Cyborgs the body, the information and the technology

1. Cyborgs: the Body, Information and Technology (Murphy, A., & Potts J., Culture and Technology Michelle Thomas

2. Edgar Allen Poe 1843 “ a person whose physiological functioning is aided by or dependent upon a mechanical or electronic device” “ For the exogenously extended organizational complex functioning as an integrated homeostatic system, unconsciously we propose the term ‘Cyborg’ Cyborg – Indefinable? ”a fictional or hypothetical person whose physical abilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by mechanical elements built into the body.” A cyborg essentially a man- made system in which the control mechanisms of the human portion are modified externally by drugs or regulatory devices so that the being can live in an environment different from the normal one ] The concept of a man-machine mixture was widespread in science fiction before World War II. As early as 1843 Edgar Allan Poe Described a man with extensive prostheses in the short story The Man That Was Used Up". Oxford Definition Other dictionary definitions Clynes and Klyne 1960 New York Times 1960

3. FACT: ‘Cyborg is a merging of the words cyber and organism or merging of organic and cybernetic FACT: Term appeared due to HCI or Human Computer Interaction Cyborgs: A global debate The definition of cyborg is debated in many fields: medicine, art, technology, religion but more prevalent are the conversations over context and implications.

4. Haraway’s definition: ‘a creature of social reality’ AND ‘ a creature of fiction’ Harawy’s defining ambiguity is bought about by an u nknown future and implications Cyborgs: Why the Debate? The constant blurring of boundaries in our definition of cyborgs brings about dystopian and utopian theorists

5. Question 1: Why can we not agree about what a cyborg is?

6. Dystopian Many foresee doom in the form of fear, entrapment, soulessness and a lack of moral responsibility. Stelarc: “I see technology as an evolutionary energizer.. The first phase of technology contained the body, whereas now miniaturized technology can be imparted in the body…the end of evolution is at hand” Utopian Cyborgs: Utopian Vs Dystopian A second line of text could go here

7. “Our best machines are made of sunshine, they are all light and clean because they are all light and clean because they are nothing but signals, electromagnetic waves, a section of the spectrum and these machines are eminently portable, mobile. . the ubiquity and invisibility of cyborgs as precisely why these sunshine-belt machines are so deadly. They are as hard to see politically as materially (1991b_153 – Haraway) Information exchange has always been constant in our society but the notion of cyborgs brings about a new age Another dimension: Information as cybernetics

8. What is information becoming to us?

9. “when computers were virtually real machines, women wrote the software on which they ran. And when computer was a term applied to flesh and blood workers, the bodies which composed them were female .” (Sadie Plant, 1997) The Age of Posthuman There will be no autonomous individuals as such. Leaving gender an uncertain future .(Katherine Hayles) ‘autopoises’ living individuals part of a system constantly reinventing itself.( ‘ autopoiesis’ ) - Humberto Maturana and Francisco Varela

10. Who is in control of this transition to posthuman? Haraway’s “The Cyborg Manifesto”

11. Implications: Are we rendering ourselves redundant? Are we outmoding our body Bringing on genetic disasters Nanobots invading our bodies Bringing on devastating forms of warfare Intelligent machines dismissing ourselves or even worse feeding upon us . Over population – population control and food shortages Genetic screening – “ Human genome project 2000’ Doctrine of science in all the advancements such as DNA technology becoming profit based

12. Will there be regrets? The human race has forever gained technological ground only to regret taking steps with confidence without being absolutely sure of the consequences. When the computer was invented no one was actually sure what it was to be used for.

13. Finding the path between utopian and dystopian

14.   Question 2 Can becoming cyborg really mean to engage with our information culture meaning our conscious choice to have a second online presence and modifying ourselves both with information and technology? QUESTIONS: