Author: george ruth m.

Embodied Virtuality

In her book Toward Embodied Virtuality, Katherine Hayles discusses her shifting perspective on dualism. Her text defines this as the separation of body and mind. Throughout Hayles’ text, she suggests that although skeptical at first, this separation is possible and this possibility has been hinted at since the early 1950’s. Even the very premise of Star Trek is produced in a setting where they “imagine that the body can be dematerialized into an informational pattern and rematerialized, without change at a remote location,” (Hayles 1). Throughout the Be Right Back episode of Black Mirror and the movie Stepford Wives, it is evident that the human synthesis of mind and body may not be as theoretically clear as one would imagine.

Hayles’ idea of virtual embodiment is perfectly captured in season two episode one of Black Mirror. It is set during a morbid time in Martha’s life due to the recent death of her husband Ash. Coming to grips with the reality of Ash’s death was proving to be near impossible until Sarah, Martha’s family friend, introduced a new form of experimental technology to her, making it possible for Martha to talk to and interact with a cyborg version of Ash through the use of a computer program. As an avid user of social media, this program gathered all of Ash’s past activity and compiled it to make a very real and lifelike cyborg version of the old human Ash. With the fast-approaching arrival of her new baby, Martha grew attached to this cyborg version and took “him” with her everywhere she went so that she can escape the loneliness she feels. However soon she came to realize that although this cyborg embodied Ash physically, the only mental connection it had to the human Ash was the compilation of all the internet data it could gather. Martha came to realize that no matter how hard she tried, this cyborg could never embody the personal feelings or emotions of the human Ash because ultimately, this cyborg was just one giant physical hard drive holding living proof of Ash’s existence and nothing more. Hayles’ concept of virtual embodiment is applicable throughout this episode because Ash’s cyborg does not fully embody his true self and as this becomes more evident to Martha she grows frustrated and attempts to get rid of him. Things as simple as his submission to her even when she ordered him to jump off the cliff was proof to her that this clone could not embody Ash because nothing of his mind or body was original. Other than the cyborg’s exact replica of Ash, cyborg Ash would have to be “programmed” to cry in essence. As Hayles explains, this cyborg was simply a matter and product of experimental science and nothing more because no cyborg can truly embody a living person according to Hayles’ reasoning that “central to the construction of the cyborg are informational pathways connecting the organic body to its prosthetic extensions,” (Hayles 2). Based upon this logic, the cyborg version of Ash was only as good as the connection it had to Ash’s activity on the internet.

Another example of Hayles’ explanation of virtual embodiment can be seen in the movie Stepford Wives. The story takes place in a classic suburban town called Stepford, where Joanna and her husband and kids moved to from New York in their search for a quieter and more stable life away from the city. Joanna, a carefree spirit quickly finds out that the women of Stepford are a rare breed in accepting the extreme patriarchal society in which they live in. All of the women are submissive to their husbands and represent the idealistic version of “the perfect wife.” They cook, clean, stay home, and take care of the children and tend to their husband’s needs with no mind or personality of their own. Joanna soon discovers that this submission was forced upon the wives of Stepford as the Stepford Men’s association would kill their wives and create the perfect idealistic housewife cyborg version of each of their wives, personalizing them in looks alone. Hayles’ idea of dualism is personified by the wives in that their mind and body are separated. Although each of the wives are personalized to look exactly like their human forms, their minds are essentially altered completely to fit their husbands’ standards of an ideal submissive wife, thus creating the perfect post human.

Toward Embodied Virtuality discusses Katherine Hayles’ shifting perspective on dualism. She explains this separation of the mind and body as an unavoidable result of ever growing technology. Season 2 episode 1 of Black Mirror and the movie Stepford Wives both illustrate this ideology perfectly. In Black Mirror, Ash’s cyborg version physically embodies his human counterpart however, his mind can only collect the information that the human Ash stored on the internet. This left no possibility for raw emotion from the cyborg. In Stepford Wives, the men’s association killed all of the women and created cyborg versions of their wives that were true to each of their human physical forms yet their minds were completely altered. These substantiate Hayles’ theory that due to our continuous growth in technological innovations with the creations and inventions of smarter machines, one day we all may just become a population of cyborgs.

Midterm: What Makes Us Human?

 

Technology is an ever-growing and imperative part of today’s society and culture. Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, is a thought-provoking novel that highlights the ideology behind using and misusing the technology that is created by humans. The novel’s protagonist Rick Deckard, is a bounty hunter who kills androids. Given that these androids are killed based upon the fact that they are machines lacking empathy, one would also have to give thought as to whether humans today can be considered as simply human or whether there is some matter of cyborg within all of us given how reliant we are upon technology. Our dependency on the latest technological innovations ranging from the cell phone to modern medicine opens a broader level of thinking to the possibility that humans would be unable to survive if the technology we overuse today were unavailable to us at any given point. Have humans evolved into a generation so consumed by modern machinery that we ourselves have crossed a boundary in which the ability to empathize is no longer enough to serve as the only distinction between humans and the androids that Rick kills? Essentially, I believe that this is enough. Regardless of how far humans progress with the latest technology, as long as humans alone remain in control of their identity, which largely involves the ability to empathize with others and feel emotions, I believe that that is what makes us human; the ability to feel emotions and empathize with others.

The development of technology has increased at an alarming rate throughout the 21st century. In the post-apocalyptic time period of Dick’s novel, technology has developed so much so that Rick and his wife Iran are able to “dial in their emotions” using their Penfield device (Dick, 3). In some ways this idea of being able to control one’s emotions at will provokes the topic of programming. Seeing as there is nothing naturally occurring from an android, it is ironic that Rick and Iran also program themselves to feel the emotions they do, leaving no room for natural thought and feeling. Our current society and culture also promote the same level of submission from humans to technology. For instance, Donna Harraway’s A Cyborg Manifesto places emphasis partly on the relationship boundary between organism and machine. This emphasis is substantiated by her belief that very little material is still deemed “natural” in today’s society given how dependent humans find themselves upon technological innovations (Harraway, 300). Granted such innovations have helped improve the modern world, there are a plethora of “natural” materials that have lost its authenticity due to our technology dependent culture. For example, Harraway states that even the natural process of reproduction can now be halted and prevented through technological means such as the use of protection (Harraway, 301). However, while many may find a human’s reliance upon new innovations as bothersome, the evolution of time and environment calls for such reform in regards to the safety and practicality of human life and preservation. The distinction between humans and androids lie with the reality that no matter how dependent we may find ourselves upon technology, what makes us human is our identity: the ability to empathize.

This ability to empathize was the key differentiation between android and human in Dick’s novel as well. Referring to Chapter 18, where Isidore found the spider which was thought to be extinct, the androids suggested cutting off its legs. Even as Isidore pleaded with them to not harm the creature they continued to do so (Dick, 206). This lack of empathy was also shown as Rachael killed Rick and Iran’s goat. Although Rachael was manipulating Rick the whole time by seducing him in order to prevent him from killing more androids, as soon as she saw the plan had failed, Rachael did what humans in Dick’s novel regarded as the ultimate act of evil: killing animals. “Rick I have to tell you something… the goat is dead…[s]omeone came here, got the goat out of its cage, and dragged it to the edge of the roof… [and pushed it off],” (Dick, 226). As Iran informed Rick that their goat was dead, Rick slowly began to realize that Iran’s description of the woman who killed their goat was Rachael. The disability to feel no remorse or emotion regarding the actions they commit separate humans from androids. This is what separates us from the technology that we use every day. Although humans are reliant upon it, natural emotion and feeling and personality all come from within, contrary to what occurs in Dick’s novel. This remains as the common attribute to an individual’s personality, thus giving them identity. Ultimately, Rick ended up hating what he did for a living due to the fact that he began empathizing with androids. This empathy was never prevalent amongst any of the androids because they were not programmed to empathize.

Stanford’s Encyclopedia of Philosophy recently published an article discussing the human ability to empathize called Empathy written by Strueber. As Strueber continues to analyze the depth of empathy found within humans, she refers to Batson’s various experiments on the matter. “Batson assumes… that empathy/sympathy can be manipulated either by manipulating the perceived similarity between subjects and targets or by manipulating the perspective taking attitude of the subjects… according to these assumptions [empathy] can be increased by enhancing the perceived similarity between subject and target or by asking the subject to imagine how the observed person would feel in his or her situation rather than asking the subject to attend carefully to the information provided,” (Stotland, 1969). Batson’s studies prove that empathy is a defining trait of humanism. No matter how engrossed an individual may find themselves with the technology available to them, the concept of conforming to a matter of cyborg will not be possible given that our identity and individuality lies within our power to feel and experience the pain, happiness, sadness, etc. of others.

Personally, I find our increased use of technology to act as a catalyst in further developing emotions and empathy for others. For instance, social media remains as an outlet in which voices and opinions are heard. In this digital age, our use of technology to access social media is a direct reflection of our individual self-identifying traits as humans. The use of high speed internet is why people around the world can connect with each other to make positive changes. Mission trips to third world countries suffering from civil war and poverty, charitable funds and organization, community outreach programs, and various other programs are created by humans through the use of technology. Thus, although we may be overshadowed by the technology surrounding us, what makes us human is the ability to control the technology we create to make a positive change that further confirms our own individual identity. This identity is found through the human ability to empathize and make an impact through the natural emotions we feel.

The new technological era that came with the dawn of the 21st century is an ever-growing fast paced culture that will only continue to grow and further develop. One will not be able to tell whether in the future new technology will be created that will program empathy and other emotions into new inventions. However, until this time, it is safe to assume that no matter how far humans consume themselves with the latest technological devices available, our ability to feel naturally occurring emotions and empathize with others provides us with identity and purpose thus, distinguishing us as humans.

 

  Work Cited

  1. Stueber, Karsten, “Empathy”,The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Fall 2016 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL  http://plaoto.stanford.edu/archives/fall2016/entries/empathy/
  2. Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?p.: Del Ray, 1968. Print.
  3. Harraway, Donna M. “A Cyborg Manifesto.” (n.d.): n. pag. The Cybercultures Reader. Routledge, 2000. Web.

Android emotions

In Chapter 17 after Rick and Rachael went to bed together, Rachael shared her thoughts with Rick the next morning. She said, “We androids can’t control our physical, sensual passions. You probably knew that; in my opinion you took advantage of me,” (Dick, 197). However, as the chapter will explain Rachael did not seem angry at all. On the contrary, she appeared to be cheerful and it closely resembled the happiness that would emanate from another human. Also, I found Rachael’s statement of how she commented on how sad Rick looked as he thought about how he will stop being a bounty hunter after the Battys.

Both when she shared her opinion of how she was taken advantage of and how she picked up on Rick’s emotions, it closely resembled how a human would react to both situations. My question is that can Rachael’s ability to understand Rick’s expressions and emotions so well be a sign that androids to a certain degree, may empathize with others? Or can Rachel’s understanding simply be labeled as mere intuition or something of that sort and nothing more?