“The term “Cyborg” originated from the Cold War to describe the human-machine amalgam, that is, beings which are part-human and part-machine.”[1] Cyborg are hybrid entitles that are neither wholly technological nor completely organic. Although the idea of “Cyborg” has released for a long time, it is still a transgressive figure, especially in the gender identity and other culture issues (e.g. cyborg should consider as organic or machine, male or female).
I would like to construct a list of research article to illustrate some others opinions.
A. Induction to “Cyborg”
“The cyborg is a liberating mechanism from human environments via a “self-regulating man-machine system”.[2] As I mention before, the idea of “Cyborg” was found in Cold War. The concept of Cyborg has been changed. In the article “The Online Body Breaks Out? Asence, Ghosts, Cyborgs, Gender, Polarity and Politics”, the author mentions that in past days, Cyborg is made by human and lives with human. Human needed to participate in the construction of Cyborg, like the wire design. Nowadays, Cyborg is transferred to self-oriented and can alive itself. “It means nowadays human are just inputing data, not participation”. [3] From the period of teaching Cyborg by human, now, Cyborg can learn itself. Thus, there is a question released in many peoples’ heart. Will Cyborg become uncontrollable? There is a meaningful quotation from the article, “Historically, the cyborg has stood for the radical anxiety of human consciousness about its own embodiment at the moment that embodiment appears almost fully contingent. Cyborg anxiety has stood for a panic oscillation between the "human" element (associated with affections, eros, error, innovation, projects begun in the face of mortality) and the "machine" element (the desire for long life, health, physical impermeability, self-contained control processes, dependability)” [4]. From that we can see Human are still finding the way how to alive with Cyborg.
B. The danger of Cyborg
After the birth of Cyborg, there is a lot of movies about Cyborg. Some are possitibe, some are negative. In the book, “Projecting the Shadow: The Cyborg Hero in American Film”, it introduces us American movies which are Jaws, The Deer Hunter, The Manchurian Candidate, Blade Runner, The Terminator, and Terminator 2. They are all about Cyborg. By the author’s deeply examination, we can notify that there is a few types of Cyborg. In the movie “Jaws”, it demonstrates how a 'soft' man can re-acquire the heroic hunter qualities he needs by technology. Thus he can team up with a natural man and a 'technological' man-Cyborg. From this movie, it shows how human can live with Cybory harmony.[5] In another movie, “Blade Runner”, it performs perfectly the artificial human with its manufactured replicates who are "more than human". Since the definition of Cybory is the combination of part human and part machine, artificial human should be considered into Cyborg. It would also bring out the question, what is human? And what is not? The foundation of Cyborg makes the binary of organic and artificial more and more unclear. If the problem is keeping unsolved, the use of Cyborg would be very dangerous. Beside, some people claim that “the machine is not an it to be animated, worshipped, and dominated. The machine is us, our processes, an aspect of our embodiment. We can be responsible for machines; they do not dominate or threaten us. We are responsible for boundaries; we are they”.[6] Some of people would worry about Cyborg because it is uncontrollable. But, I agree that and I believe if we can have clear instruction on using of Cyborg, we can fully express the power Cyborg in a safety way. It would help human more accept Cyborg.
C. The gender identity of Cyborg
Another distinguishing feature of Cyborg is no clear gender identity. Donna Haraway claims that the “cyborg is a creature in a post-gender world”.[7] In the traditional western political and scientific view, male dominated the society and its development. All important roles in the society are all male. But after the foundation of Cyborg, we find that Cyborg has no clear gender identity. It destroys the social norm of general public. By decreasing the importance of male, it would increase feminist. In the book of “Technologies of the Gendered Body: Reading Cyborg Women”, the author states that “the cultural significance of the female body is not only (not even first and foremost) that of a flesh-and-blood entity, but that of a symbolic construct”.[8] I would like to point out that in the mind of general public, the distinguish between male and female is the sex organ. The easiest recognize part is the breast. Almost Cyborg has bigger breast, it can easily to recognize that most Cyborg are likely female.
Some people claims that this kind of bodybuilding is a part of post-moderization. It is because they agree of “bodies are limited in their present (gendered) form”.[9] By the blurring the gender construction, it would be a new great develop from present.
But, some of public would account this kind of Cyborg (no clear gender identity) is alien. It is because most of us still hold their social norm (each one should have defined sex and gender) in mind strongly.
D. Conclusion - The future of Cyborg
I believe that Cyborg would be more acceptable than nowadays. Some people would say that “in the future I believe we will be able to send signals to and from human and machine brains. We will be able to directly harness the memory and mathematical capabilities of machines. We will be able to communicate across the internet by means of thought signals alone. Human speech and language, as we know it, will become obsolete”.[10] As we are kindly using of Cyborg, it would be an essential part of human. It can predicate that the using area of Cyborg would be increase and it will keep raise other problems. But if we keep using Cyborg in a self regular way, we can do the thing that cannot / difficult to do easily and it would be no need to worry.
Bliography
[1] Judy Wajcman (2004). ‘The Cyborg Solution’ . TechnoFeminism. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2004. p.88
[2] Peta S. Cook. The Modernistic Posthuman Prophecy of Donna Haraway <http://eprints.qut.edu.au/646/1/cook_peta.pdf>
[3] Haraway, Donna. Simians, Cyborgs and Women. New York: Routledge, 1989. p.152 <http://journal.fibreculture.org/issue3/issue3_marshall.html>
[4] Paul N. Edwards. “The Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War America” MIT Press, 1997. p.341 <http://books.google.com/books?id=LkJgQOR4s4oC&pg=PA341&dq=Cyborg+danger&lr=&hl=zh-TW&output=html&vq=%22The+machine+is+not+an+it+to+be+animated,+worshipped+and+dominated.+The+machine+is+us,+our+processes,+an+aspect%22&source=gbs_quotes >
[5] Janice Hocker Rushing, Thomas S. Frentz. “Projecting the Shadow: The Cyborg Hero in American Film” University of Chicago Press, 1995. p.204 <http://books.google.com/books?hl=zh-TW&lr=&id=qSijJ3rHb1kC&oi=fnd&pg=PP11&dq=Cyborg+danger&ots=UZNEuj21q2&sig=S8i6pb-jQPM7I0gibogMElXt_RQ%23PRA2-PA204,M1>
[6] Paul N. Edwards. “The Closed World: Computers and the Politics of Discourse in Cold War America” MIT Press, 1997. p.341 <http://books.google.com/books?id=LkJgQOR4s4oC&pg=PA341&dq=Cyborg+danger&lr=&hl=zh-TW&output=html&vq=%22The+machine+is+not+an+it+to+be+animated,+worshipped+and+dominated.+The+machine+is+us,+our+processes,+an+aspect%22&source=gbs_quotes >
[7] Donna Haraway. “A Cyborg Manife” Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century," in Simians, Cyborgs and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (New York; Routledge, 1991), pp.149-181.< http://sfs.scnu.edu.cn/blogs/linghh/uploadfiles/2006928221222229.pdf>
[8] Anne Marie Balsamo. “Technologies of the Gendered Body: Reading Cyborg Women”Duke University Press, 1996. p.23 < http://books.google.com/books?hl=zh-TW&lr=&id=lkr11mXPYKEC&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=cyborg+female&ots=U6Q8lCyI0m&sig=KAF6HflP-ueCuvbHSiiKpCIKV04%23PPA23,M1%20%3e
[9] Peta S. Cook. The Modernistic Posthuman Prophecy of Donna Haraway <http://eprints.qut.edu.au/646/1/cook_peta.pdf>
[10] Jan, Kevin Warwick. Future of Cyborgs. 1 FEB 2000. 27 FEB 2009. <http://www.humantruth.info/cyborgs.html>
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Surprisingly, I haven't think that you will combine all sources into three different parts. The writing style is different from almost of us. It is quite good that you firstly provide a definition of "cybrog" to readers. Because there are some audience may not know the meanings of "cybrog".
ReplyDeleteThen, you pointed out two main points that "cybrog" is danger and no gender from various sources that you found. Your research give us the characteristics of cybrogs. It is very clear concept for explain that what is cybrog. Generally, It is quite good point.
In addition, you may try to provide more detail from the sources, because you seems just take the main point of the source in a few sentences. It just my opinion, but your writing style quite organizational and logical. :)