# Technological Embodiment **Entity class:** Human-machine systems concept **Collections:** [[collections/Neurotech|Neurotech]] · [[collections/Consciousness Continuity|Consciousness Continuity]] ## Definition **Technological Embodiment** describes how cognition and agency are shaped by the sensors, effectors, timing, energy, material constraints, and environmental coupling of a technical host. ## Relationships - It limits simplistic readings of [[wiki/Implementation Independence|Implementation Independence]] and [[wiki/Substrate Independence|Substrate Independence]]. - It connects [[wiki/Receiving Substrate|Receiving Substrate]], [[wiki/embodiment and environment|Embodiment and Environment]], and [[wiki/Functional Digital Twin|Functional Digital Twin]]. - [[articles/Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer|Technologies for Consciousness Mapping and Transfer]] treats embodiment as part of the continuity stack rather than a disposable output layer. <!-- BEGIN HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> This entry's documented connections are expressed in its definition and related-work routes, with provenance retained in the source-linked material. <!-- END HUMANIZED RELATIONSHIPS 2026-09-11 --> ## Simple Reminders, Quotations, and Thoughts > "We are building new intelligent beings, but we are building them within ourselves. It is only artificial now, because it is new. As it becomes dominant, it will simply become intelligence." > **— Quentin Hardy**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Machine Succession/Artificial Intelligence Is Being Built Inside Us by Quentin Hardy|Artificial Intelligence Is Being Built Inside Us by Quentin Hardy]] > "If something gives us grounds to be happy, the mind-body system (the human being) becomes happy, and the mind experiences happiness." > **— David Gelernter**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Consciousness/Being and Happiness Belong to the Mind-Body System by David Gelernter|Being and Happiness Belong to the Mind-Body System by David Gelernter]] > "Self-interest might transform machines that act on the world (or "robots") from automata into agents." > **— Brian Knutson**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Consciousness/Self-Interest Could Turn Robots Into Agents by Brian Knutson|Self-Interest Could Turn Robots Into Agents by Brian Knutson]] > "From the design of roads and buildings to the user-friendly features of consumer goods, the technologically extended phenotype has created the illusion that reality is inherently human-shaped." > **— Steve Fuller**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Evolution/Technology Makes Reality Seem Human-Shaped by Steve Fuller|Technology Makes Reality Seem Human-Shaped by Steve Fuller]] > "The next generation will be able to explicitly create and improve their own software and are likely to self-improve rapidly." > **— Steve Omohundro**, *2015, Edge annual question “What Do You Think About Machines That Think?”* [[reminders/Machine Succession/The Next AI Generation Will Improve Its Own Software by Steve Omohundro|The Next AI Generation Will Improve Its Own Software by Steve Omohundro]]