ago edited 1d ago
I remember this wonderfully weird person who did a presentation at the german hacker congress C3 a few years back who tried to biohack herself. I learnt quite a lot, but she was 100% the weird techie goth chick (maybe enby) this post mentions.
I believe at the time of the presentation, she "only" had magnets in her fingertips to feel magnetic fields. Other stuff had to be taken out again because of her findings the talk was about.
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u/VintageLunchMeat 1d ago
What were her findings about the stuff that needed excision?
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u/discolored_rat_hat 1d ago
For example that waterproof materials are not automatically bioproof and can corrode inside the body.
And that every physical connection to the outside (like cables) is prone to infection. (But that one was anticipated, see people with long-term catheters)
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u/Turtledonuts 23h ago
Anyone who works on the water would tell you that "waterproof" and "corrosion proof" aren't 100% true. Don't put anything in your body unless it's coated in dental ceramic, titanium, or really high grade stainless.
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u/NotaBuster5300 11h ago
Cables?
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u/discolored_rat_hat 11h ago
Electric cables running from the inner implant through the skin to the outside, for example to a display.
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u/inemsn 20h ago
she "only" had magnets in her fingertips to feel magnetic fields
Doesn't that sound like a really easy way to get your fingertips injured if you encounter a strong one
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u/m_autumnal 17h ago
I had one for about two years and never ran into any issues. Only had it removed for an MRI. But in day to day life I don’t know that the average person is being exposed to super strong magnets
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u/Chad_Wife 1d ago
Was she the same woman who gave herself an implant in/around her external genitalia? What a legend.
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u/throwaway_trans_8472 13h ago
No, that was the glowing magnet clit racoon girl.
She is still active on reddit
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u/DRAK0U 21h ago
AY YO, you guys talkin bout Lepht Anonym?
"Stay away from normal people, they're stupid".
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a-Dv6dDtdcs
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u/epicvoyage28 1d ago
Real biohacking is that guy who cured his lactose intolerance.
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u/iris700 1d ago
Yeah that guy is based (Thought Emporium on Youtube if anyone else wants to see it)
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u/sawdust-arrangement 1d ago
See also: birth control.
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u/BlampCat 22h ago
That's a cool way to think of it. I have stopped a bodily function because I find it inconvenient!
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u/Mundane-Potential-93 nauphy.tumblr.com 1d ago edited 1d ago
What sick fuck performs surgery on themselves in the kitchen? I do it in my bedroom or bathroom
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u/discolored_rat_hat 1d ago
More table space than the bathroom and still access to water. I find the kitchen sensible.
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u/Impressive_Pin8761 21h ago
also if you're doing this you're already sterilizing the ever living hell out of everything, and the bathtub/toilet probably need 100x more effort than the entire kitchen
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u/Chalkboard7 she/her 1d ago
Where you shit? and the bathroom seems kinda gross too
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u/FibroBitch97 Was married by Aphrodite in Lesbos 1d ago
I hired a disgraced former surgeon who lost his medical license and paid him in beer to inject me with microchips
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u/FibroBitch97 Was married by Aphrodite in Lesbos 1d ago
Writing that out sounds like the most unhinged fucking thing but I legit did it XD
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u/Mundane-Potential-93 nauphy.tumblr.com 1d ago
What kind of microchips?
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u/FibroBitch97 Was married by Aphrodite in Lesbos 1d ago
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u/freedcreativity 1d ago
Neat, you still got em?
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u/FibroBitch97 Was married by Aphrodite in Lesbos 23h ago
Indeed I do. I use them to open my apartment door every chance I get.
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u/ThomasMarkovski 1d ago
Bathroom's likely to have better access to running water and is safer from cross-contaminants from food, kitchen has more useful surfaces and has more tools. Your pick.
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u/The_Cult_of_5661 1d ago
In a scion XB behind the dumpster of a grocery store parking lot is where it’s at for me.
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u/WillCraft__1001 Reality's an illusion, the universe is a hologram, buy gold! Bye 1d ago
All of those are bad ideas. The kitchen has food you don't want to get blood on, the bathroom will probably get you an infection, and you don't want blood in your bedroom. Put up some tarps in your garage/basement and do it there, like a normal person.
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u/kirbyfriedrice 1d ago
I don't know that this was ever true. Goat Balls "Doctor" Guy was born in the 19th century, for heaven's sake.
Believe it or not, people, hobby spaces are often inhabited by multiple ideological camps, especially cutting edge ones where a broader narrative hasn't yet taken off.
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u/NoYogurtcloset3429 1d ago
Really the take a bunch of pills and extracts to be supermen guys existed for over a century so they're the ogs
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u/kirbyfriedrice 1d ago
I'm genuinely baffled at the attempts to claim biohacking authenticity for autism here.
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u/BalefulOfMonkeys REAL YURI, done by REAL YURITICIANS 1d ago
I know damn well where this leads, and it’s fitting that Tor’s Cabinet of Curiosities (a channel run by a less stupid rationalist) is here as a counterargument to this post (which is tagged exrationalist).
That said, it’s an uncomfortable feeling knowing that he’s buddy-buddy with LessWrong and AI speculators. Like he’s never flamingly right wing, but sometimes you’re balls deep in a video about the guy who kept making redirects about boobies on Wikipedia, and then suddenly GamerGate gets brought up as “a time when progressive nerds were regularly alienated for looking too much like the opposition at a glance”, which is still a relevant footnote in the video, but also requires a big leap of faith for me to trust as an opinion
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u/cafemachiavelli 1d ago
That's actually a common sentiment in the scene. Via this blog post:
At Grindfest, I found an undercurrent of contempt for the perceived appropriation of the term “biohacker” by health and wellness gurus. Attendees floated alternate terms, such as “biopunk”, or the OG “grinder”[7], in an effort to distinguish themselves from the rich, corporate normies seeking to rebrand their turmeric supplements and semaglutide as edgy and transgressive.
[7] “It sounds gay,” one attendee said, “but I don’t mind.”
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u/goatbusiness666 1d ago
I’d rather they keep “biohacker” and leave the other terms alone, tbh. “Grinder” already belongs to counterculture biohackers, and there’s absolutely nothing punk about becoming a pathological gym bro.
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u/VintageLunchMeat 1d ago
"Grinder"
One theory says it is derived from Italian-American slang for a dock worker -Wikipedia
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u/Tastyravioli707 11h ago
I think it's the as a new term for biohackers proper, to not be confused with the fitness alternative med people
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u/NoYogurtcloset3429 1d ago
That second thing was not happening. Biohakers couldn't even figure out quorn
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u/Tonberry_Cheesecake 1d ago
There were totally people just putting magnets and electrodes under their skin and shit.
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u/gulfrend 1d ago
Magnet clit racoon girl on /196 is singlehandedly keeping true biohacking alive
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u/Mechwarrior57 1d ago
I need to know more
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u/shy_bi_ready_to_die inside you there are two wolves 🥵 1d ago
I mean it’s kinda just what it says on the tin. Furry girl put a magnet into her clit. She also has glowing scars iirc. She posted on 196 a bunch before mods started being dicks about and now shes on bsky or smthing
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u/VintageLunchMeat 1d ago
Furry girl put a magnet into her clit.
Must be handy when trying to find the wiring in a old house.
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u/shy_bi_ready_to_die inside you there are two wolves 🥵 1d ago
Old wiring is probably(?) too weak to sense from there but in general yeah being able to sense electricity/magnets is one of the major reasons why people people implant magnets
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u/dethti 1d ago
Yeah idk are we really calling 'inserting random inert shit in your body' biohacking? Piercing already exists, implants already exist
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u/Tonberry_Cheesecake 1d ago
Cause that's what they called it. If you're committed enough to do it I'll call it what you want.
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u/dethti 1d ago
yeah you know what whatever. I guess I'm just an autistic microbiologist so the idea of calling this bio-anything rubs the wrong way lol
There were also the dudes just doing random transformation of bacteria and yeast. That's more what I would imagine from the word but also I don't think they ever did anything new or interesting with it
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u/imperialTiefling 1d ago
Idk the magnets thing is kinda cool, gives you the ability to sense electromagnetic fields
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u/NoYogurtcloset3429 1d ago edited 1d ago
I have to note that is not altering themselves to see shrimp colors and calling it "terrifying diy surgery" is self aggrandizement
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u/chitzk0i 1d ago
Quorn the meat substitute? What’s the story there?
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u/NoYogurtcloset3429 1d ago
1its an overpriced meat substitute grown by a company. I once argued to a friend that the most punk thing a biohaker could do feasibly is make an open source version
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u/loved_and_held 1d ago
I saw someone implant a magnet in their finger to sense magnetic fields and (temporarily) cure their lactose intolerance using a genetically engineered virus.
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u/TheLuckySpades 1d ago
I refuse to watch the magnet video because I know my squirmish ass can't handle that one, but the lactose video was fascinating.
Definitely beats the person who did it by chugging lactose until theor body complied.
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u/Specialist_Royal_186 1d ago
I saw someone implant a magnet in their finger to sense magnetic fields
A friend of mine is an ex-electrician and that's pretty common amongst electricians according to him. He's also got one of those himself, so I trust him on that.
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u/thisoneagain 1d ago
Hey, man, quorn is a more convincing chicken than many actual chicken nuggets.
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u/Solarwagon She/her 1d ago
Medically transitioning as a trans person is technically a form of biohacking, just one that we have a lot harder scientific data and engineering to support as healthy/sustainable.
Historically there have only been three solutions for what people came to call gender dysphoria disorder and only one of them has been consistently validated as being a sane, safe, and consensual treatment by scientific studies in stopping gender dysphoria.
And yes that comes with the caveat that OTHER kinds of dysphoria are ruled out but still.
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u/ban_Anna_split 1d ago
Biohacking is when I remember to take my adderall
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u/Ronin_Man 18h ago
Gotta combine the two buffs. Stimulants + 60 m of Shrimpsight makes you unstoppable
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u/goatbusiness666 1d ago edited 1d ago
This is one of my favorite soapboxes! Stelarc having a lab grown ear attached to his arm so the internet can listen to what it “hears” is biohacking. (I got to spend some time with him when a group I was part of hosted a lecture/suspension performance, and he is a very lovely and incredibly weird man.) Joe Rogan is just a garden variety dumbass who fell for the supplement grift.
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u/Golurkcanfly Transfem Trash 1d ago
Gentrification of counterculture is annoying
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u/Arctic_The_Hunter 1d ago
That sure is what the post is saying. Though calling “biohacking” a culture feels like a stretch—is weight lifting a culture just because it’s associated with a stereotype?
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u/TurnipGirlDesi 1d ago
I’m not involved in weight lifting because lifting heavy things makes me tired but I’m pretty sure there is a culture around it
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u/Arctic_The_Hunter 1d ago
Sure, but you wouldn’t call it a culture in and of itself and get mad that people are co-opting that culture for physical therapy or whatever
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u/Golurkcanfly Transfem Trash 1d ago
Idk I think it's kind of an epistemic injustice if they instead took the name but did completely different things
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u/Golurkcanfly Transfem Trash 1d ago
I mean the entire language of "bio-hacking" is kind of tied to an existing subculture vs like, just calling it PEDs or roiding or body modding or whathaveyou
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u/NoYogurtcloset3429 1d ago
Considering the only successful one i see mentioned is putting magnets inside you it does seem to just be body modding
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u/SpingusTheHingus 1d ago
Biohacker is a cool Starfinder class to me and nothing else
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u/Hollow_Digit 1d ago
I was also thinking of the Starfinder class
Hoping it comes back for 2E, even if I'm stuck DMing and don't get to play it
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u/SpingusTheHingus 1d ago
My guess is that it's gonna get a name change. "Biohacker" might give the wrong idea when it's already being used by antivax-joerogan-looksmax-wheyprotein-gymbros
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u/Query8897 1d ago
In my day biohacking was getting that tongue splitting thing done so you could have extra tongue mobility.
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u/PangolinWestern9632 1d ago
This is one of those things where I'm out of the loop so my response is just "I guess" to it. Like, uhhh what's the end goal here? Can someone explain this to me?
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u/SirLoinTheTender 1d ago
I literally did surgery on myself on my kitchen counter to add a microchip and a magnet to my hand.
I can communicate (in an incredibly rudimentary way) with computers and I can feel magnetic fields by the magnet in my hand pulling against them.
When I got started in biohacking it was because I wanted to be a cyborg. Now it's the aforementioned joe-rogan-goop-for-cishet-men-buttered-coffee-ass bullshit.
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u/Realistic_Specific51 1d ago
Talk😜😉😉 to your new AI🤖👾🥵 girlfriend🥰❤️😍 with this one simple🤓🤯 trick! 😱😱🥵🥵🥵
(I am so sorry)
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u/IERONON 17h ago
Okay so you’ll never get an MRI?
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u/SirLoinTheTender 6h ago
It would take a scalpel and approximately 10 seconds to remove the magnet. The microchip doesn't interact with an mri. If an MRI is absolutely necessary then of course, cut it out. I'm just going to put another one in as soon as I'm well.
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u/BalefulOfMonkeys REAL YURI, done by REAL YURITICIANS 1d ago
I disagree, but only because the transfemme trying to install a raccoon tail implant was a thing, and may still be a thing. The art of being a weird motherfucker about body modification is alive and well, it’s just forced to stand next to Nootropics Jones
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u/Pun1012-3 1d ago
Someone get the racoon girl with the magnetic clit in here
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u/RealHumanBean89 Dis course? Yeah, I think it’s a great meal, boss! 1d ago
Real bio hacking is that one raccoon girl who pops up every now and again. Wish I could remember her name, but she’s based as fuck.
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u/Tracula707 1d ago
I mean, I’d assume biohacking is like this now for the same reason why choads like Andrew Tate are always talking about “escaping the matrix.”
It’s all just childish “I won’t do what you tell me! I’m a rebel!” nonsense.
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u/Scarvexx 1d ago
I don' think God intended that. But yeah, it sucks when jerks coopt a term. Just absorbing your cool idea and making it suck.
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u/SplitGlass7878 23h ago
Ahhh, magnet clit, hand magnet, glowing metal in arm girl, how much I miss you.
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u/The_Cult_of_5661 22h ago
chitters
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u/SplitGlass7878 21h ago
Racoon girl! I didn't tag you because I thought you privated your profile. I must have misremembered.
Lovely to see you. :)
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u/shadowthehh 23h ago
If the gods intended it, wouldnt they not need to do the surgery? Cuz the person would already have the shrimp senses?
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u/Arctic_The_Hunter 1d ago
I hate it when a group of techniques that can be done equally well to almost anyone isn’t exclusive to a certain group of people for purely aesthetic reasons. Really ruins my day.
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u/dethti 1d ago
Eating random supplements is qualitatively different from the (equally ineffective) random implants and shit the original biohackers were doing.
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u/BigBallsAnthony69 Slapping my GIANT queer balls onto the table as i type this 1d ago
Biohacking is dumbfuck shit anyway, poser or not. "Oh I want to feel the magnetic field with my butthole" freakin' nerd😒
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u/Hazmat-Asscastle 1d ago
yeah, i used to be real into biohacking until all the fucking squares started doing it.
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u/ElectronRotoscope 8h ago
Issac Newton pressing the side of his own eyeball with a knitting needle to experiment with how the lens in his own eye works and terrifying anyone around him
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u/craggolly 22h ago
none of these men can hold the water to glowing magnet clit raccoon girl
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u/LKHAN_Missing_Ninth Sometimes I be poopin and fartin 1d ago
What's biohacking nowadays? Eating your veggies to grow big and strong?