I have to present "The Embodied Computer/User" which written by Deborah Lupton tomorrow.
Introduction
- The computer is the necessaries for the author. Deborah emphasized that it is “unimaginable” if conducting life without computer.
- Boundaries between the self and the computer are blurred because we invest certain aspects of ourselves and our culture with computer.
- Based on previous article on how the viral metaphor shows cultural assumptions about computers and human bodies.
The disembodied computer user
- "A central utopian discourse around computer technology is the potential offered by computers for human to escape the body."
- The computer occupied our brains and imagined as a tool for us to escape our weak body.
- The cyborg is a “humanoid hybrid” that melds together computer technology and human flesh.
The hacker’s body
- The Internet gives a certain degree of disembodiment, but we still have to take part in our body needs.
- The minds of hackers may project to the cyberspace, but they can not escape their unattractive bodies.
The humanized computer
- The “computer as human” trope is regularly employed in the advertisements.
- Advertisements depict computer as “an extension of the human body.”
The frightening computer
- The user-computer relationship is “inspires strong feelings of anxiety, impotence, frustration and fear.”
- The computers acted as “surveillance and social regulation, or even to take control humanity” as well as to take our jobs – unemployed.
- “There is anxiety around the technologies’ capacity to consume us.”
Risky computing
- "Ambivalence lies at the core of all trust relations, because trust is only demanded where there is ignorance and ignorance provides grounds for skepticism or caution."
- Dependency on computer increases feelings of pleasure and fear, like dependency on person.
- “Blurring the boundaries between self and other calls up abjection, the fear and horror of the unknown, the indefinable.”
As said by Wesley, my presentation outlines have brought out the main themes of the reading “The Embodied Computer/User". I picked out one or two key quotations from each part and it was clear to point out the main idea for each part. The outlines are clear and easy to understand. However, I forgot to page out the quotations numbers, so I think my classmates might not easy to follow. Hence, I think I need to add the page numbers for each quotation.
ReplyDeleteMoreover, in the introduction part, I should be stated clear the relationship between the author and the computer. The author said, “I do have an emotional relationship with the computer” (Lupton, 2000: p.477). Besides, the author quoted another article which written by Heim, and he has commented, “Our fascination with computer is … more deeply spiritual than utilitarian” (Heim, 1992: p.61). Therefore, I think I should be added these quotations to my outlines, so that my classmates might have a clear understanding of the author’s relationship with the computer.