Some of the theory we will read in this course contains very technical, specific terminology that must be defined in order to understand the content. To develop a base for our reading and discussion, we will define terms used in How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics by Katherine Hayles in order to create a crowdsourced index to reference through the semester. Each of you will be assigned one of the following terms. For this assignment you should define this term based on your reading of Hayles and outside information you gather and determine to be relevant in this context. Please provide hyperlinked citations to any outside information you quote, paraphrase, or summarize.
Write your definition separately in your journal. Then, edit this post and add your definition in the designated area before class time on 11/1. Remember to click publish.
***Please do not edit any entry but the one you were assigned!
| Autopoietic | The dictionary defines autopoietic as “the property of a living system that allows it to maintain and renew itself by regulating its composition and conserving its boundaries.” After reading How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics I have concluded that the definition of autopoietic, according to Hayles, is a system that is self made and is directly correlated to ones environment. Hayles states that “In the autopoietic view, no information crosses the boundary separating the system from its environment. We do not see a world “out there” that exists apart from us. Rather, we see only what our systemic organization allows us to see. The environment merely triggers changes determined by the system’s own structural properties” (17-18) . I interpreted this as the system is our way of life and we aren’t effected by the things that happen out side of our environment but only by the things that directly relate to our environments. For example, the Syrian refugee crisis is something in the world “out there” and that information does not affect our systems because our environment is not directly related. |
| Celluar Automata | According to the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, cellular automata are composed of cells or atoms that are defined as, “discrete, abstract computational systems that have proved useful both as general models of complexity and as more specific representations of non-linear dynamics in a variety of scientific fields.” Similarly, in the book, How We Become Posthuman, by Katherine Hayles, cellular automata are defined as, “elementary units that can occupy two states: on or off. Although the jury is still out on the cellular automata model, it may indeed prove to be a robust way to understand reality” (11). Both of these definitions explain cellular automata as having the capability to recreate/model certain complex systems by being “implemented in physical structures” (Stanford Encyclopedia). It is also said, in Hayles book, that the theories that are embedded within the cellular automata, “encourage a comparable fantasy – that because we are essentially information, we can do away with the body” (12). In my opinion this is stating that the human body could potentially be eliminated with this model because we are technically information ourselves, so there is no use for the body itself; “information is given the dominant position and materiality runs a distant second” (12). Overall, the information within us and of which creates us, overrules the body. Therefore, although this word is difficult to understand, this is what I have concluded based upon the text by Hayles and the definition provided by the Stanford Encyclopedia. |
| Cybernetics | The dictionary definition of cybernetics is the scientific study of how people, animals, and machines control and communicate information. Based on chapter 1 of How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics, my definition is the study of the communication and processing of information in humans and machines. Hayles discusses that “cybernetics signaled that three powerful actors-information, control, and communication-were now operating jointly to bring about an unprecedented synthesis of the organic and the mechanical” (8). Cybernetics looks at how information, control and communication work together simultaneously in humans and machines and how they are similar. The chapter also goes in depth in the history of cybernetics and how it has changed in waves, seen in figure 1 on page 16. Cybernetics is the main concept and most of what is discussed in the chapter falls under this concept. |
| Cyborg | A cyborg is, simply put, a hybrid of human and machine, with technological modifications made to the human to make them superior. Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a cyborg as (1) “a person whose body contains mechanical or electrical devices and whose abilities are greater than the abilities of normal humans” or (2) “a bionic human”. In the context of How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics, the cyborg is the definition of posthumanism, it being the next step of human evolution with assistance from the use of technologies. The author mentions in the text how Hans Moravec can replicate human emotion, making it “that machines can, for all practical purposes, become human beings. You are the cyborg, and the cyborg is you.” (Hayles xii) |
| Embodiment | According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Embodiment is defined as “Someone or something that is a perfect representative or example of a quality, idea, etc”. In her book, “How We Became Posthuman”, Hayles uses this term to describe how there is no exact or ideal form information; the form that information now takes is more flexible (Hayles 2). She describes information as a pattern rather than tied to a particular concrete idea. This in turn allows information to be free from the materialistic world (Hayles 13). In summary, Hayles claims that there is no embodiment or exact/ideal form of information; this allows information to be free and not restrained or constricted by society. |
| Epistemology | Epistemology is defined in the dictionary as branch of philosophy that investigates the origin, nature, methods, and limits of Human knowledge. In regards to Katherine Hayles’ “How we became Post human,” I believe that it elaborates on this definition. Hayles’ piece investigates the boundaries in which humans have crossed to now be labeled as post human. She gives way to the ideology that we as humans have always been networked and connected through others and that we are always connected to cyborgism in one way or another. Epistemology in this article can be defined as the level of understanding one has of the extent of human limitations and knowledge among other things. |
| Feedback Loop | Definition provided by http://lexicon.ft.com/: Used in economics to refer to as a situation where part of the output of situations is used for a new input. An example of positive feedback loop is success feeds success. In Chapter 1 pg. 9 Feedback Loop was described as “The idea of the feedback loop implies that the subject are up for grabs, since feedback loops can flow only within the subject but also between the subject and the environment.” My interpretation of this is Feedback Loop is similar to a cycle, and the output will be the same from start to finish. It is the process that can change. A website that gave a better explanation was www.think.org. The example the website provided was, “For example, the work output of a population can increase the goods and services available to that population, which can increase the average life expectancy, which can increase the population, which can increase the work output still more, and the loop starts all over again. ” How I connected this definition to the essay, How we Became Posthuman by N. Katherine Hayles was on pg. 12 the author mentions “Focus on how information lost its body. If my nightmare is a culture inhabited by posthumans who regard their bodies as fashion accessory rather than the ground of being, my dream……embrace the possibilities of information technologies without being seduced with fantasies.” I viewed this as a negative feedback loop. Since the information that enters out mind is the output, but the process (what we do with info) is what can make the Feedback Loop positive or negative. In the essay the author explains how other influences disrupts the process of that information. |
| Homeostasis | My definition of Homeostasis is the status of something that stays the same and doesn’t fluctuate. According to Dictionary.com homeostasis is ”
the tendency of a system, especially the physiological system of higher animals, to maintain internal stability, owing to the coordinated response of its parts to any situation or stimulus that would tend to disturb its normal condition or function.” I couldn’t find where Hayles defines homeostasis but in the prologue she talks about homosexuality. I think Hayles maybe reffering to Society staying the same about their opinion on homosexuality.
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| Ontology | In my own words, a sound definition for “ontology” would be to describe it as such: The study/theory of existence and being. Basically, ontology is the fancy word for the study of what you ponder when having an existential crisis. Merriam-Webster defines ontology as “a particular theory about the nature of being or the kinds of things that have existence.” While Katherine Hayles doesn’t outright mention ontology in the first chapter of How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics, she touches upon this study of existence by tying it back to the posthuman, claiming, “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” (3). Hayles also explores the statement that says, “The human essence is freedom from the wills of others” (3). She then uses the word “ontological” itself on page 24 when speaking of Philip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, saying, “[Dick] understands that cybernetics radically destabilizes the ontological foundations of what counts as human.” Ontology, then, is a questioning of existence, exploring the possibilities about what it means to simply “be.” |
| Posthumanism | The dictionary definition of Posthumanism is:”The idea that humanity can be transformed, transcended, or eliminated either by technological advances or the evolutionary process; artistic, scientific, or philosophical practice which reflects this belief.” (oxford dictionary). This definition is very much the same as the one that Hayles gives in, How We Become Posthuman. Hayles defines posthumanism as the view that consciousness is “the seat” of human identity. Meaning as long as the organism contains conscious thought it is human. We create posthumans because the body is the “original prosthesis” that should be configured to be integrated with “intelligent machines” to create the posthuman subject. Posthumanism is the belief in a “amalgam”, a mixture or blend of human and machine to create superior man or being.
Is the view of information over biological matter which considers consciousness as the base of human life, and recognizes the body as a prothesis that subjects learn to manipulate and continue to change by adding other prothesis to it, called an amalgam. Most importantly and the base of this view, is that the body is seen as intended to be combined with intelligent machines. This view also gets rid of the desire of possession, the need for embodiment to be considered human and the meaning of freedom.
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| Reflexivity | Reflexivity is an thing being changed and adapting because it is reacting to stimuli. In How We Become Posthuman, it is described as “the movement whereby that which has been used to generate a system is made, through a changed perspective, to become part of the system it generates” (8). What I take from this definition is that a certain object/thing is learning to adapt because of stimuli it receives, and becomes a better version of itself. |
| Seriation | The definition of Seriation from Dictionary.com is “the arrangement of a collection of artifacts into a chronological sequence.”
The author used the example of lamps that to described how their use and properties changed over time. Beginning with candle wicks to lamps becoming electronic with lightbulbs. Normally used as a chart, seriation is like a timeline of an artifact and how it changed over time. |
| Skeuomorphs | Hayles defines a skeuomorph as “a design feature that is no longer functional in itself but refers back to a feature that was functional at an earlier time” (Posthuman 24). She uses the dashboard of her Toyota Camry saying that it is covered in vinyl mold to simulate stiching but that simulated stitching is actually fabric from an older model just with a different look. Skeuomophism is a big part of our evolution of technology because it has modernized things and made them more resourceful.
Dictionary Definition: An object or feature that imitates the design of a similar artifact made from another material. |
| Teleology | The study of evidences of design in nature. An example of teleology would be if one describes things in terms of their apparent purpose, or goal. On page 3, Hayes describes teleology only in terms of their sense of purpose:
“In the post human, there are no essential differences or absolute demarcations between bodily existence and computer simulation, cybernetic mechanism and biological organism, robot teleology and human goals” (Hayes 3). |
| Virtuality | Hayles gives virtuality the “strategic definition” of “the cultural perception that material objects are interpenetrated by information patterns.” Essentially, she is saying that it’s the idea that information affects the way material objects function. This is confirmed when she gives the example of the computer being programmed to play ping-pong. She describes it as a cultural perception to demonstrate what a widespread and generally accepted idea this is. |
Homeostasis is on page 7. Ontological is on page 24.