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http://endtimesrevelations.files.wordpress.com/ 2012/01/cyborgs.

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Introduction

Cyborgs and the posthuman future


Exploring digital cultures Semester 1, 2012 Ramona Pradella

http://stubenhockerei.files.wordpress.c om/2012/02/robocop-reboot-1.jpg

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Cyborg
Cybernetic organism
cybernetic: kybernetes = helmsman self-controlled-system based on feedback loops (Murphie&Potts) the study of "control and communication in the animal and the machine
(Wiener 1948. In: Encyclopedia of Technology, Science and Ethics 2005: 455).

Cyborg

A cyborg is a crossbreed of a human and a machine


Encyclopedia of Science, Technology and Ethics: 2005: 460

Manfred Clynes and Nathan Kline (1960: 29) Alter body functions to adapt to extraterrestrial environment instead of creating earthly environment in space

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Donna Haraway
http://histcon.ucsc.edu/news http://histcon.ucsc.edu/newsevents/profiles/images/harawayevents/profiles/images/haraway pilgrim.jpg

Cyborg

free of gender categories Crosses boarder between physical, visible world and non-physical, invisible world metaphor and social reality

replacing organic functions with engineered ones (optimization of life (Murphie and Potts: 117)) line between fictional cyborgs and reality blurred pursued
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should be
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http://taylorhage.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/frontman.jpg

connections between bodies and machines

http://www.hcbe.net/media/332721/technology.jpg

http://www.freewebs.com/trek_obsessed3452/startrek http://www.freewebs.com/trek_obsessed3452/startrek-borg.jpg

Human

Human-technology interaction
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 0q-SWhHk0Ic&feature=related

soul emotions spirit biological functions

values senses information knowledge memory

technolgy as tool physical enhancement of the human body


http://bodycapable.com/wplaptop.jpg content/uploads/2010/09/woman-using-laptop.jpg

the more the body can deal/interact with different environments, the more powerful it is relies on technology

morals

relationships

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Human technology interaction


We cannot see ourselves aright until we see ourselves as Andy Clark 2003 nature's very own cyborgs we are Natural-born cyborgs (Andy Clark 2003) human-technology symbionts Always used tools to enhance our natural senses (Case 2011) Abandon instincts and examine the world through tools Extent our consciousness, mental self ....and then learn more about the natural world
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Human-technology interaction

Virtual world connects body closer to mind?


(Murphie and Potts 2003: 119)

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Technology enhances human

Technology enhancing the body


Stelarc free the body from its biological cage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 0q-SWhHk0Ic&feature=related SWhHk0Ic&feature=related

Virtual world connects body closer to mind?


(Murphie and Potts 2003: 119)

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http://stelarc.org/?catID=20214

Mental enhancement of the human?

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 0q-SWhHk0Ic&feature=related SWhHk0Ic&feature=related

Stelarc
Ear on arm (2007)
modification of the body replica of own ear with living cells transmits the sound it hears
http://stelarc.org/?catID=20242

Science

http://www.orthopaediefischer.de/cms/upload/bilder/prothese-bein-rechts.jpg 18.04.2013 Ramona Pradella

http://idw-online.de/pages/de/news221372

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Sciene (fiction)
David Hanson
Human-like robots with realistic facial expressions and conversational abilities

Technology enhances human

Virtual world connects body closer to mind?


(Murphie and Potts 2003: 119)

http://www.abendblatt.de/multim edia/archive/00118/filmrolle_HA_ Hambur_118918c.jpg

Mental enhancement of the human?


http://earthsky.org/biomimicry/david-hansoncreates-robots-with-human-faces
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Human-technology interaction
Or: we lose our humanness
Nicholas Carr 2010:207

Discussion

To get the most out of these incredibly powerful communication and information technologies we have at our disposal today, one of the most important things we have to learn and develop, is the skill in turning those technologies off
Nicholas Carr 2011

The mental and physical enhancement of the body through technolgy has to be pursued.

We lose our humanness.

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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= 0q-SWhHk0Ic&feature=related SWhHk0Ic&feature=related

Discussion

Discussion

Murphie and Potts 2003: 137

Are we all cyborgs?


Optus 2012. Closer is possible
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iINejQiaWpk
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Discussion
-test How does cyborgness change us and our relationships?

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http://www.klausismegaevent.de/assets/images/fragezeichen_Tastatur.jpg

Thank you for your attenion!

Sources
Carr, Nicholas 2010. The Shallows: what the internet is doing to our brains, New York & London: W.W. Norton& Company. (A thing like me, pp.201-222). Carr, Nicholas 2011. The dark side of the information revolution (video). http://www.nicholasgcarr.com/ [9.5.2012]. Case, Amber 2011. We are all cyborgs now (talk on TED.com). http://blog.ted.com/2011/01/11/we-are-all-cyborgs-now-amber-case-on-tedcom/ [10.5.2012]. Clark, Andy. The Third Culture. http://www.edge.org/3rd_culture/clark/clark_index.html[10.5.2012]. Clynes, M.E. and Kline, N. 1960. Cyborgs and Space. http://www.scribd.com/doc/2962194/Cyborgs-and-Space-Clynes-Kline [9.5.2012]. Gray, Chris Hables, Steven Mentor, and Heidi J. Figueroa-Sarriera(1995), Cyborgology: Constructing the Knowledge of Cybernetic Organisms. In: The Cyborg Handbook, New York: Routledge, pp. 1-14.

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/isfullofcrap/4242660581/sizes/z/in/photostream/

http://www.abendblatt.de/multimedia/archiv e/00118/filmrolle_HA_Hambur_118918c.jpg

[...] we are on the verge of becoming absolutely one with machines [...] it is just a matter of technical competence [...] and this is just a matter of time

Sources
Murphie, Andrew and Potts, John (2003), Culture and technology, Basingstoke: Palgrave,Chapter 5: Cyborgs: the body, information and technology, pp.115-141. Stelarc (1980-2012). http://stelarc.org/?catID=20316 [9.5.2012].

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