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When digitalization becomes personal

  • info551624
  • Jun 3
  • 3 min read

Third edition of the Wittenstein Foundation's "shifts in perspective" series


27.05.2025



With an impressive keynote speech at the TauberPhilharmonie last Thursday, Dr Patrick Kramer provided new impetus for the Wittenstein Foundation's "shifts in perspective" event series. Under the title "The digital transformation of humans - on the way to becoming cyborgs?", the renowned biohacker and future thinker shed light on the profound changes that digitalization is bringing to the human body and the self-image of "being human".


Virtual reality artist Marvin Junker got the audience in the mood for the evening with his impressive digital art performance. Under the title "The digital transformation of man - on the way to becoming cyborgs?", Dr Kramer took the audience into the world of internal body technologies, bioelectronic interfaces and sensory self-optimization. What sounds like science fiction is already reality for many people: implanted microchips, smart sensors and magnetic implants are no longer just being tested in research laboratories - they have arrived in everyday life.

 

Biohacking as a path to self-empowerment


"Cyborgs are already living among us today - inconspicuous, but real," says Kramer. "When a blind person can see again, a deaf person can hear again or a paralyzed person can walk again, it's not a miracle, it's technology." According to his thesis, people have long been part of a digital transformation process in which the smartphone is just the beginning: "The next logical step is to stop carrying technology around with you and let it become part of your body."


Kramer, who himself wears six microchips under his skin, gave a very personal account of his own path to biohacking - triggered by a burnout experience. For him, integrating technology into his own body was a response to a loss of control - a way to reshape his own life.


Particularly impressive: the live implantation of a microchip in an event participant on stage - a moment that made it clear how close theory and practice are to each other. The great interest of the audience was also evident in the subsequent question and answer session - many of those present sought a personal discussion with Dr Kramer after the lecture and spontaneously decided to have an implant themselves: A total of eleven new "cyborgs" left the TauberPhilharmonie. "That was the second biggest response I've ever experienced after an event," said Kramer, visibly moved.


Studies show growing openness

 

In addition to technical fascination, the lecture also addressed the social and ethical implications of this development. According to recent studies (Bitkom 2024), over a third of Germans are already open to chip implants in principle, and the majority of young people are even in favour. Applications range from medical diagnostics to new forms of perception. However, Kramer also warned: "We are at a crossroads. The question is not just what is technically possible - but what we want as a society. Observing is not enough - we have to shape."


In the midst of this technological dynamic, Kramer reminded us of the human element: "Even digitally optimised people are not immortal. At the end of life, the heart wants to be held. We are and remain human, regardless of technology."


Next event of the Wittenstein Foundation

 

The next Wittenstein Foundation event will take place on 29 October 2025 at the TauberPhilharmonie in Weikersheim. As part of "enter the future", the eleventh event in the series will focus on the topic of "Germany as a business model", on which Prof Dr Clemens Fuest, President of the ifo Institute, will speak.


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All pictures: (© Wittenstein Foundation / Michael Pogoda)







Pictured from left to right: Dr Patrick Kramer, biohacker and visionary of the future, and Dr Manfred Wittenstein (founder and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Wittenstein Foundation).









Numerous guests took part in the third event in the Wittenstein Foundation's "Change of Perspective" series.









Dr Patrick Kramer gives a very personal account of how he came to biohacking.











The audience took the opportunity to get their own microchip implant.










Virtual reality artist Marvin Junker got the audience in the mood for the evening with his impressive digital art performance.


 
 
 

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