Cyborg consciousness

8/13/2019 Cyborg consciousness

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ChristosPanayiotou

MediaandCommunicationsTheory

CyborgConsciousnessintheDigitalEra:TheSelfandIdentityasaCyborghybridinthepostmoderndigitaltimes.SocialNetworkSites:thecaseofFacebook

SummaryInthefollowingassignmentIamtryingtoanalyzetheroleofthecyborgmodelfromarather

broadperspectiveofthought,retrievingthoughtsfromculturalstudiesandalsomediaand

technologystudiesaswellfromthefieldofpsychology.Morespecifically Iwillexplorethe

areaof

artificial

identities

and

how

virtual

identities

we

acquire

from

our

exposure

to

the

mediaand thedigitalculturearesomuchembedded inourphysicalconsciousnessthat

theybecomeanindistinguishablepartofourownreality,thuscreatingacyborgselfwhichis

partlybasedonourphysicalrealityandpartlyonthecultural,artificialsphere.Firstly,Iwill

setatheoreticalargumentationabouttheroleofcyborg inoursocietywhile Iwillexplain

alsobrieflytheconceptofthecyborgandhowitemerged.ConsequentlyIwillseehowthis

cyborg model applies to human identity gaining insight from cyberpunk movies and

literaturesuchasthemovieBladeRunner.MyaimistoparallelizetheFacebook(asthecase

study) with the theories and ideas about the cyborg model and see the advantages and

disadvantagesthatemerge.

ForewordIt seems that human physicality has from long ago coexisted with human artificiality.

Artificial realitygoesbeyondourpostmodernage topremodern timesandevenancient

andprehistorictimes. Sincelongbeforetheelectronicmedia,humancultureswerealways

tryingtoreplicatephysicalrealitythroughlanguage,art,religiouspracticesortechnological

inventions,eitherasawaytohaveacontroloverthatphysicalrealityortomanipulateit,or

moreoftenandmoreimportantlytoaugmentthatreality.Humancivilizationhascreateda

complexsystem

of

representations

that

sometimes

seem

to

replace

the

deep

originality

(if

there isany)ofthephysicalworld(Baudrillard,2001).Thiscomplexrepresentationsystem

thatisallaroundusembeddedinthephysicalityoftheobjectstendstobethebenchmark

forouridentitiesandourmentalinteractionwiththephysicalandthesocialworld(Gillespie,

Kadianaki,O'SullivanLago,2007).Someof theseobjectsmightbewords,other couldbe

clothes,andother couldbe totallyarbitrary social symbols thatweassignmeaning to, in

ordertoreflectourselvesonthemandthuscommunicatewithothersandbeunderstood.In

otherwords,wetendtoobjectifyourselvesonobjectsoutsideofus.

Ouridentityandexistenceaspersonsinthesocialsphereistheresultoftheconstruction

of a narrative with these cultural objects. When narrating our identity we are trying to

createastory

that

differentiate

us,

or

assimilate

us

to

other

persons

stories

about

themselves(Howarth,2011).Butifinthepastpeoplewerenarratingstoriesinafacetoface


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manner,inthemodernworld,mediahascreatedahugesphereofrepresentationsinwhich

people are living in (Weinmann & Cohen, 2000) interacting with a simulated world of

simulacra (Baudrillard, p.169188, 2001), that are used as the main interface medium in

whichanymeaningandany identityconstructemerges (Debord,p.100 114,1994). Inmy

opinionthisparallelrealityofthemediasphere(inthecaseofthisstudy:thesocialmedia

sphere)is

merging

with

our

physical

emotions,

creating

an

identity,

socially

constructed

through artificial media but based on physical experiences (as emotions),in a way like a

cyborgwouldmergeitsphysicalpartwithitsartificial.Butonequestionthatcouldbeasked

hereisthequestionofwhatisourtrueself?Doesanoriginalidentitythatisseparated

fromartificialexistorthereal identity istheonethatemerges fromthehybridof the

two, the physical and the social? Donna Haraway would probably answer the second. In

facebookexampleIamreferringtobelowintheessay,Iseeapatternthatissimilartothe

one of the artificial memories described in the Blade Runner movie. In the movie the

replicants were using the memories of other persons to acquire knowledge about

themselves,whilesimilarly,infacebookweareusingideasandexpressionsofotherpeople

(forexample

in

the

case

we

upload

asong

we

use

the

words

expressed

by

the

songwriters)

toexpressourselves,creatinganartificiallyconstructedidentityintheelectronicspacethat

isnotusbutatthesametimeitrepresentsus.Inotherwordswearemergingourphysical

reality(ouremotionsinthephysicalworld)withanartificialreality(songs,multimediathat

arenotours),tocreateamerged identity(acyborg) inthecyberspacethatrepresentsour

identity. It is neither physical nor artificial; it is the result of the physical self using

artificialsocialconstructsinordertobecomevisibleinthecyberspace.

Theoreticalargumentation

about

the

statement

Inmypersonalopinion,cyborgmodelhasmultiplebeneficialandmultipleharmfulroles in

our society.Electronicagehas introducedaposthuman reality,whichexistsasaparallel

artificialworldmergedwithourphysicalone.Thisartificial,digitalworld,whenused ina

right way, it can augment the physical reality, give us more power and enrich our

experience,whileabolishanyphysicalconstrainsandbarriersexistinginthephysicalworld

(Turkle,1999).Humans inthedigitalagehavebecomeapowerfulhybrid,mixtureoftheir

physicalbodieswithacquiredelectroniccapabilities.Moreover,ifwetakethecyborgmodel

initsmorebroadconcept(asDonnaHarrawayproposesit)(2010),rejectingtheessentialist

thinkingmaybe

beneficial

to

our

growth

as

civic

beings.

Black

and

white

thinking

and

thinkingincategories(theoppositeofwhatthecyborgmodelproposes),preventsusfrom

growth, aswe arepreoccupiedwith fulfilling the categorydemands insteadof thinking

clearly forourselvesandtakingeachparticularsituation individually (Figure1).Tomake it

clearer, thinking in categories prevents us from dealing with the uniqueness of each

situation,whichincouldbemorebeneficial.Forexampleinsteadofcategorizingtheworld

andfollowthesecategories, itwouldbebetter ifweacquireknowledgefromamixtureof

things and thoughts, a cyborg blend of things that could be more accurate and more

beneficialinaparticularsituation. Soforexample,byfollowinganideologyinanessentialist

wayandbeingdogmaticabouttheseideologies(totalidentificationwiththem),preventsus

fromdealing

with

the

actual

situation

that

could

call

for

amerge

of

the

two

ideologies

into

a

third that is neither of them, but could be more beneficial for solving a particular social


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problem.Thesamegoeswithmoreeverydaysocialaspectsofourselves,asforexample

our identificationwithsubcultures.IfforexampleIportrayandfeelmyselfasahardcore

metalhead,andallIdoislistentoheavymetalmusicanddresslikethat,thispreventsme

fromactuallytryingtolistentootherkindsofmusicoracquiringelementsfromotherstyles

that I could also enjoy. So, in the aforementioned simplistic example, I believe that the

cyborgmodel

(acquiring

elements

of

various

styles

and

music

and

merging

them,

mixing

themtofitmyuniquepersonality)couldbebeneficialandredeeming.Insocialnetworksites

that I will refer as example below in this essay, this is actually something happening

especiallyinsiteslikefacebookortumblr,wherethemajorwayofpersonalrepresentation

ismade through themixtureof styles in thepersonsprofiles,creatinga collage that isa

mergeofstylesintoauniquestylethatrepresentseachindividualuserdifferently.

Besides,suchcleancutcategories/identitiesdonotexistintherealworld:insteadthereare

all individualsituationscallingforadifferentactionanddifferentwayofseeingthemeach

time.Inotherwords,ourexperiencesandbehaviorscouldnotbepredetermined,because

each singleexperiencewehave isdifferent.As suchanypredeterminationofa situation

(includingouridentity)isfalseandmaybesometimesevendangerous,astheyarebasedon

essentiallydifferentexperiences.

Neo:Ithoughtitwasn'treal.

Morpheus:Yourmindmakesitreal.

(TheMatrix,L.,A.,Wachowksi,1999)

Inourage this cyborgpostindustrialmodel, isbecoming increasinglypowerful so that I

believethere

is

the

danger

that

will

displace

the

physical

world

of

the

place

of

what

we

perceiveasreal. Ifthathappens,humansarerunning thedangerofbecomingalienated

fromtheirphysicality,andultimatelybedependableonthesupportoftechnologytoexist.

Moreoverinthebroadermeaningofthecyborgterm,throughtheacquisitionofthecyborg

modelwearebeginningtolosethecontactwithouroriginalself,that(evenifmuchofthe

postmodern philosophy rejects) I personally believe there exists. Communication in our

technologicallyadvancedera ismediated throughavastpoolof images;experiences that

arerecycled intonewbodiesOurbodies:Forexample, inorder toexpressouremotional

condition inoneparticular timewearemore likely to refer toamediaproduct,e.g. toa

preexisting song than to write one on our own. Our reality has become a synthetic

recycledself,fakeasfakeastherecycledmemory implants inreplicants inBladeRunner

movie(Deeley&Scott,1982).Inthemovie,Replicantsthinktheyhave livedthememories

theyhave, they think theyhave this identity theyhave,while instead theirmemoriesand

identityisagivenstrangetothem arecycledandsyntheticelementborrowedfrompeople

livedbeforethem.Just likethisweusemediaproductstoexpressourownemotionsas if

theywereourown.Ultimatelytheybecomeus,theydefineus.Theybecometheonlyway

weacquireknowledgeaboutourselves,theybecomeourselfimageandtheonlydefinition

ofourself.Originalityand individuality is lostandreplacedbymediaproductsthatarenot

our own, but nevertheless they are us! Thats how postmodern human runs the danger

feeling alienated from his own self and original feelings. Moreover, even if we feel

somethingcomingfromwithinouroriginalself,wetendtoignoreit,becauseitfeelsstrange

tous.

We

are

not

used

to

trust

our

original

self,

because

ultimately

the

borrowed

image

feelsmorerealtousthantheinnerselfimage,whichbecomesthefake.MediaGeneration


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isusedtosearchfortheirselvesoutsideratherthantheinside:weareconstantlytryingto

findmediaproducts (characters,celebrities) to identifywith, rather than searchand trust

ourinnerself.Wefeelthatthesemediaidentitiesaresomehowmorereal.Ultimatelythis

cyborg,mixedselfimage,becomesouronlyselfimage.

Beside

my

personal

beliefs

about

the

role

of

the

cyborg

model

in

our

society,

it

might

also

be

appropriatetodive intoacademic literature inordertofindhowactuallythismodelworks

intooursociety.Below, Iamtryingtoblend findings fromacademic literaturereferringto

cyborgmodel,whilegaining insightsalso frompostmodern literatureandmediaproducts

aboutcyborgs.IntheendIamtryingtoapplymyfindingsintothecaseoffacebook,because

Ithinkthatfacebookissomethingthatrepresentsinagreatextentourcurrentera,atleast

regardingtheroleofcyborgmodelintooursociety.

CyborgThe

term

cyborg

was

coined

when

scientists

at

NASA

were

searching

for

asolution

that

wouldenablespacetravelerstoadaptandsurvivetothestrangespaceconditionswiththe

help of machines. As the term cyborg (cyberneticorganism) implies, a humanmachine

systemwould interactasawholeneworganism that isneither fullybiologicalnor fully

syntheticbutamergeofthetwo,enablingtheadaptationtotheextremespaceconditions

inthecaseofalongdistancespacetravel(Clynes&Kline,1960).

Later,thetermwasusedbyDonnaHarraway(2010)tocriticizetraditionalfeministtheories

thatwerepreoccupiedwithcleardistinctionsbetweenmenandwomen.Insteadofdrawing

clear lines between genders Harraway proposed that gender theories should adapt to a

cyborgmodel that rejectsbinary identities.Harrawaydistinguishesbetween two kindsof

cyborgs,theoneinametaphoricalsenseandtheotherinamoreconcrete,literalsense.In

its literal sense, cyborg could be perceived as the merge of technological devices on an

organicbody(Lupton,2013),whileinitsfigurativesense,acyborgistheentitythatemerges

from multiple identities and realities that are enclosed in a single identity that is

neverthelessneitherofthe identities it isconsistedby,butratherahybridofthem. It isa

neverendingprocessthatithasnotateleologicalaimandneitherwantsany.Thereareno

absolutetruthsbutratheramixtureofthings(Figure1).

Regarding thecyborgmodel, there isalsoanargumentation that technologycouldnotbe

reallyperceivedasasomethingapartofhumanbeingsand thathumanbody isnot tobe

everdescribed

as

non

technical

(Mackenzie,

2002)

as

well

as

identities

could

not

be

categorizedinstatic,definitecategories(Harraway,2010).Harrawayapproachesthecyborg

ontology inaratherpositive light,making itclearthatabelief inbinaryidentities isnot

onlyabsurdbutalsodangerous. Inher textaCyborgManifestoDonaHaraway (2010) is

tryingtoredeemhumanexistencefromdualismsthataccordingtoherarenotbasedona

natural order but are just part of our cultural logic. As postconstructivists do, Dona

Harawaybelievesthatanessentialistapproachkeepsthethoughtnarrowandrepressedina

misleadingdualisticmodeloftheworld,recreatingthedynamicsofauthoritiesthatalready

existouttherebyadaptinganyreactiononanalreadyproblematicandoppressivemodelof

theworld. Soinsimplerwords,theoppositeofsomethingoppressiveisstilloppressive.

Forso

much

time,

identity

was

considered

something

stable

and

dependable

to

the

physical

body, and the stable social context one was born in, something that Dona Haraway and


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other poststructuralists seem to reject. Identity formation nowadays had become a

continuously changing, unstable state that is based on changing roles and environments.

Partly, this could be attributed to the dynamics of our postmodern society of endlessly

changingpersonasthatweareforcedtoadaptto. Inpostmoderncultures,apersoncould

changemultiplestatuses,rolesandidentitiesinasingledayformingadiverse,polyphrenic

selfin

order

to

adapt

to

the

ever

changing

contexts

we

find

ourselves

into

(Gergen,

p.171

198,1991), thusmovingawayourselves fromany identityblackandwhitedefinitionsand

introducing a saturated self (Gergen,p.171198, 1991), a collage of multiple and

different personas that we acquire through that motion into different contexts. Largely,

according toKenneth Gergen, this collage is the result of the artificial relationshipswe

formwithourcontactwithmediacharactersandcelebrities,withwhomwecommunicate

each timewewatchTV.WhatGergenarguesabout in theSaturatedSelf (1991), is that

mediaproductscreateaparallelartificialcontext inwhichwe immerseourselves in,and

thatthewhowearewhileimmersedinthismediaworldisnomorefakethatthewho

wearewhileoutsidethisworld.Thishybrididentitythatisformedwhileweareinteracting

withphysical

reality

and

while

we

simultaneously

interacting

with

this

artificial

reality

is

accordingtoGergenwhoweoriginallyare.Gergeninhiswritingsismuchmorepessimist

thatHaraway, and he sees that the saturated self creates feelings of inexistence of an

essential, stable me. This, feelings of inexistence, according to Gergen, intensifies the

feelingsofhypocrisy,astheindividualsviewonhimselfisbasedonmediaassumptions

of himself. In other words, Gergen argues that the subject is dead, and the identity is

consequentlyandwhollybasedonculturalproducts.

TheDigitalSpaceandtherecycledidentitiesWearemovingfrommodernistcalculationtopostmodernistsimulationwheretheselfis

multiple,distributedsystem(Turkle,1996,148).

Inthecaseoftheinternetandtheelectronicspace,thisidentityformationtendstobeeven

moreinfragments,thanwhatGergendescribes.AccordingtoSherryTurkle(1999),identity

formation in cyberspace, is based on totally arbitrary media (such as language), that are

independentfromphysicalreality.StudyingtheMUDs(MultiUserDomains)intheprimitive

internetofthe80s,shenoticedthattheusercouldhavemultiple identitieswhilebeing in

frontofacomputerscreenconnectedtotheinternet,afragmentedselfwiththephysical

selfjustanotherversion,nomorerealselfthantherestartificialselvesoftheuser.

Accordingto

literature,

the

cyber

self

has

become

another

aspect

of

our

self

constructed

solely from thematerialofthecyberspace. If that is rightthen,ourdigitalself isnomore

thananartificialaspectofus,constructedbymultimediapiecesfound inthevastmedia

poolofthe internet. Inotherwords,thedigitalself isrecycledcyberspacematerial(Figure

2).

Such ideas about an artificial self are a predominant theme in much cyberpunk

postmodern literature. In Phillip K. Dicks Do androids dream of electric sheep (1968)

adaptation:BladeRunner(Deeley&Scott,1982)moviethemovieinsteadofreferringto

anoriginal(monadic)spirit thatawakensabody,aswouldMaryShelleyinthecaseof

Frankenstein (Shelley, 1996) for example, what awakens the Replicants (humanoid


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robots)are constructedmemoriesand constructed identities, suggesting thatour identity

andourselfperceptionisultimatelysociallyconstructed,recycledandartificial.

InLosAngelesof2019, replicantsareandroidsvisually indistinguishable fromhuman that

are given artificial memories and identities in order to feel like human beings. Those

memory

implants

are

designed

to

give

the

replicants

the

impression

that

they

are

human

andthusnotseparablefromtheirhumanmasters.IntheBladeRunnerstoryreplicantsare

talking likehuman,are thinking likehuman,are looking likehuman, theyareeven feeling

like a human, they are everything a human is, but still they are lacking a true history

(Bruno,1987)thatwouldgivethemahumanstatus.

But, how would someone distinguish himself from replicants if the given memories and

identities are so much embedded in consciousness that are not distinguishable from the

original. What makes them real is their own reality, suggesting that their artificial

memories are no different from the real memories of the real human, so the lines

betweena fake selfandareal selfare completelyblurred. Inotherwords,originality

doesntmatter

anymore

as

the

line

between

reality

and

artificiality

doesnt

exist

anymore.

Moreover, the aestheticsof themovie continuously remindusof thehybridityofhuman

conditioninourpostindustrialage.Theclothesofthecharactersinthemovie,aswellasthe

environmentarefullofreusedwaste.Wasteinthemovie iseverywhereand it isreusable

implyingareusageofoldproducts(Bruno,1987),inanewmanner.Theoriginalpurpose

of the waste doesnt matter anymore because what matters is their new postoedipal

(Harraway,2010)reality,whichisnotpreoccupiedbyanyoriginalpurposeoridentity,justas

the given identities of the replicants. As reused waste, old styles are also reused in the

movie,whereyoucan findbuildingswithGrecoRomanaestheticsnexttoChinese.People

arealso

creating

pastiches

and

fusions

of

the

re

used

old

styles

like

punks

next

to

Chinese

peoplenexttowhomever.City language isalsoafusionofGerman,JapaneseandSpanish

(Bruno,1987)whilethecityitselfitissaidtobeLosAngeles,butremindsmoreofamixture

ofNewYorkwith Shanghai.Rain anddarkness arenot the typical representationsof Los

Angeles,yetthesceneryisdominatedbysuchweather.Soeverythingandeveryoneinthis

cyberpunk city are out of what expected, while they are forming a mixtureof signs that

representtheiroriginalitybuttheyallarefunctioningindependentlyfromtheiroriginality.

The movie itself as an object is not preoccupied with its originality: it is a mixture of

everythingreal.Theonlythingthatreferstoarealitybeyond,anoedipalcalendaras

Harawaywouldput it is thereplicantsyearning forexistence.Replicants inthe filmare

strivingto

establish

their

existence.

They

do

not

accept

their

artificiality

and

they

crave

to acquire human status. Subsequently, this existence is realized through objects like

photographsandotherartifactsand thought tobevalid.Replicantsare thusassumingan

objectivereality,aproofof theirhumannessbasedonvariousobjects,evidencesofa

pastlifethatactuallyexistasexperiencesofpeoplebeforethem,soultimatelyaconstructed

humanness.

In our world, interestingly enough, we are assuming ideas, thoughts and experiences of

other people to express our own existence, embedding them into our own reality and

identity,creatingamixtureofdifferent identitiesthatultimately isthoughttobeourown

identity (Figure 2). In Facebook alone there are 350 millions of uploaded multimedia

materialonline;

mostly

fusions

and

parts

of

other

peoples

ideas

(songs,

pictures,

slogans

etc)thatultimatelyconstructourownselfimageamongourfriends,ourownidentityin


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thisspace.Originalityindigitalspaceislostandreplacedbymediaproductsthatarenotour

own,butneverthelessitisus.

Case

Study

Facebook

Neo:Iusedtoeatthere.Reallygoodnoodles.Ihavethesememoriesfrommylife.Noneof

themhappened.Whatdoesthatmean?

Trinity:Thatthematrixcannottellyouwhoyouare.

TheMatrix(Silver&Wachowski,1999)In social media sites like Facebook, there is a vast number of multimedia uploads every

single second.Thesemediaobjects (videoclips,songs,words,photos)are referrals to the

selfof

the

user,

creating

an

online

aura

of

existence

in

his

network

of

friends

(Kaplan,

2012),anidentity.Someoftheseuploadsarecreatingareferencetotheemotionalstateof

theuser,someotherstohissenseofidentityandsomeothersarereferringtoplacesfrom

the real world something that is also making a statement about their identity at least

aimed to the persons that are known from the physical world. In social media sites like

Facebook,wecanarguethattherearemanylevelsonecanbeperceivedasacyborg.Firstof

all,holdinganelectronicmobiledevice thatenablesaccess toyour facebookaccountand

networkautomaticallyenablesthecoexistenceoftheuser intotwostates:aphysicalstate

andadigitalone,butagainnotastwoseparateentities inone insteadasasingularentity

notentirelyphysicalandnotentirelydigital:Walkingdown thestreetwithyour facebook

account

logged

in,

taking

pictures

and

automatically

uploading

them

onto

your

profile,

or

making statements in your digital network about how you feel or where you are, or

whatareyoudoinginaparticulartimeinthephysicalworld,youareneitherwhollyinthe

physical nor wholly immersed in the digital world. You are a cyborg, an organism

dependantonandresponsivetothedigitalandthephysicalrealitysimultaneously.That, I

believe is something that augments the physical and the digital reality. For example

uploadingapictureofyou inyour favoriteplace inyour facebookaccount,enrichesyour

identity in the cyberspace, as the objects like a picture work as a symbolic element

referringtoonessenseofself(Zittounet.all,2003).Atthesametime,beingvisibletoyour

digitalnetworkof friendsenablesyou tobe inmultiplepositionsat thesame time,being

sensedbyyourfriendsnetworkwhilebeingawayfromthemphysically.Butthiscyborg

self, I believe, doesnt augment ones reality only in a positive way. Owning a shattered

senseofself(Turkle,1999)whileinteractingwithmultiplecontextsatthesametime,brings

usbacktoKennethGergen (1991)andthemultiphrenicself.AccordingtoGergen,while

interactingwithmultiplecontextsnearlyatthesametime,thepostmodernmanhaslostits

uniquesenseofselfunderamulticoloredveilofeverchanging identitiesand roles that

thediversepostmodernlifeintroduces.Atthesametimehearguesthat,whileimmersingin

an iconic world (in his case the: the television in this essays case: the internet) we find

ourselvesinteractingwiththenewcontextsintroducedbythisworld,sothatwearefurther

more fragmented and alienated. Ultimately we are getting so much immersed in our

multiple identities,sothatwe losecontactwithourtruesenseofself. Inthecaseofthe

Facebook,we

came

to

the

point

where

we

actually

nearly

dont

know

if

our

profile

is

amore

realversionofourselves thanourphysical self.According toSherryTurkles latestbook


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alone together (2011), youngpeopleof the so called digital generation, are somuch

moreused indigital interactionthan inphysical interaction,thatthisphenomenoncreates

problems intheirphysical interactionwithpeople inthephysicalworld.Thissuggeststhat

becauseouronlinesenseofself isbasedonmultimediacontent (Kaplan,2012),weare in

danger thatwewouldcreateasenseofselfbasedjustonmediaproducts,andultimately

getalienated

from

our

physicality.

As

with

the

Replicants

in

the

Blade

Runner

example,

our

identity in the socialnetworksbecomesamixtureof memoriesof someoneelses:Our

identityisbasedonthelyricsofasongwehavesharedamongourdigitalnetwork,written

by someone else but reused and referred to us, as the implanted memories and the

photographsofdifferentpeoplewereusedasmaterialsofexistence for replicants in the

movie, indistinguishablebytheirownexistence,sothattheybecometheirownrealityand

selfunderstanding.Moreover,spendingmore time interacting throughourdigitalself,we

will ultimately get to a point where we will acquire more digital memories (more

memoriesofinteractinginthedigitalworld),thanphysicalmemories.Andsinceoursense

andconceptualunderstandingoftherealityoftheoutsideworld, is inabigpartbasedon

ourmemory

(Hart,

2007),

we

ultimately

we

might

come

to

believe

that

our

digital

persona

is

morerealthanourphysicalone.

ApartfromthispessimisticaspectheldforSNSidentities,thereisalsoanotsodarkideaof

how digital identities work in the cyberspace. If we see digital identities from the

philosophical angle of Harraways cyborg, the cyborg entity is free from any pseudo

universalrealitiesthatforcethesubjectintoablackandwhitethinkingtiedintoabeliefthat

there is a natural and an artificial self. This counteressentialist subject of Harraway,

accepts the blending as the only true original. If we apply this model of thinking into

digital identities inFacebook, the linesbetween thephysicaland theartificial identity

are blurred, and the real physical self becomesjust another image of the collage that

resemblesthe

self

(Turkle,

1999).

Moreover

if

we

see

more

clearly

into

identity

theories,

the

selfwasalwaysmediated through the realmofcivilizationand thusartificiality.Electronic

media are thus no different from any other humanmade media existed long before

electricity.Early psychologists, such asGeorgeHerbert Mead, introduced the theory that

human self is formedas a reflectionofour subjectivity into an objective levelof social

meaningsandconstructs(Bruner,1986).Additionally,socialpsychologistsacknowledgethe

roleof symbolicobjectsobjectswith socially assigned values in thewayweassign

meaningtoourownselvesandformingouridentity(Zittounet.al,2003).

In therealworld forexample,clothesaremanmade, technologicalobjects thatbeyond

theirutilitarianvalue theyserveasacommunicationmedium forour identities,justasan

electronic, multimedia product would do in Facebook. We wear black in a funeral or a

costume inawedding,weacceptpredetermined civilization values assignedarbitrarily to

objects inordertocommunicateourstatuses,emotionsand identities.Inotherwords,we

inevitablyareandwealwayswerepartlysyntheticevenoutsidetheelectronicspaceand

the Facebook. So what makes the electronic persona more useful in a sense is the vast

communicating options you have while immersed in the digital space. The hybrid of

digital/physical self, maybe more effective in communicating its real identity than the

physicalselfalone,becauseithasamuchlargerpoolofmeaningascribedobjectstochoose

from,and thusyouareable togetand togiveamoreaccurate senseof the selfand the

identityofyouandtheotherpeople(Figure2).Accordingtostudies,onlineusersofvirtual

worldswere

more

likely

to

portray

their

avatar

according

to

how

they

felt

about

an

idea

or

howtheywererelatedtoasocialstereotypethanhowtheyactuallywerephysically inthe


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physicalworld(Kafai,Fields&Cook,2007).Theabovementionedstudymayalsoconfirmthe

idea that the use of artificial iconic objects to communication and expression of the self

couldbemorerealthanthephysicalinteraction,becausetheyenablethetransformation

oftheselfmoreeasilyandmore freelythan inthephysicalworld,toaversionofhowwe

actuallyfeelaboutourselves.

Epilogue

Whilethereareendlessopinionsandperspectivesthatonecanseetheroleofthecyborg

modelinoursociety,theonlysureisthatcyborgmodelisamodelembeddedwellintoour

postindustrialworld.Initsabstractmeaning,inourmulticenteredandmulticulturalworld,

dominatedbymediaproductionandconsumption,cyborgmightbean inevitableresultfor

thehumancondition.

Inits

more

literal

sense,

we

become

more

and

more

cyborgs

each

day:

technology

and

humanityarecomingphysicallydaybydaynearerandnearer.Nowadaysitwouldbeeasyto

seeacontinuoustrendtomaketechnologymobile,comingwithus.Mobiletechnologyand

connectivity is always on development all around us with a greater than ever rate. The

desktop computersof the80swere replacedby laptopcomputers in the90sand the00s

that ultimately were replaced by smart phones by the end of the last decade. In the

currentdecadeweseeaugmentedrealitydevicestakingover,suchasGoogleGlassthatwill

augment reality in a more literal sense enabling multiple perspectives of reality literally

coexistingwiththephysical.

ConnectCompeteCollide

Intoyour

body,

under

your

skin,

beyond

your

senses

Wheredoesrealitystop...Andthegamebegins?

eXistenZ(Cronenberg,1999)


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Figures

Figure1.


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Figure2.

Cyborg consciousness

Documents

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