In conversation with the cyborg…or posthuman
November 10, 2010
In this film, we tried to explore the differences between being a cyborg and being posthuman…
http://www.vimeo.com/16674836References:
Hayles, N.K. (1999). Toward embodied virtuality, chapter 1 of How we became posthuman: virtual bodies in cybernetics, literature and informatics. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. pp1-25
November 10th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
Hello there, James,
Great take on the differences between cyborg and posthuman. The mention of a continuous feedback loop in Second Life had me thinking a bit. Specifically, you described how the continuous feedback loop, the mixture of organic and electrical materials contributes to becoming a single system. This single system allows us to explore a virtual landscape together on SL, but more generally allows us to interface with another system, pull from it and add to it. It feels like this is more symbiosis and perhaps this is the distinction between cyborg and posthuman.
Symbiosis is more cyborg, a unified (however temporary) set of systems giving and taking in relative harmony. A prosthetic, virtual reality, glasses even. They augment being through a union of systems. Posthuman, at least the way I am reading it, is a severing of consciousness from one container (the body) and to be replaced in another (or not at all).
I suspect that these unions are generally temporary, though as most natural unions of ‘things’ are. They serve utility, need (emotional or otherwise) and then detach to reconstruct elsewhere.
Loved the video, James.
November 10th, 2010 at 9:41 pm
Thanks for the video James, it was really creative and extended my own thinking on the cyborg posthuman question, especially in relation to the feedback loop. The way you presented your ideas made the feedback loop almost tangible as a version of your voice/ words, communicating your ideas and thoughts was represented(embodied) by your avatar.
November 12th, 2010 at 5:52 pm
Hello Michael,
‘the mixture of organic and electrical materials contributes to becoming a single system. This single system allows us to explore a virtual landscape together on SL, but more generally allows us to interface with another system’
Absolutely! That’s what I had in mind when I described how Jimmi my avatar gives me ‘voice’. This isn’t voice in the aural sense (although it could work in that way too for some) but instead enables me to ‘have a voice’ within another system or community.
So Jimmi Vintner symbolises wider digital technology that enables me to engage with members of an EDC system (‘exploring the virtual world’ as we put it in the film) who wouldn’t otherwise be able to ‘hear’ me.
Glad you liked the film – I had some fun making it (although Jimmi Vintner is a bit precious when it comes to appearing on film – really, he’s the J-Lo of SL).
November 12th, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Hello Linda,
‘especially in relation to the feedback loop. The way you presented your ideas made the feedback loop almost tangible as a version of your voice/ words’
I like the idea of the feedback loop within Hayles’ cyborg system – perhaps because it’s something we can visualise and quantify (in the sense that we can see evidence of response). By that margin, I find the role of feedback within the posthuman view more problematic.
I think it’s straightforward to transpose the cyborg feedback loop to our everyday world – helped by the presence of boundary lines between man and machine, where we ’see’ the message travelling between them (and the environment). In the posthuman view however, with its absence of demarcation, I find it more difficult to visualise.
Glad you liked the film, thanks for your comment.
November 14th, 2010 at 7:54 pm
[...] material week-after-week! If my creative juices are running low next Sunday, maybe I’ll get Jimmi Vintner to present my lifestream review… Posted by James Lamb Filed in Uncategorized No Comments [...]