3 ms·

"A Cyborg Manifesto" (Donna Haraway, 1985) makes the argument that we are already cyborgs. I think I agree, at least with that point. We're extremely intertwin

"A Cyborg Manifesto" (Donna Haraway, 1985) makes the argument that we are already cyborgs. I think I agree, at least with that point. We're extremely intertwined with technology. - We might be born from cells mashed together in a lab. The cells might be taken from people we'll never meet. - We selectively get rid of embryos with unwanted characteristics. - We implant devices that control fertility, electric impulses in the heart, hormone levels like insulin. - Our limbs are replaced by electromechanical devices that sometimes link up directly to our nerves. - Our sensory organs are augmented in various ways. Our eyes are reshaped using lasers. Our hearing is amplified by hearing aids, and sometimes added to people that didn't even have working hearing in the first place by directly interfacing a device with our auditory nerve. - A large part of our daily lives take place on a separate plane of reality built on top of a planet-wide network. - Much of our communication is now electronic. - We created a new form of intelligence, in our own image. It can be think in ways that are similar to us. Is it our offspring? https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/undergraduate/modules/fictionnownarrativemediaandtheoryinthe21stcentury/manifestly_haraway_----_a_cyborg_manifesto_science_technology_and_socialist-feminism_in_the_....pdf https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/english/currentstudents/under...

mcv 3y ago
Even without modifications to our bodies, our tools are already an extension of ourselves in our mind. We feel incomplete without them. But from what I understand, the Cyborg Manifesto is about much more than that. I recently came across a really informative video about it[0] that it was also a feminist critique of other brands of feminism. An opposition to identity politics. We shouldn't divide ourselves into restrictive categories based on identities we subscribe to, but reject those restrictions and divisions. I'm not sure if I agree with all aspects of the Cyborg Manifesto, but that part is certainly something I strongly agree with. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe7U-ANhSOE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe7U-ANhSOE
Chris2048 3y ago
> We selectively get rid of embryos with unwanted characteristics. Whenever this kind of thing is mentioned, people usually bring up the (tired) trope of Nazis/eugenics. Personally, I think this activity is necessary - Our genes are naturally filtered via evolutionary forces every time we fall prey to some disease or mal-condition. As medicine get better, we need to replace this process with a synthetic one or we'll become less fit - I feel human immune systems are already pretty weak comparatively. Waiting for human deaths via "herd immunity" isn't better than explicit genetic filtering (or augmentation).
Chris2048 3y ago
> We created a new form of intelligence, in our own image. It can be think in ways that are similar to us. combine this with "are we living in a simulation", and maybe this already happened...

mcv 3y ago

Even without modifications to our bodies, our tools are already an extension of ourselves in our mind. We feel incomplete without them. But from what I understand, the Cyborg Manifesto is about much more than that. I recently came across a really informative video about it[0] that it was also a feminist critique of other brands of feminism. An opposition to identity politics. We shouldn't divide ourselves into restrictive categories based on identities we subscribe to, but reject those restrictions and divisions. I'm not sure if I agree with all aspects of the Cyborg Manifesto, but that part is certainly something I strongly agree with. [0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe7U-ANhSOE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fe7U-ANhSOE

Chris2048 3y ago

> We selectively get rid of embryos with unwanted characteristics. Whenever this kind of thing is mentioned, people usually bring up the (tired) trope of Nazis/eugenics. Personally, I think this activity is necessary - Our genes are naturally filtered via evolutionary forces every time we fall prey to some disease or mal-condition. As medicine get better, we need to replace this process with a synthetic one or we'll become less fit - I feel human immune systems are already pretty weak comparatively. Waiting for human deaths via "herd immunity" isn't better than explicit genetic filtering (or augmentation).

Chris2048 3y ago

> We created a new form of intelligence, in our own image. It can be think in ways that are similar to us. combine this with "are we living in a simulation", and maybe this already happened...