CRITICAL ANNOTATED WEBLIOGRAPHY BY WUCHI

Introduction

Undoubtedly, the definition of “cyborg” is harder to classify than the past, which bounties that cyborg belong to, no matter to that is a wholly machine or flesh. Follow the development of technology, mechanical devices are no longer as the tools of human, they are going to be a part the human’s life. As a metaphor that, camera is just like the appearance of Jenni, which presents the identities of JennyCAM. It is vague to say that, JenniCAM is a wholly human or machine. Subsequently, that is the reason why Balsamo said Cyborg has the potential not only disrupt persistent dualisms but also to refashion our thinking.


{Cybernetic + Organism = Cyborg}

The term ‘cyborg’ (CYBernetic + ORGanism) was first appeared in a reseach by Manfred E. Clynes and Nathan S. Kline. Since that, the concept of the fusion between man and machine has been supposed to develop to an object, which can do something which human impossible to do. Quoting the analysis of two scholars, Donna Haraway and David Gunkel, they both think the cyborg is not a imagine or a topic of science fiction, it will appear in the reality. As they said, there are number of cyborg has already really moved beyond fiction.This essay has also introduced the concept of Cybernetic and Cyberpunk, moreover, it also imagine that, cyborg will be develop to have their own thought, emotion, etc. As the introduction of cyberpunk, since science and technology are being more intimate to human life, there is no long existence of privacy among enterprises, by employing hacker to enter the opponent’s computer network system.


Donna Haraway, “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century”
This essay has been divicded into two parts, the first part introduced what cyborg is, the history background, etc. Moreover, it analyzes the position of cyborg in Western and the relationship towards society, politic, movement of feminist, human and technologies.

The second part of the essay, that also is the main idea that Haraway argues in this essay that, cyborg will completely destroy the boundary of human and animal. As she claims, “By the late twentieth century, our time, a mythic time, we are all chimeras.” (150). In the late 20th century, people no longer care the need and the importance to separate boundaries, the integration of cyborg will subvert bountaries. However, cyborg exactly appears the boundary between human and animal is transgressed. Therefore, we need to rethink about the identites, the classification of gender and power will be changed. For this reason, the position of female will be re-fixed. Even the concept of Western, “non-existence of women” will also be reversed. The last two sentence of the essay exactly described the situation after the emergency of cyborg
“It means both building and destroying machines, identities, categories, relationships, space stories.” (181)


Manuela Rossini, “SCIENCE/FICTION: IMAGINEERING POSTHUMAN BODIES”

This article mainly analyze about the development of post-human bodies. Follow the the rapid advances in medicine and genetic engineering, external transformation of the human body shape is very common, just like a routine. Tissue and organ transfer between human beings, even between humans and animals, this action is obviously destroying the boundary between self and other. Technology makes more and more people into "posthuman bodies’. external transformation of the humanexternal transformation of the humanexternal transformation of the humanexternal transformation of the humanIt makes a huge problem that, it is harder to identify what is "true" humanness. That can be shifting to a situation like that, a woman who lost her breast since she got cance, and need to cut them off, then this woman may not be name as a human anymore. That how about cosmetology? This essay has studies in the transformation of post-humanism, cyborg, cloning technology, etc. Rossini claims that these technology developments are required to be change the human life. However, they also make complex different boundaries in our life, and generate more social chaos about feminist, queer, sexual, etc.


Blurred identities

That is a weblog on the internet, the author described the life with cyborg. it has described the blurred identities of cyborg that, cyborg cannot be placed into a quasi-secular frame of reference, a Freudian metanarative or a Marxist mode of production, even that is not arranged by god, since we have never seen cyborg in the bible. Cyborg which imagined author and the technical tools in our daily life, such as “with a phone on my ear”, “a computer attached to my fingertips” and “a car as my privatised space”, etc. the author thinks human in nowadays are redefine nature and culure, that has been subverted the binary. Cyborg is the rewriting “ourselfe”, “We” are cyborg, everyone also is cyborg. For a reason, the dualism of social reality is no longer around to “us”.


Computing in 2020: erasing the boundary between human and PC

This article shows a result which researched by Microsoft Research, follow the development of technology, human control computer by connecting nerve impulses and computer, that is the scene of science fiction any more. Computer integrate with human will bring more efficiency to the human life. For example, that can help the disable people to better their life, computer will surrogates for human memory. Besides, the research has also indicated that, the distinction between computer and human will be more closely, even that cannot be cut apart. For the reason that network will be find in everywhere, human connect to computer in everywhere.


Ray Kurzweil, The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology
As Kurzweil said in this book, technical change develops rapidly, human’s bodies and brains will merge to machines, then this technique become a culture in future. Human-machine (cyborg) is shifting from the reality to virtual world. Human innate wisdom can be promoted to be more powerful and becomes non-biological, by integrating with technical machine. In the new world, there will not be clear distinction between human and machine, real reality and virtual world. Subsequently, human life will change to better. Disable peoples’ life will be changed to more convenient, human aging and illness will be reversed, pollution will be stopped, hunger and poverty problems will be solved. Even that, human can be deathless.


Conclusion
Through the process of research for answering the question, that can help for understanding the basic background of the cyborg, and how cyborg infiltrate in the human life follow the development of technology, such as the human and technical integration usage on medical treatment, improvement of the human life, etc. Undoubtedly, the identity of cybernetic and organism will be disordered. Therefore, cyborg will more transgressive in the future.
Moreover, this research can find and witness the vestige of the destruction of boundaries and dualism, by the appearance of cyborg. Besides the destruction of boundaries and dualism, the reproduced image and identites of human, especially female have also been found in the research process. That shows the impacts of cyborg’s emergence, both destroy and build functions.


Bibliography

“{Cybernetic + Organism = Cyborg}”, Runaway World, (March 2008)
http://runawayworld.wordpress.com/2008/03/13/definitions/ (accessed 28 February 2009).
Donna Haraway, “A Cyborg Manifesto: Science, Technology, and Socialist-Feminism in the Late Twentieth Century”, Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature (Dec-1997) (Entire essay online at http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/Haraway/CyborgManifesto.html) (accessed 28 February 2009).

Manuela Rossini, “SCIENCE/FICTION: IMAGINEERING POSTHUMAN BODIES”, Presented at Gender and Power in the New Europe, the 5th European Feminist Research Conference (August 2003)
http://www.iiav.nl/epublications/2003/Gender_and_power/5thfeminist/paper_709.pdf (accessed 1 March 2009).

“Blurred identities”, gimme culture, (March 2007)
http://rumagin.wordpress.com/2007/03/06/blurred-identities/ (accessed 1 March 2009).

John Timmer, “Computing in 2020: erasing the boundary between human and PC”, arstechnica, (April 2008)
http://arstechnica.com/old/content/2008/04/computing-in-2020-erasing-the-boundary-between-human-and-pc.ars (accessed 3 March 2009).


Ray Kurzweil, “The Singularity Is Near: When Humans Transcend Biology”, Viking, (2005)
http://books.google.com.hk/books?id=88U6hdUi6D0C&printsec=frontcover#PPA443,M1 (accessed 4 March 2009).