bmerkt – The Cyborg Apocalypse

VR Suicide Prevention

The leading cause of death in the United States for people aged 15-24, our age group, is car accidents. What is the second? Suicide. Among all age groups, another life is lost every 13.7 minutes to suicide. That’s 105.8 people a day, 38,364 per year. For every 100-200 attempts in youths, there is 1 completed act. This is a huge problem in the United States.

Suicide is 100% preventable, if the signs are noticed and action is taken. In 80% of suicides someone didn’t say something when they saw warning signs. This program will assist in making high school through college students aware of the signs of suicide and how to take action to prevent it.

Warning signs include acquiring a gun or stockpiling pills, talking about wanting to die or kill oneself, impulsivity or increased risk taking, giving away prized possessions, self-destructive acts (self-mutilation), increased drug or alcohol abuse, talking about having no reason to live, mood changes, ideation, and social isolation/withdrawal. Problems that increase suicide risk include prior attempts, mental health disorders, history of trauma or abuse, family history of suicide, and *lack of social support*.

Some things you can do to help prevent suicide includes asking them directly, listen to them, show you care, contact their parent or a counselor, and whatever you do, do not leave them alone. It is better to have them be mad at you for a couple weeks than be gone forever.

This application involves a series of videos with the user making a choice at the end of each video. The choices made influences the overall outcome of the video. The user starts out having a conversation with their “friend” who is suicidal. Over the course of the video, warning signs are revealed. The user gets to choose what they do when each opportunity is presented. After the last decision, the suicidal person either thanks the user for doing something when they saw the warning signs or the user is at the suicidal person’s funeral.

The difference between this application and others is the character in the application that is suicidal is like your friend and the user’s choices influence the outcome. The goal is to invoke empathy and splagna within the user, as well as educate people about the warning signs of suicide and how to intervene. Know the signs, save a life.

Sources

Lesser, Loryn. “Adolescent Suicide: Prevalence; Circumstance; and Conditions of Recognition”. November 2017. PowerPoint Presentation.

Cybernetic Bodies Compared in Various Works

Before comparing and contrasting cybernetics and cyborgs amongst different pieces of literature or film, both terms must be defined. “. . . cybernetics signaled that three powerful factors – information, control, and communication – were now operating jointly to bring about an unprecedented synthesis of the organic and the mechanical (Hayles, 18). Cybernetics combines control theory and the nascent theory of information to show how humanity communicates with the machines that will inevitably replace us one day. (Hayles, 18). A cyborg is defined by Hayles as machines that have human consciousness, are brought into conjunction from technology, consist of informational pathways that connect the body to its prosthetic extensions, and essentially could be a human being. It could also be defined as a humanoid being that is part technology, part organic body (Hayles 9). The movie Stepford Wives, the play Rossum’s Universal Robots (R.U.R.), and the television show Black Mirror will be compared to assess their representation of cybernetic bodies.

Stepford Wives is a movie that takes place in Stepford, Connecticut. Joanna, the main character, and her family moved there from New York City. The town seems perfect at first, but Joanna notices the women act differently over time. She later finds out that the gentlemen’s club has been making android duplicates of their wives to replace their wives with. In this movie, the cybernetic bodies are versions of their wives. They looked to remove imperfections that their wives possessed and make their only purpose in this world cooking, cleaning, sex, and taking care of the children. “. . . this ideal body, is not attainable by a human. . . These models individually can never embody the ideal since an ideal, by definition, can never be found in this world” (Davis 4). The husbands have created a perfect body, but had to remove a lot of human characteristics to do so. This seems eerily similar to sex slaves. Gender roles in this movie are prevalent as the husbands rule over the wives who only do stereotyped female housework. Regarding labor roles, the men work and make the money while their android wives stay at home and take care of the house. What is saddening is this is how females used to be treated in real life, and continue to experience some version of this treatment.

Rossum’s Universal Robots (R.U.R) is a play about a world where all human labor is replaced with androids. The robots eventually revolt and kill all the humans except one. They have two versions of robots; a male and a female version. The males are made to do stereotypical males jobs, while the females are created to do stereotypical female jobs. Domin, the boss of the plant, states that the robots they create will produce so much food and other essential materials that things will no longer have value (Čapek 26). Everyone will be able to take what they need and there would be no poverty. The humans benefit from the robot’s work, which in my opinion is considered slavery. Gender roles play a big part in this play as both human and android females are treated as less than their male counterparts. Helena and Nana are the only human females that are on the island where the robots are created. Nana is ignored and treated poorly. Helena is constantly interrupted by the male characters and is forced into marriage. Not only do the leaders of the company enslave robots, they enforce gender inequalities.

In Black Mirror, a woman loses her husband in a car accident. After wallowing in her sorrow for some time, her friend suggests she gets a cyborg version of her husband. She wants the robot to be exactly like her husband, and even gets emotional when the cyborg does not do something her husband used to do. Her version of a cybernetic body included all the imperfections her husband had as well as the good qualities he had. “In the posthuman, there are no essential differences or absolute demarcations between bodily existence and computer simulation, cybernetic mechanism and biological organism, robot teleology and human goals” (Hayles 3). Her husband and the robot version essentially are the same in the fact that the cyborg was to fill the void in her life that her husband once filled. This supports the above claim that cyborgs should be treated like humans because they are intended to do the same thing a human would do. Although this episode did not deal with gender roles or labor roles, we can learn a lot about a view that is not typically taken; that robots and humans are the equal.

Something interesting to think about is the difference between the androids created by the men in Stepford Wives and R.U.R., and the android created by the woman in Black Mirror. In Stepford Wives, the men desired to remove imperfections their wives have and make them cater to their ever need. The robots created in R.U.R. are made to do the work humans typically would do. A “condensed image of both imagination and material reality” (Haraway 292) is found in both these works. In Black Mirror, the android was created to be exactly like the human version of the woman’s dead husband. She even got mad at the android for not having some of the imperfections her husband had. It seems as if men create androids for their own personal benefits while women create androids to be like a human companion.

The question of, “Do we want robots as slaves or as humans?”, arises in all three of these works too. In Stepford Wives and R.U.R., the answer to this question is as slaves. The husbands created their cyborg wives to do exactly what they wanted them to do. In R.U.R., the humans created cyborgs to replace human laborers; essentially slavery. However, the answer for Black Mirror is as humans because the woman wanted to have her partner back exactly how he was when he was alive. Just like how men and women seemed to create robots differently, they also want to use them for different things. The men seem to want to use robots to benefit themselves. Women seem to want them to be just like a human.

Works Cited

“Be Right Back.” Directed by Owen Harris, written by Charlie Booker. Black Mirror, season 2, episode 1, Netflix, 11 Feb. 2013.

Čapek, Karel. R.U.R. (Rossums universal robots). Wildside Press, 2012.

Davis, Lennard J. The Disability Studies Reader. 2nd Ed. Routledge, 2006.

Haraway, Donna. “Cyborg Manifesto: Science, technology and socialist-feminism late twentieth century.” Routledge, pp. 291-316.

Hayles, N. Katherine. “How We Became Posthuman.” 1999, doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226321394.001.0001.

Stepford Wives. Produced by Edgar Scherick, directed by Bryan Forbes, Palomar Pictures, 1975.

Everyone is Abnormal

In an English course I am taking at my university we recently read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? This book looks into a post-nuclear apocalypse world in which androids are so advanced, they are almost human. Additionally, a majority of the people on Earth have left and emigrated to Mars because the radioactive dust has gotten so bad on Earth, it is almost uninhabitable. The few that remain on Earth are either “chickenheads,” meaning people with mental disabilities or abnormalities, or regular people that will soon be deemed unfit to reproduce. This world is erely similar to Nazi Germany where eugenics, the controlled reproduction of people believed to have undesirable genes, was practiced. We are first introduced to a character named John Isidore. John is a “chickenhead” since he is mentally challenged. He is not allowed to reproduce because he failed the IQ test and he is believed to have radiation poisoning, making him abnormal. As a result he has little human interaction because he is segregated the same way society today segregates abnormal people. The book also includes Rachel Rosen, Max Polokov, Luba Luft, Pris Stratton, Phil Resch, Garland, Roy Baty, and Irmgard Baty; all characters who are androids. Androids are not allowed on Earth because they are essentially slaves on Mars and can become defective, killing humans if they escape slavery. They are seen as abnormal because they cannot express empathy and they are viewed as less than a human. A common question that comes up throughout the book is “What makes us human?” Relating to their society being human is being able to show empathy. Relating to our world today I believe being human is grouping everyone under a bell curve, showing violence and hatred towards people who are abnormal, and showing no empathy towards those who are abnormal. In order to better understand this atrocious social structure, first we should define abnormal. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the idea of abnormal is focused on the character John Isidore and all the characters that are androids. John Isidore is abnormal for two main reasons: he failed an IQ test, intellectually abnormal, and he is believed to have radiation poisoning, physically abnormal. The androids are abnormal because they cannot express empathy and they are not truly human. In our society I believe abnormal is defined as having an intellectual disability, physical disability, mental illness, disease, religion, or any other defining characteristic that is different than our own. However, we should take a step back, examine all the features, put aside our pride and accept that we are all abnormal.

From the time children are born they are compared to norms. Their height, weight, muscle tone, reflexes, etc. are all measured and compared to the average baby. When children start school, they are compared to norms. Their mental ability, social skills, physical abilities, etc. are all compared to the average child their age (Davis 1). Through the rest of their life they are compared to norms. They are trapped under this bell curve and told they are below average, average, or above average for their entire life. It is truly sickening. Then we as a society wonder “Why is someone bullied or is a bully?” We wonder “Why there is an increase in violence?” We wonder “Why are ‘millennials’ less empathetic than any other generation?” It all starts with trapping them under this imaginary bell that tells them what their self-worth should be. Davis says “The norm pins down that majority of the population that falls under the arch of the standard bell-shaped curve. This curve, the graph of an exponential function, . . . , became in its own way a symbol of tyranny of the norm.” We have no other way of defining normal because of this bell curve. How is the bell curve even measured? Someone finds out how everyone would score or compare on a certain activity or function and then groups them in below average, average, or above average. A majority of the people fall under the peak of the bell with fewer people on either end of the peak. This bell curve can be observed in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? when John Isidore has to take a minimum mental faculties test. He fails and is then classified as a “chickenhead.” The androids have to take the Voight-Kampf test to see if their empathy score matches a human’s. If they fail they are classified as an android and killed. This bell curve fits under the idea that “Society more so disables people” (NominalistWay). This quote comes from Examined Life – Judith Butler & Sunaura Taylor, a video where Judith Butler, a gender theorist and philosopher, and Sunaura Taylor discuss what being disabled means. Sunaura Taylor has arthrogryposis, a disease that fuses joints and makes muscles weaker. She does not fit under the bell curve of what is considered to be physically normal because she cannot walk or do a lot of average everyday functions without assistance. But why should she be grouped under the abnormal group because she does things differently than most people? The answer is exactly what that quote says, because society says so. If society was to escape this trap of the bell curve, we would live together in greater peace and harmony.

Often people who are classified as abnormal are the victims of violence and hatred. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, John Isidore experiences hatred when he sees the ads on the television that say “special” people are not wanted, have no use, and could not emigrate because they would ruin their new world (Dick 20). The androids experience violence and hatred the whole book because they are slaves on Mars and being hunted and killed for not being human. The only way to truly tell if they are not a human is to take a bone marrow sample and test it, but they still experience all this hate because they are different. This happens in society today. If you look at Charlottesville, Virginia, you will find the white nationalist showing hatred towards minorities. You will consequently see the minorities showing hatred back towards the white nationalist. As a result, there is violence. If the white nationalist could live in present America and not mid-1900’s America, the violence and hatred would not exist. But instead they view these people as different and not as good as they are.

A big question society has to ask itself is why does this violence and hatred exist? I believe one explanation is how much society values being the best. The Nazi’s killed people who were abnormal because “The physically and mentally handicapped were viewed as useless to society, a threat to Aryan genetic purity, and, ultimately, unworthy of life” (The Murder 1). We see people as useless to society if they are not the best, and as result we get this hatred and violence. In order to change this stigma, the idea that people who have abnormalities or are “abnormal” are useless to society needs to change. Sunaura Taylor offers another explanation to violence and hatred towards abnormal people relating to a reminder that our bodies are going to age and eventually we are going to die. People see these disabled people and know that eventually they will not be able to walk or do everyday simple tasks or function at their highest mental capability. As a result, I believe that people take this anger out on the people that remind them that they eventually will need help from others too. If you look back in history, there is endless examples of humans demonstrating violence and hatred towards other humans because they are different than them, abnormal. From the mass genocide of the Native Americans and enslavement of Africans to the mass genocide of Jewish people by the Nazi regime. Humans built machine guns and nuclear weapons before we learned how to live together. Instead of learning how to be respectful and accepting of everyone, we choose to continue to assault, kill, and insult those who are different than us.

In society today, it is almost as if you are the abnormal one for being empathetic. For being kind. For seeing people for who they are and not judging them for their imperfections. Reasons behind this might be we are individualistic, value competitiveness, and are judgmental. “But in today’s fast-paced and technology-driven culture, people’s self-absorption leads to more narcissism – and, consequently, less empathy” (Grasgreen, 11). We care more about ourselves than any previous generation. I believe this is because at technology is so advanced right now that we do not need to necessarily rely on each other as much as used to. Social media also plays a factor into this as we use it to say “Look at how awesome I am” or “Look what happened to me, feel sorry for me.” Competitiveness is also valued way too much in society. From a young age we are told “you are the best” and made to believe that by the participation awards we receive. Later in life when we no longer get an award for everything we do and told we are the best, we start to feel uncomfortable and doubt self-worth, which leads to lack of empathy. Relating back to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, John Isidore, the character in the book who is singled out for being mentally disabled, is the sole character who sees the androids for who they are; other people who think, breath, and have feelings. He looks past the fact that they are inhuman, abnormal. If we all make even the slightest attempt to be more like John Isidore, our world would be a much better place. We would not have a divided country. We would not be on the brink of nuclear war. We would not have children who are afraid to go to school. We would not give up on everything so easily. Because in the end, we are all abnormal. Who are you to think you are better than any other person? But the problem is some people have an ego so big that they do not want to admit and recognize that in fact, no I am not perfect. I have flaws. I am abnormal. Until everyone can admit and accept that fact, there will always be a set norm. I challenge you to be conscious of when you are judging others due to their abnormalities and remind yourself of yours. Look for ways you can help others surpass their abnormalities and do not be afraid to ask others for help with yours. I believe that if one would do this during every interaction, we as a whole would be much more happy.

To conclude, there are solutions to the three problems I discussed. The problem with the bell curve can be fixed by removing the bell curve. Instead of looking at the where the average human would score, we should look at every person as a human. “. . . the ‘problem’ is not the person with the disabilities; the problem is the way that normalcy is constructed to create the ‘problem’ of the disabled person” (Davis 1). The word normal should be removed when defining a person. No one can fit perfectly under the bell curve, so the bell curve should be removed completely as a tool to measure how “normal” a person is. Violence and hatred towards those who are abnormal can be removed by changing the view of people who are abnormal as not being a functional member of society and treating them with the respect we would want. Lack of empathy can be changed by restructuring the values our society holds and accepting that none of us are perfect. “I think we have become a society where we rate status over relationships. We relate image over character and when you do that, you place much less emphasis on the skill or the ability of empathy” (Grasgreen 11). I feel society fits into this outlook where we care more about who you are status wise and less about who you are as a person. Judith Butler says “Do we or do we not live in a world in which we assist each other? Do we or do we not help each other with basic needs?” Her idea is that we are not independent beings. We are interdependent for a reason and that reason is to help each other with our abnormalities. If I am really good at math, but have a disease like Sunaura Taylor and cannot pick up a cup of coffee, and you have the ability to pick up the coffee, but struggle with math, is it not selfish of us to not assist each other in aiding our abnormalities?

Work Cited

Davis, Lennard J. Constructing Normalcy. Binghampton, 1995

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. New York: Random House, 1996. Print.

Grasgreen, Allie. “Empathizing 101.” Inside Higher Ed, 24 Nov. 2010, www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/11/24/empathy.

NominalistWay. Examined Life – Judith Butler & Sunaura Taylor 720p.Avi. Performance by Judith Butler, and Sunaura Taylor, YouTube, YouTube, 6 Oct. 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0HZaPkF6qE.

“The Murder of the Handicapped.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007683.