Technology and Human

"The concept of 'human' is unthinkable with out technology but we act as if." (shaw 2008p.81)
When technology is developing at full speed, term of human where is in or which part of this process?
In the Shaw's essay william harvey's circulatory system shows that "produced by technology in the simple sense that harvey had necessarily to use tools to examine the workings of the heart."
Less or more technology is part of human life since the early age. The first technology helped the people small scale but today's technology come into people life and "controlling" people' request and needs. For example Google Glass is part of users' eye and nearly change people' behavior and mind. Another example leap motion is combined people and technological devices even more.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsKbN5OMa9M#t=32

But in the essay have two different idea for people and human body.

Firstly , Marxist theory say in the essay that machinery is put to wrong use, with the object of transforming the workman from his very childhood, into a part of specialized machine. In other word, human and machine which product of technology dont have harmonia and they want to change each other in its own way.(Shaw 2008 p 85)

The second opinion is Stelarc and Stiegler in essay. Stelarc says that "work deorganizes the body by drawing attention to the way technology extends, amplifies, invades and shapes contemporary bodies. (Shaw 2008 p 81) Stiegler says that "invents himself in the technicalby the tool by becoming exterioriesed techno-logically. (steigler1998 p141) for example human invent tool for supplying own neccesary because people want to live more comfortable and compact life.

Bibliography
Shaw, D. (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts. Oxford Berg Press

New Media as a Cyborgian Encounter

Stiegler states "The concept of 'human is unthinkable without technology but we act as if it is" (Shaw,2008,p81) This means that we have became dependent on technology and like cyborgs, technology is a fundamental part of our lives.

Theorists such as Stelarc and Steigler argue that the concept of the natural body is absurd and that we are a product of technology. It can be argued that anything we do in modern life we rely on machines and technology. This can be dated back to William Harvey's discovery of the circulatory system as without the use of technology this discovery wouldn't have been possible therefore our understanding of the circulatory system would not have developed and progressed like it has.

Foucault uses the example of a well disciplined army as a comparison to how humans can work like a machine. He explains how the body of a solider is 'manipulated,shaped and trained so that it obeys, responds, becomes skillful and increases its forces' (Foucault, 1991, p136) An army works like a well oiled machine in the way that if one part isn't functioning properly the machine or in this case the army, would break down. He also states that the solider is 'controlled by the technologies of war' which shows that soldiers are putting their lives in the hands of a machine.

Technology has became such a substantial part of our lives that most people would struggle to cope without it. We under estimate how much of an important part technology is to the modern human. As technology grows and develops it is terrifying to think how controlling and powerful technology can become.

Bibliography:
Foucault,M (1980) Power/Knowledge
Shaw,D (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts

Machines

"We have always...been prosthetic bodies"(D.Shaw, Pg 81, 2008) 

This quote was not said by Shaw but merely quoted in his book Technoculture. It was said by a man who goes by the name of Stelarc, he was a futurism performance artist who's focus was on how he thought the human body was "obsolete". He see's the human body as needing technology to go forward in life and to discover more about itself and in many cases he is right. He thinks that us as humans are no less machines than the machines we make and that we can not live separate lives from the machine, rather we live together as one. Today more than ever has our lives been so close to that of the machine, we consume products made by machines everyday and it can only become a closer bond the more we invest in our technologies which is not necessarily a bad thing. 

"Information technologies, applied to understanding, visualizing and manipulating the human body have problematized the distinction between 'us', other species and machines". (D.Shaw, Pg 101, 2008) 

What Shaw is saying here is that the more we keep upgrading and making our machine methods easier to communicate with and understand, the smaller the boundaries get between us as humans and them as machines. We tend to forget how easy it is today to get involved with our machines compared to many years ago, we now have robotic toy animals that our kids begin to love rather than a real dog or cat and the likes of games consoles becoming virtual reality makes us feel immersed in new worlds and have new abilities that our own human bodies could not possibly do, thus we could definitely see these technologies as enhancements to our everyday lives.

One unit in our planet that is constantly called a machine is our military system. Know for following rules and obeying commands they would be the easiest people to point at if you thought anyone was like machines. "A well disciplined army, in fact, can be compared to a well oiled machine"(D.Shaw, Pg 82, 2008). With this quote I can strongly agree that the military operate like a machine, military follow and obey orders like a machine, if the military loss a soldier they get another one just like a component getting broke in a machine, it will get fixed.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Shaw, D. (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts; Oxford Berg Press (P.81-102)

New Media as a Cyborgian Encounter

"the concept of 'human' is unthinkable without technology but we act as if it is." (Shaw, 2008, pg.81)
With this statement we are lead to believe that the if it wasn't for technology then we as humans would not exist. Now in the early years of human they may have invented and needed stone age technology to fend for themselves and progress but this isn't what this statement argues. This statement refers to how us as humans interact with the everyday technology or New Media technology.
With this statement I agree with this mainly because most people have access to smart phones, tablets, ipods or games consoles and are lost if they go a whole day without interacting with these pieces of technology.

"The human ... invents himself in the technical by inventing the tool - by becoming exteriorised techno-logically" (Stiegler, 1998: 141)

I believe that technology is bound to have an everlasting effect on the media industry. Most media industries will benefit from the advances in technology. But the biggest benefit from the advancements will be in the New Media. This is already evident as we live in a culture were the masses are heavily obsessed with social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr and they are available from pretty much anywhere with a mobile phone. New Media provides us with content on demand because it is digitized.

Technology has had an everlasting effect on human lives and there is still a lot more to come. Although it would seem that humans heavily rely on technology to point were they wouldn't survive without it, this is not the case I believe. Humans rely on technology to get through the day but if it wasn't for humans hunger for the technology and consumption it provides in the New Media then there would be no strides taken for technology to progress forward.

Bibliography:

Shaw, D. 2008, Tecnnoculture: The Key Concepts, Oxford Berg Press

Technoculture: The Key Concepts - Shaw

All tasks that we currently perform can be technology related, putting aside the obvious example of me typing this blog on the internet we can look at our memories. It could be said that we now share our memories with technology, for example think of how many phone numbers you know off the top of your head. Our phone books on our mobile telephones now store all of our numbers, so there is no need to memorise them at all. How about when we go out somewhere, more people than ever takes photos on their phones and even share them via social networking with other friends. This could be said that technology is sharing your memory for you.
In their book Shaw states, "The concept of 'human' is unthinkable without technology but we act as if it is" (Shaw, 2008: pp.81). This is saying that culturally we have completely adapted to not even notice that technology helps us constantly, you could even say that we have assimilated technology into our bodies.

Technology has advanced to the stage that it can help us monitor out own bodies to try and maintain our health. If we look again at mobile phones, health apps like 'My Health Checker' remind you to weigh yourself, test your BMI and such while it draws up a graph to tell you how you are doing and what condition your body is in.
An interesting thought could be that the human body could not be explained without technology. During the book Shaw looks at William Harvey's findings of the circulatory system, there had to be a level of technology there for Harvey to explore the human body. From this it could then be said that the human body evolves as technology does, due to the fact that we cannot explore the human body anymore further until technology advances.

In a Marxists view of it, "The worker's body is a commodity to be bought and whose value is determined by the value of the market" (Shaw, 2008: pp.83). This suggests that we, like technology, are simply produced on a production line with no sense of awareness.
There are genuine fears of technology controlling us, we only have to look a film culturally to see our fears as a society. For example if we look at the films, 'The Terminator' (1984) and 'The Matrix' (1999) we can see two fictional societies that have been taken over by technology, machines run the world. If this fear does exist culturally, who is to say we won't end up on a production line.


Bibliography

Shaw, D. (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts (Oxford: Berg Press)

New Media and the Cyborg

"The concept of human is unthinkable without technology, but we act as if it is." 

(Shaw: 81, 2008) 

This debate is central to theorists Stelarc and Steiglers' idea of the human body as a vessel for technology. They argue that it is absurd to consider the concept of a natural body, and that we are as much a product of technology as technology is a product of us. Shaw uses 16th century physician William Harvey as a relevant illustration. He argues that Harveys' discovery of the circulatory system would not have been possible without the use of technology, and furthermore, that advancements from this discovery could equally not progress without development of said technology, thus making our understanding of the human body possible only through the tools we had available to analyse it. 

"Nothing is more material, physical, corporal than the exercise of power." (Foucault, 1980:57) In essence, it could be argued that this statement suggests that power of any kind reduces the body of the worker to a mere machine. Foucault uses the example of a well disciplined army to convey this. Each solider is like a cog and without all of the soldiers functioning properly, the military 'machine' would 'break down.' He also states how soldiers are literally governed by the "Technologies of war," wherein guns and vehicles control their success.  Marxist theory argues that capitalist industrialism similarly turns the worker into a passive, mechanical 'drone.'

In conclusion, there is a clear consensus that technology is what distinguishes us as being 'human.' In modern society it is hard to imagine life without our technology, for example, computers and mobile phones, let alone basic tools that we don't even view as technological any more, such as, a knife. Bringing us back to the opening statement, it would be a fair argument to suggest that without our ability to use tools and tech that we could simply have remained as a primitive species. It could be said that the more progress we make as a species, the more distant we will stray from our 'natural' roots, until we are one with the technology we have used to get there. 

Bibliography: 

Foucault, M (1980) Power/Knowledge | First American Edition  

Shaw, D (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts | Oxford Berg Press 

Media as a Cyborg Encounter

Steigler states that a human "invents himself in the technical by inventing the tool -  by becoming exteriorised techno-logically"(Steigler,1998)

This in other words means that the concept of human is unthinkable without technology but we act as if it is. It is as if humans, in a sense, need technology to be able to carry out daily functions, as it seems that the human path of evolution has been aided by the rise and dominance of continuing technological advances. 

Michael Foucault was also interested in the body as an object of knowledge, in particular, the "docile" body of that of a soldier. He likened a group of army soldiers to a well oiled machine, working in tandem with each other to carry out a task. (Foucault, 1991). In very much the same way that a machine would work, taking a car engine for example, one of the great combustion inventions of all time, and its pistons, working together to drive a vehicle forward. 

In this reading, it is also discussed how humans would be unable to do the tasks that a supercomputer would be able to do. An example given was the study of a human genome being the same as assembling 300'000 minute pieces of the Oxford dictionary. For a human to do this on their own it would be merely impossible, but I think it is unfair to dismiss a humans achievements because it was in fact, humans who had to build and process these first supercomputers around the 1980's that would be able to deal with such large tasks and the storing of such information. I wouldn't think that discrediting anybody's achievements of this nature would be fair due to that fact that humans did assemble computers first. 

Homo Sapiens distinguishes us as as being able to possess language and use complex tools(Shaw,2008,pg.88). Shaw goes on to state that we may have 'made' these machines but in a way, they 'made' us. In a sense this can be true, because we adapt to new computers and technologies and possibly, learn new skills from them, but it can never be taken away from the human race that we did in fact make these machines possible and develop them further for them to be available to use for all the human race. 



References - chapter 4 - Technobodies - D, Shaw, 2008, pages 82-101

New Media as a Cyborgian Encounter

Stiegler states, "The concept of 'human' is unthinkable without technology but we act as if it is." (Shaw, 2008, P.81) What Stiegler is saying here is that we have become like cyborgs, machines and technology are a part of what makes us up as humans. 'A cyborg is a person whose physical tolerances or capabilities are extended beyond normal human limitations by a machine ... that modifies the bodies functions.' (Santone, 2003, [Online])

The invention of technology can be dated right back to the early humans and their use of stone tools to help them hunt for food, build fires and houses, etc. Technology in this sense is different to digital technology today. The early humans used their technology to shape their lives and to survive. Is this the same case today? I believe so. Technology and new media are all around us we are constantly in contact with the media which helps us study, work, find information which form us as humans. 

Today people cannot go about their daily lives without coming into contact with new media technology and in many cases people feel completely lost without a piece of technology strapped to them. Think of your mobile phone, you have it with you nearly all the time either in your pocket, handbag, strapped in a hands free kit in the car, everywhere. For many people their mobile phones are a part of them. 'The cyborg represents the relationship between organic bodies and media technologies ...' (Santone, 2003, [Online])

Shaw talks about new media as a cyborgian encounter, new media has brought us closer to technology. New media provides access to content at anytime, anywhere because it is digitized. 'Stelarc's work deorganizes the body by drawing attention to the way that technology extends, amplifies, invades and shapes contempory bodies.' (Shaw, 2008, P.81)

Shaw provides us with a case study called 'Dead Bodies and Lively Machines.' In Almodovar's film 'Talk to Her' a man is in love with a woman who is in a coma, only being kept alive by machines. Benigro talks to her and fantasises about what she wold respond with, this is an important note. The fact that the woman is being kept alive by machines, enables fantasies, 'so the film makes the link between technological undeath and the fantasy of human perfectibility - the ultimate happy ending.'  (Shaw, 2008, P.96)

Books:
Shaw, D. 2008, 'Technoculture: the key concepts,' Oxford Berg Press
Websites:
Santone, J. 2003, 'Cyborgs,' The Chicago School of Media Theory, [Online] Accessed on 29/10/10, Available at:
http://lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/cyborg/

New Media as a Cyborgian Encounter

"Technology should not be considered adjunct to the body or in opposition to it but as a determinant of its ontology" (Shaw, 2008, pg 81) Shaw is stating here that we have not came to see technology as a seprate part of our lives but rather an extension of ourselves, he is stating that the two are melding together to the point where we become almost cyborg like. "Technology continually produces the body" (Shaw, 2008, pg 82) Here is another reference to Shaw examining the point that we are overly dependent on machines to the point where we would not be able to function without their existence.

Shaw states that "Sterlarc's work deorganizes the body by drawing attention to the way that technology extends, amplifies, invades and shapes contemporary bodies" (Shaw, 2008, pg81). Again Shaw makes reference to  New Media as a cyborgian encounter, he states that these everyday commodities are slowly coming to replace other aspects of our everyday life. For example nowadays most people are inseparable from devices such as their smartphones or tablets, often using them to preform a multitude of functions and in some cases replacing socializing altogether.

Comparisons are made suggesting that from a cultural standpoint we have been training to be almost "machine-like" for longer than we may expect. Shaw states that "The body of the soldier is manipulated, shaped, trained, so that it obeys, responds, becomes skillful and increases its forces" (Shaw, 2008, pg 82). Shaw is stating the soldiers have been exhibiting machine-like qualities before the advent of New Media, suggesting that maybe we have been brought into a cyborgian state of mind gradually.

Shaw states that the human body has been classified under such extreme social conditions in the past that it has become over-coded in terms of gender, sexuality race etc, these types of bodies lend themselves to classification (Shaw, 2008, pg 93). Shaw states that "We have been cyborged by our own machines" (Shaw, 2008, pg 95). We are fighting a losing battle in an attempt to define the "perfect" body which previously fit into different social categories (Shaw, 2008, pg 95) instead we have become like the cyperpunk characters Shaw talks about in the fact that we take for granted the direct integration of the machine into our thought process, this is not a representation of the future, but a representation of the here and now.

New Media: A Cyborg Encounter

Consumers and technology are being seen as one in the post human, cyborg age. The consumers are considered as cyborg because of the continuous nonstop consumptions and interaction with technologies.  An Australian performance artist, Stelarc suggests that "human evolution is aided and determined by technology"(Shaw D, 2008. Pg: 82). Cyborg is a human who has certain physiological processes aided or controlled by mechanical or electronic devices.

Norbert Wiener thought up the term Cybernetics, Cybernetics speaks of the relationship between mechanism and its environment. Essentially it likens humans to machines. In Norbert’s theory he explains how we humans are made up of patterns much like technologies are made up of codes. The human’s codes or DNA is the pattern Norbert refers to; it is the carrier of genetic information and defines physical characteristics. Our personalities are shaped by the environment we expose ourselves to as individuals.  Wiener considered what would happen if humans were to transmit themselves. Much similar to the same way radios and televisions transmit patterns of sounds and light. Through New Media technologies humans can ‘transmit’ themselves. Online dating sites allow humans to create online profiles of themselves that we see through our Smart Phones, Tablets and Computer Screens. (Shaw D, 2008)    

  

  The age of New Media has introduced the combination of humans and technologies to create what some theorists are referring to as ‘cyborgification’. In today’s age we use technology to enhance our experience of life. With social networking sites like Twitter we have the ability to communicate with our idols which we could not have done previous to this invention.

In my eyes the consumers have two choices, to see technology as a threat or an extension of the body as such. "Machines are not simply prostheses that we 'add on' to our minds or bodies in order to facilitate and extend our capabilities but part of the environment out of which we produce ourselves" (Shaw D, 2008. pg:92) The cyborg culture is when human and technology work together as one. It can be said the us humans are using machine parts of us like to do what would be considered as analogue tasks in a digital way. In one sense it could be said that New technologies and media aren’t taking over but helping us communicate and gain information. On the other hand it could be said that it is effecting us in our traditional socialisation and dumbing us down through the ease of which we can access information.   

Bibliography

Shaw, D 2008 'Technoculture: The Key concepts' Oxford Berg Press

Cyborgs and New media

'A cyborg is a human who has certain physiological processes aided or controlled by mechanical or electronic devices' (Thefreedictionary, web) Technology has become increasingly important in our society. We have become increasingly dependent on our technology and rarely spend any time without using technology. 'The concept of human is unthinkable without technology but we act as if it is' (Shaw 2008 pg:81) We have become so used to having technology that we now could not live without it. It is a part of our lives and makes us who we are as humans.

There is a constant need to have technology in our society. Whether its a new type of phone, the latest gaming console or a new laptop. We feel the need to have technology and could not function without certain technologies such as mobile phones or laptops which we use on a daily basis. If the electric goes off in our society today everyone is sent into a panic as they can't use many of their technologies. Technology and media are everywhere. It shapes the way we live our lives. It's involved with our social lives, in our work and is used or seen regularly throughout each day. 'We have always been prosthetic bodies. In other words, technology should not be considered an adjunct to the body or in opposition to it but as a determinant of its ontology' (Shaw 2008 pg:81) In other words, technology is a part of who we are. 

'Stelarc's work deorganizes the body by drawing attention to the way technology extends, amplifies, invades and shapes contemporary bodies' (Shaw 2008 pg:81) This can be linked to new media which is constantly growing and developing. Because new media is digitalized. It can be used anywhere and at anytime. These technologies include mobile phones, portable gaming consoles and laptops. 

'Dead Bodies and Lively machines' (Shaw 2008) is a case study in which a woman is in a coma and being kept alive only by machines. A man named 'Banegro' is in love with the girl and is eventually arrested for raping and impregnating her. The story shows another importance of technology as the machines are actually able to keep the girl alive. 'So the film makes the link between technological undeath and the fantasy of human perfectibility' (Shaw 2008 pg:96)

Bibliography

Shaw, D 2008 'Technoculture: The Key concepts' Oxford Berg Press

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cyborg

'A cyborg is a human who has certain physiological processes aided or controlled by mechanical or electronic devices' (Thefreedictionary, web) Technology has become increasingly important in our society. We have become increasingly dependent on our technology and rarely spend any time without using technology. 'The concept of human is unthinkable without technology but we act as if it is' (Shaw 2008 pg:81) We have become so used to having technology that we now could not live without it. It is a part of our lives and makes us who we are as humans. 

There is a constant need to have technology in our society. Whether its a new type of phone, the latest gaming console or a new laptop. We feel the need to have technology and could not function without certain technologies such as mobile phones or laptops which we use on a daily basis. If the electric goes off in our society today everyone is sent into a panic as they can't use many of their technologies. Technology and media are everywhere. It shapes the way we live our lives. It's involved with our social lives, in our work and is used or seen regularly throughout each day. 'We have always been prosthetic bodies. In other words, technology should not be considered an adjunct to the body or in opposition to it but as a determinant of its ontology' (Shaw 2008 pg:81) In other words, technology is a part of who we are. 

'Stelarc's work deorganizes the body by drawing attention to the way technology extends, amplifies, invades and shapes contemporary bodies' (Shaw 2008 pg:81) This can be linked to new media which is constantly growing and developing. Because new media is digitalized. It can be used anywhere and at anytime. These technologies include mobile phones, portable gaming consoles and laptops. 

'Dead Bodies and Lively machines' (Shaw 2008) is a case study in which a woman is in a coma and being kept alive only by machines. A man named 'Banegro' is in love with the girl and is eventually arrested for raping and impregnating her. The story shows another importance of technology as the machines are actually able to keep the girl alive. 'So the film makes the link between technological undeath and the fantasy of human perfectibility' (Shaw 2008 pg:96)

Bibliography

Shaw, D 2008 'Technoculture: The Key concepts' Oxford Berg Press

http://www.thefreedictionary.com/cyborg

New Media as a Cyborgian Encounter.

"The human invents himself in the technical by inventing the tool -by becoming exteriorised techno-logically" (Stiegler :1998: 141) Bernard Stielger argues the reliability of humans on technology is unquestionable and that technology contributes to the formation of the humans.
 

Indeed, our society is becoming increasingly dependent on technology to complete and carry out daily tasks, regardless to its simplicity.
 

The term 'cyborg' refers to the idea of the incorporation of technology and humans. According to Donna Haraway, " A Cybrog is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality and of fiction". (Haraway: A Cybrog manifesto: 1991)
 

Stelarc argues that "we have always been prosthetic bodies", which means that instead of our ideology which refers technology an 'opposition' or 'adjunct' to the body, it should be contemplated as a factor of it's ontology. ( Shaw : 2008 : pg. 81)
 

New Media therefore can be regarded as a cyborigan encounter. New Media is usually recognized as 'technological' or 'digitalized' media, becoming inaccessible without the presence of technological devices while cybrog represents the relationship between humans and technology.

 

 

The wide accessibility of New Media means we can access anything anytime and anywhere. I find the mobile phones a great example, which we use in our daily routines to carry out many different tasks. Thanks to the convergence of the phone, people carry their diaries/planners/calendars on their phones and if in its absence, the user may feel lost and find it difficult to continue with their daily affairs, illustrating the human dependence on technology. (Jenkins: 2006: pg5)
 

 

Shaw refers to the example of 'dead bodies and live machines' (Shaw: 2008: pg. 94), which speaks about how the actress in the spanish movie, hable con ella (talk to her) was in a coma and only kept alive by machines, demonstrating the integration between technology and humans. Another more obvious example of human/technology integration I find is apple's siri on the iPhones and iPads (forms of new media) communicating with the user vocally to receive orders and reply. It can even have a conversation with the user (to a certain level).

Fig. 1
Iphone's feature 'SIRI' communicates with it's user

 

References:

Haraway, Donna J (1991) A Cybrog Manifesto

Shaw, D (2008) Technoculture: The Key Concepts.

Jenkins, H (2006) Convergence Culture Where Old and New Media Collide: Introduction "Worship at the Altar of Convergence"

Images:

Fig 1:

http://www.engadget.com/2011/10/04/apple-brings-siri-voice-control-to-iphone/
*available on 30/10/2013*