The ghost in the machine idea comes from the philosophy of Dualism. It was first introduced by Descartes and then later expanded into the known phrase by Gilbert Ryle. The theory talks about the mind and body being separate but connected in a deeper way. Cyberpunk 2077 explores these ideas as the people within the created world slowly take away from their bodies and, consequently, their minds. The human mind can only stay stable so long on its own. As more of the body is replaced, cyberpsychosis sets in and becomes the bain of Cyberpunk 2077.
Is Cyberpsychosis in Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty?
Cyberpsychosis will always be in Cyberpunk, and it’s not gone anywhere in Phantom Liberty. Cyberpsychosis isn’t something that can be cured; it exists as a result of people’s obsessions with their own cybernetic bodies and Ripperdocs who will push them beyond their own limits
PC Invasion
What is Cyberpsychosis
Cyberpsychosis is the condition that is a result of getting rid of too much of your own body and replacing it with cyberware. This is too much for the fragile human mind. Everyone has a limit. Pushing beyond this will result in a mind that no longer recognizes the body it is in.
The question stands, are we the body we inhibit, or are we a separate mind that exists within it? Is it possible to completely replace the shell prison we’re locked within with cybernetics, or does the soul exist within the body?
Cyberpunk 2077 seems to believe that if a weaker mind replaces too much of themselves, then the self is lost, and a Cyberpsycho is created. These insane people need to be killed and taken out of circulation by V and other mercenaries. They are always superhumans who have lost their minds in payment for obscene cybernetics and skill.
However, someone like Adam Smasher, who is almost entirely a machine, is an exception to the rule. But the argument stands, was he ever really human in the first place? Maybe he was born a soulless monster.
