Webliography

Question 3: “These machine/organism relationships are obsolete, unnecessary” writes Haraway.

In what ways have our relations to machines been theorised?

Dualism

Brenda Brasher’s article, although mostly an account of the cyborg in religion, provided significant insight into the cyborg dualism suggested by Haraway and others. Brasher began with a history of the cyborg from the subject of cultural imagery (namely science fiction books and films such as Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein), to the scientific coining of the term by NASA scientists Clynes and Kline, to the cultural cyborg suggested by Haraway in her Manifesto. This was useful as it provided a broad perspective on the forms a cyborg can take; and as such, the ways in which our relations to machines have been theorised. Her “Postscript on the Cyborg” recognised that: western identity is built upon dualisms (male/female, human/beast, self/other); and, “the cyborg incorporates dualism within itself by insisting upon an integral identity between people and their material environment.” Thus, Brasher asserts Haraway’s challenge to dualism, providing further evidence that traditional machine/organism relationships are obsolete.

Cyborgs in Cultural Imagery

In his article, Daniel Pimley extends Haraway’s cyborg identity into the future, likening it to the Cyberpunk genre. He states that Cyberpunk is the “disintegration” of boundaries; this evokes similarity with Haraway’s idea of “boundary transgressions” (p. 37). Our relations to machines have been theorised through cultural imagery (embodied by the media) to the extent that a new genre has been created. gives examples of this genre in several different text-types: the novel Crash by J.G. Ballard, wherein the convergence of machine and organism arises through sex; the anime feature film Akira, which explores the dangers of this convergence; a second film, Ghost in the Shell, “considering the psychological implication of becoming a cyborg”; and, Björk’s music video for All is Full of Love, exploring the possibility of a cyborg with an absent biological form. Pimley’s examples provide significant evidence of the ways our relations to machines have been theorised through fictional media.

Transhumanism

Machine/organism relationships extend from fiction, as in Pimley’s examples, to real-life. This is well illustrated by the Transhumanist movement, which Nick Bostrom’s article provides very useful information about. Bostrom asserts that Transhumanism is a philosophical and cultural school of thought that aims to use science and technology to expand the boundaries of human existence, beyond the natural; to create post-humans. This is also resonant of Haraway’s suggestion that cyborgs “transgress boundaries” and implies that the Transhumanist post-human is perhaps the ultimate cyborg. Bostrom explores some hypothetical technologies and the resultant post-human forms: namely, artificial intelligence and mind-uploading. He says that the continued advancement in artificial technology (AI) could lead to the creation of machines that could think in the same way as human beings. There are philosophical arguments both for and against AI, but Transhumanism tends to hold that it is possible. Further, the improvement of AI could radically change humanity. This idea, known as the singularity hypothesis, is summed up by Vernor Vinge’s quote that Bostrom includes: “Within thirty years we will have the technological means to create superhuman intelligence. Shortly after, the human era will be ended.” The singularity hypothesis seems to be almost identical to Haraway’s summation of cyborg imagery: “It means both building and destroying machines, identities, categories, relationships, spaces, stories.” Mind-uploading is another example of a hypothetical machine/organism hybrid. It is, according to Bostrom, “the transfer of a human mind to a computer.” This process would have the following implications: virtual reality – where the uploaded mind, now a software, could exist in an entirely virtual realm, abolishing the need for any bodily element of the cyborg; or Robot bodies – where the software could be embedded in a robot body, once again annihilating the need for a body. AI and mind-uploading are extreme examples of how our relations to machines have been theorised. However Bostrom notes some examples of the Transhumanist dream as permeating our reality through the use of biotechnologies, nanotechnologies and the like. These include: cosmetic surgery; sex change operations; prosthetics; anti-aging medication; and genetic engineering.

Endless Possibilities

In Lawrence Hagerty's book, he introduces the term cyberdelic space: “the mental realm in deep cyberspace that coincides with deep psychedelic space and which provides a portal for entry into entheoscape.” Cyberdelic space is another way our relation to machines, specifically the internet, has been theorised. From this it seems that any cultural aspect of humanity, any symbolic representation of what it is to be human, can be combined with machine to create a cultural cyborg. He states: “It is as if a bond of some sort exists between the psychedelic and computing communities.” He is suggesting here that our relations to machines are not merely individual, but collective. Stemming from this idea, he continues to assert that the cyberdelic is a part of the evolution of global consciousness. It is interesting to note that he denies the notion of the cyborg: “I am in no way implying that the Internet will turn is into some form of Borg.” However, he unconsciously asserts Haraway’s notion of the cyborg in his utopian vision of “an elevated human consciousness”.

Craig McMurtie reports the development of the world’s first synthetic, self-replicating cell. The creation of this synthetic life “began on a computer”. Life, an organic process, has been made from software on a computer, a physical example of machine/organism relationships as obsolete. An example of the advancements in science and technology that are enabling the progression of Transhumanism.

References

Bostrom, Nick. ‘A History of Transhumanist Thought’ Journal of Evolution and Technology, 14:1, (April 2005) <http://jetpress.org/volume14/bostrom.html> (accessed 8 September 2010).

Brasher, Brenda E. ‘Thoughts on the Status of the Cyborg: Technological Socialization and Its Links to the Religious Function of Popular Culture’ Journal of the American Academy of Religion, 64:4, (1996) 809-830, <http://www.religion-online.org/showarticle.asp?title=404> (accessed 6 September 2010).

Hagerty, Lawrence. ‘Chapter 2: The Internet and the Noosphere’ The Spirit of the Internet,

< http://www.matrixmasters.com/spirit/html/2a/2b/2c/2c.html> (accessed 9 September 2010).

McMurtrie, Craig. ‘Scientists create synthetic life’

< http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2010/05/21/2905640.htm> (21 May 2010, accessed 9 September 2010).

Pimley, Daniel. ‘Cyborg Futures: Cyborgs, Cyberpunk and the future of the body’ http://www.pimley.net/documents/cyborgfutures.pdf> (2003, accessed 6 September 2010).