In regards to physical space, the small refers to the tiniest particles of matter. Since physicists have often discovered smaller particles within the supposed tiniest particles, it is difficult to tell whether technology will ever be able to ascertain the smallest physical particles in the world. Right now, quarks and leptons are the smallest known particles, but it would not surprise me if even they had component parts. In our class discussions about nanotechnology, we talked about how rearranging these tiny particles could allow us to essentially rearrange the external world according to our will. In a visual example, we saw how typing information into a keyboard could potentially change the physical layout of an office. In this sense, the small is the building blocks of matter.
Additionally, the small can be analyzed by comparing the amount of physical space with the amount of information instantiated by that physical parameter. As we spoke about in class, the physical size of symbols (for instance the size of words in a book) does not determine the amount of information those symbols represent. Even if a book is written in fine print that requires a microscope to read, the information content is equivalent to an average size novel. In a more abstract sense, organisms can communicate incredible amounts of information by altering a small part of their physical appearance. The act of winking can communicate a great amount of information, depending on the context. A slight movement of the mouth up and down can drastically alter others perceptions of happiness, sadness, or other emotions within an individual. As Martin Buber posits “An animal’s eyes have the power to speak a great language” (Life Extreme, 38). While intonations of the eye do not resemble letters or numbers, they can communicate a significant amount of information.
In the virtual realm, small is harder to define. Since virtual space is potentially infinite, the actual size is less important than the maps. In virtual space, organization of information and links between information become more important. For example, while plurk messages have a limit of 140 characters, people can provide links to blogs, articles, movies, online books, and other mediums of information. In such an enormous sea of information (which does not take up any physical space), the tools we use to organize and navigate virtual reality are essential.
Virtual reality allows people to take up less physical space since they can navigate ideas, explore the world, and communicate with others without ever leaving their seat. Instead of traveling miles to see a person’s face, people can simply log onto Plurk from any computer or phone with internet access to see pictures or movies of someone. With the right technologies, virtual space is incredibly quicker and easier to navigate than physical space. In our yearning to teleport, humans have focused on travelling through physical space. But this may be impossible due to the limitations of physical laws. By entering a virtual universe void of physical laws, we have already teleported metaphorically. By embracing this metaphor, we can reduce the amount of space needed to navigate our worlds. Considering the time inefficiencies with transportation, the pollution caused by physical transportation, and the possibility of accidents in traversing physical space, virtual travel seems like a feasible alternative transportation source. Indeed, virtual reality appears to be the most practical way to fit the desired amount of information into the nano.
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Attack of the Clones (or at least Doubles)
Before the photograph, moments could only be contained in the memory of the individual. Since memory is an active process and people reinterpret episodes of their past according to their mental schemas, this was hardly an objective way to make a moment permanent. By freezing or recording images or events as a human eye from the same angle would see them, the camera and recorder have made this process less subjective and provide the ability to recall information apart from any individual’s consciousness. When these technologies are fully embedded in the consciousness of an individual, they can become a form of that person’s reality. By embracing the metaphorical realm of the island, the fugitive in The Invention of Morel enters a pataphysical realm, wherein the people with whom he observes are outside of a physical realm where he can interact with them. Instead of perceiving the metaphor of Faustine and others on the island from the vantage point of the physical, he maintains his identity within the metaphysical realm and attempts to thrive within the simulation. The simulation collapses in on him since the artificial people cannot fulfill his desires and fantasies. Inevitably, the photographic double creates possibilities for enlivenment and disaster.
In exploration of the notion of double, our society has focused on the biological double. The implications and morality of cloning humans has been at the precipice of scientific, theological, and scholarly debates. Although humans create biological and artificial intelligence by other means every day, a major aspect of cloning controversy lies in the idea that cloning implicates humans in playing God.
Although this moral dilemma has yet to be resolved, technology will bring more pressing issues to the forefront of scientific ethics. One of the most interesting ethical dilemmas of the future may be gene splicing. While splicing certain animal or artificial characteristics into human genes could expand human’s potential to navigate terrain, manipulate the environment, and produce efficiently, our political leaders and every day society may not be ready to allow this type of evolution when we attain the ability. But perhaps with the help of science fiction, people can lay the ground work for entertaining gene splicing, exploring the ethical ramifications, and eventually considering the implications objectively. As noted in Technocolyps, it could be immoral to prevent such intentional evolution through political means. While significantly improving human beings through technology has serious ethical ramifications, preventing such improvement seems like an even more morally controversial action.
In Ribofunk, the implications of splicing animal genes into humans are creatively explored. In particular, Little Worker explores the possibility of different emotional stimuli and physical contexts activating certain parts of organism’s genes. From the emotional stimuli of jealousy for Mr. Michael’s affection, “the part of [Little Worker’s] inheritance that was 30 percent wolverine took over. The four intruders soon lay dead with their throats torn out, soaking the carpet with their blood where once the Bull and Lyrical had coupled” (Ribofunk, 40). For psychologists who currently study context specificity for recall and recognition in memory activation, gene splicing could add another interesting and scary dimension to their analysis.
But the most insidious double can be achieved through brainwashing. Since brainwashing is outside the control of the individual being doubled, it cannot hold ethical water. In The Ticket that Exploded, the Nova Mob symbolizes the control that rhetorical leaders, language tradition, and current institutions possess over the masses that use that language. By cutting up his novel, Burroughs rebels against conformity in language and encourages people to escape the process of language doubling and conformity.
In The Filth, Slade is brainwashed to fulfill the obligations of the Hand to maintain the Status Q. Through doubling, the Hand transforms Slade into a vehicle of his society’s oppression. Through explicit depictions of doppelgangers, The Filth demonstrates the psychological and social implications of brainwashing to create doubles.
Entertainment and technology open the 21st century to more subtle forms of brainwashing. Through advertisement and skewing information, politicians and business aim to create as many doubles as possible. While most people consciously reject the premises of such advertisements, economic numbers indicate that they have an enormous effect on their psychology. Although marketing in and of itself is practical and perhaps necessary, a large amount of society has been brainwashed into a form of materialism that cannot be appeased. In the name of progress, conformity is justified.
In exploration of the notion of double, our society has focused on the biological double. The implications and morality of cloning humans has been at the precipice of scientific, theological, and scholarly debates. Although humans create biological and artificial intelligence by other means every day, a major aspect of cloning controversy lies in the idea that cloning implicates humans in playing God.
Although this moral dilemma has yet to be resolved, technology will bring more pressing issues to the forefront of scientific ethics. One of the most interesting ethical dilemmas of the future may be gene splicing. While splicing certain animal or artificial characteristics into human genes could expand human’s potential to navigate terrain, manipulate the environment, and produce efficiently, our political leaders and every day society may not be ready to allow this type of evolution when we attain the ability. But perhaps with the help of science fiction, people can lay the ground work for entertaining gene splicing, exploring the ethical ramifications, and eventually considering the implications objectively. As noted in Technocolyps, it could be immoral to prevent such intentional evolution through political means. While significantly improving human beings through technology has serious ethical ramifications, preventing such improvement seems like an even more morally controversial action.
In Ribofunk, the implications of splicing animal genes into humans are creatively explored. In particular, Little Worker explores the possibility of different emotional stimuli and physical contexts activating certain parts of organism’s genes. From the emotional stimuli of jealousy for Mr. Michael’s affection, “the part of [Little Worker’s] inheritance that was 30 percent wolverine took over. The four intruders soon lay dead with their throats torn out, soaking the carpet with their blood where once the Bull and Lyrical had coupled” (Ribofunk, 40). For psychologists who currently study context specificity for recall and recognition in memory activation, gene splicing could add another interesting and scary dimension to their analysis.
But the most insidious double can be achieved through brainwashing. Since brainwashing is outside the control of the individual being doubled, it cannot hold ethical water. In The Ticket that Exploded, the Nova Mob symbolizes the control that rhetorical leaders, language tradition, and current institutions possess over the masses that use that language. By cutting up his novel, Burroughs rebels against conformity in language and encourages people to escape the process of language doubling and conformity.
In The Filth, Slade is brainwashed to fulfill the obligations of the Hand to maintain the Status Q. Through doubling, the Hand transforms Slade into a vehicle of his society’s oppression. Through explicit depictions of doppelgangers, The Filth demonstrates the psychological and social implications of brainwashing to create doubles.
Entertainment and technology open the 21st century to more subtle forms of brainwashing. Through advertisement and skewing information, politicians and business aim to create as many doubles as possible. While most people consciously reject the premises of such advertisements, economic numbers indicate that they have an enormous effect on their psychology. Although marketing in and of itself is practical and perhaps necessary, a large amount of society has been brainwashed into a form of materialism that cannot be appeased. In the name of progress, conformity is justified.
Radical or Nonexistent Alterity
“The only deep desire is the desire of the object. Not desire for something I am missing, or even for something (or someone) that misses me but for something that does not miss me at all, that is perfectly able to exist without me…The Other is the one who does not miss me, and that is radical alterity” (Radical Alterity, 7).
While Marc Guillaume attributes seduction to alterity, people in general attribute seduction to similarity and dependence. People seek out objects they are able to manipulate, create or reshape in their own image, and find an affinity with. Considering the amount of work applied to non-practical manipulation, it seems like there is an impetus in all humans to change their physical surroundings. By changing our environments to create objects of desire, we are causing those very objects of desire to be dependent on us for their existence. Personally, I like being depended upon. It makes me feel important and needed. Although I realize I have little or no control over certain objects or people, I hardly seek out those objects more than one’s under my immediate control.
Even the objects that myself and others perceive to be beyond the subject’s control could very well be dependent on the subject. In his central argument for idealism, Berkeley contested that ordinary objects are mind dependent since they are merely ideas.
“That neither our thoughts, nor passions, nor ideas formed by the imagination, exist without the mind, is what everybody will allow. And it seems no less evident that the various sensations or ideas imprinted on the sense, however blended or combined together (that is, whatever objects they compose), cannot exist otherwise than in a mind perceiving them.- I think an intuitive knowledge may be obtained of this by any one that shall attend to what is meant by the term exists, when applied to sensible things. The table I write on I say exists, that is, I see and feel it; and if I were out of my study I should say it existed- meaning thereby that if I was in my study I might perceive it, or that some other spirit actually does perceive it. There was an odour, that is, it was smelt; there was a sound, that is, it was heard; a colour or figure, and it was perceived by sight or touch. This is all that I can understand by these and the like expressions. For as to what is said of the absolute existence of unthinking things without any relation to their being perceived, that seems perfectly unintelligible” (Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, II,i).
Berkeley presents here the following argument (Winkler 1989):
(1) We perceive ordinary objects (houses, mountains, etc.).
(2) We perceive only ideas.
Therefore,
(3) Ordinary objects are ideas.
Although premise two can be contested on the grounds that ideas represent external world objects and thus allow us to perceive them, it is difficult (or perhaps impossible) to demonstrate the existence of an external world object apart from the senses. Since sight is the only supposed access to external world objects, those object’s accessible existence indeed relies on that subject. If Berkeley’s analysis is correct, people could not discover a definitive other. Even if the other existed, we would not have access to it. While Baudrillard and Guillaume use their notion of the other to make other philosophical and practical points and predictions, their underlying assumptions should be explicitly questioned and scrutinized. The other may not even exist; and if it does, it is hardly as seductive as a creation of the self.
While Marc Guillaume attributes seduction to alterity, people in general attribute seduction to similarity and dependence. People seek out objects they are able to manipulate, create or reshape in their own image, and find an affinity with. Considering the amount of work applied to non-practical manipulation, it seems like there is an impetus in all humans to change their physical surroundings. By changing our environments to create objects of desire, we are causing those very objects of desire to be dependent on us for their existence. Personally, I like being depended upon. It makes me feel important and needed. Although I realize I have little or no control over certain objects or people, I hardly seek out those objects more than one’s under my immediate control.
Even the objects that myself and others perceive to be beyond the subject’s control could very well be dependent on the subject. In his central argument for idealism, Berkeley contested that ordinary objects are mind dependent since they are merely ideas.
“That neither our thoughts, nor passions, nor ideas formed by the imagination, exist without the mind, is what everybody will allow. And it seems no less evident that the various sensations or ideas imprinted on the sense, however blended or combined together (that is, whatever objects they compose), cannot exist otherwise than in a mind perceiving them.- I think an intuitive knowledge may be obtained of this by any one that shall attend to what is meant by the term exists, when applied to sensible things. The table I write on I say exists, that is, I see and feel it; and if I were out of my study I should say it existed- meaning thereby that if I was in my study I might perceive it, or that some other spirit actually does perceive it. There was an odour, that is, it was smelt; there was a sound, that is, it was heard; a colour or figure, and it was perceived by sight or touch. This is all that I can understand by these and the like expressions. For as to what is said of the absolute existence of unthinking things without any relation to their being perceived, that seems perfectly unintelligible” (Treatise Concerning the Principles of Human Knowledge, II,i).
Berkeley presents here the following argument (Winkler 1989):
(1) We perceive ordinary objects (houses, mountains, etc.).
(2) We perceive only ideas.
Therefore,
(3) Ordinary objects are ideas.
Although premise two can be contested on the grounds that ideas represent external world objects and thus allow us to perceive them, it is difficult (or perhaps impossible) to demonstrate the existence of an external world object apart from the senses. Since sight is the only supposed access to external world objects, those object’s accessible existence indeed relies on that subject. If Berkeley’s analysis is correct, people could not discover a definitive other. Even if the other existed, we would not have access to it. While Baudrillard and Guillaume use their notion of the other to make other philosophical and practical points and predictions, their underlying assumptions should be explicitly questioned and scrutinized. The other may not even exist; and if it does, it is hardly as seductive as a creation of the self.
Fellow Blogger
Since he made interesting comments in class and on Plurk, yet I never got to know him well, I chose to read Gatticus’ blogs. I was really impressed with the culmination of his work, and thought his ideas built on themselves uniquely. Although Gatticus and my blogs both focused on the assigned reading for the course and took philosophical spins on the material, we had drastically different ways of expressing our ideas. While Gatticus extended sublime metaphors and symbols poetically, I logically evaluated the purpose of specific literary devices. While his stream of conscious style effectively communicated complex ideas, my quasi-scholarly prose stunted ideas growth and limited the scope of information that could be communicated. Although my format may closer fit the standard school essay than Gatticus’ form, there is less creativity, dynamism, and rhythm in my series of blog posts.
In summary of his perspective on literary devices, Gatticus claimed “we define everything, including our existence with words and symbols.” Inevitably, he focused a lot on how the structure and syntax of his blogs could expand upon the ideas in class discussion and books. By including symbols and metaphors within his language, he foiled the symbols and metaphors within class texts and revealed subtle implications and extensions of the work. As an example of his rhythmic cadence, Gatticus articulated, “Wonder, the intensity of emotion undefined. A sense of imagination-fluid and dynamic beyond the collective ideal. Seeking such a small vibration, only resonating with the self.” Since this description of wonder departs from any specific context, it can escape the boundaries of the physical realm. Throughout the poetic language in his blogs, Gatticus attained the ability to explore pataphysical ideas by extrapolating on the metaphysical ideas within the texts.
Although I sometimes analyzed the literary devices within the text, my own language had far less poetic expression. Since I hardly elaborated creatively enough for my own language to perpetuate new ideas, I focused more on specific content within the textual stories. Particularly, in my analysis of The Invention of Morel, I relied on an analysis of the pertinent technology. In my analysis, I stated that, “in The Invention of Morel, the technology reveals and extends biological occurrences. Specifically, the recording device used by Morel extends upon a natural phenomenon of perception: the lag between momentary events and the mental representation of those events." By focusing on the biological implications of technology within the piece, I was forced to ground my analysis on physical ideas. Since physical phenomena require a specific context and time, my analysis had a more limited scope and application. Although I also tried to apply my analysis of the texts to real world situations, I formulated the connections in a far more concrete and simplified manner. Relying on textual metaphors and making obvious statements, my analysis branches into less sophisticated and creative thoughts. Without an interesting and unique launching point, it was difficult for me to expand and elaborate upon my ideas.
Although my critique of my work in contrast to Gatticus may be too harsh, I am definitely disappointed with the creativity and elaboration in most of my blogs. My blogs reflect an emptiness stemming from exhaustion, depression, and worry. Fortunately, blogs, like life events, can be edited and added to alter a virtual and actual persona. Perhaps the dissolution of my ego and its goals can rejuvenate my passion and energy in life and blogs. As Gatticus explains in his blog:
“Let all cultivate with hands in the real soil, not simply sowing seeds from picture books of the past. Fresh eyes create fresh memories that do not need to be captured. To capture is to lose the spontaneity-the freedom dies in its eyes. Expectations cannot be met in that reliving. I am all smiles for the present-shared.”
In summary of his perspective on literary devices, Gatticus claimed “we define everything, including our existence with words and symbols.” Inevitably, he focused a lot on how the structure and syntax of his blogs could expand upon the ideas in class discussion and books. By including symbols and metaphors within his language, he foiled the symbols and metaphors within class texts and revealed subtle implications and extensions of the work. As an example of his rhythmic cadence, Gatticus articulated, “Wonder, the intensity of emotion undefined. A sense of imagination-fluid and dynamic beyond the collective ideal. Seeking such a small vibration, only resonating with the self.” Since this description of wonder departs from any specific context, it can escape the boundaries of the physical realm. Throughout the poetic language in his blogs, Gatticus attained the ability to explore pataphysical ideas by extrapolating on the metaphysical ideas within the texts.
Although I sometimes analyzed the literary devices within the text, my own language had far less poetic expression. Since I hardly elaborated creatively enough for my own language to perpetuate new ideas, I focused more on specific content within the textual stories. Particularly, in my analysis of The Invention of Morel, I relied on an analysis of the pertinent technology. In my analysis, I stated that, “in The Invention of Morel, the technology reveals and extends biological occurrences. Specifically, the recording device used by Morel extends upon a natural phenomenon of perception: the lag between momentary events and the mental representation of those events." By focusing on the biological implications of technology within the piece, I was forced to ground my analysis on physical ideas. Since physical phenomena require a specific context and time, my analysis had a more limited scope and application. Although I also tried to apply my analysis of the texts to real world situations, I formulated the connections in a far more concrete and simplified manner. Relying on textual metaphors and making obvious statements, my analysis branches into less sophisticated and creative thoughts. Without an interesting and unique launching point, it was difficult for me to expand and elaborate upon my ideas.
Although my critique of my work in contrast to Gatticus may be too harsh, I am definitely disappointed with the creativity and elaboration in most of my blogs. My blogs reflect an emptiness stemming from exhaustion, depression, and worry. Fortunately, blogs, like life events, can be edited and added to alter a virtual and actual persona. Perhaps the dissolution of my ego and its goals can rejuvenate my passion and energy in life and blogs. As Gatticus explains in his blog:
“Let all cultivate with hands in the real soil, not simply sowing seeds from picture books of the past. Fresh eyes create fresh memories that do not need to be captured. To capture is to lose the spontaneity-the freedom dies in its eyes. Expectations cannot be met in that reliving. I am all smiles for the present-shared.”
Plurking Metaphors
In his lecture we watched at the beginning of the quarter, DJ Spooky illustrated how our technological metaphors expand individual’s personas. He specifically noted how technology allows people to see and hear people without being in their physical presence, how the metaphors we create for ourselves have become more sophisticated than our biological mechanisms, and how technology eternalizes humans. While DJ Spooky was referring to the culmination of network technology, Plurk exemplifies these ideas in and of itself. By combining and linking a plethora of mediums, Plurk gives individuals incredible autonomy over their virtual presentation.
Through profile pictures and movie links, people can allow others to view their appearance without being in their physical presence. Since our class only met for three hours a week and we only played the name game once, Plurk provided a useful tool for putting names to faces, remembering the personalities behind those faces, and sharing images of ourselves outside of class.
Since our Plurk profiles exist outside of our organic bodies, they have the potential for eternal life. As the timeline of plurks explicitly illustrates, technology has allowed people to keep explicit records of their stream of consciousness, objectively check the material of information they presented in the past, and create personas that expand beyond the timelines of their artificial existence. While humans have mainly tried to pass on their heritage through memories in other people, representations of themselves in their children, and oral legacy, technologies like Plurk allow people to live on in a virtual reality without the necessity of their physical bodies.
If people learned our passwords or if a computer was programmed to emulate our behavior, they could continue to elaborate on our Plurk lives after our death. Even when we are still alive, we do not need to personally do anything to change our personas in such technologies. Although the media frenzy about identity theft typically refers to theft of financial information, it would be feasible for people to steal plurk or other network identities, and drastically alter others perception of ourselves. Or, taking a different spin, we could create doubles of ourselves by creating multiple profiles, each reflecting, yet transcending the other. As virtual personas become more prominent, the possibility for social identity theft and virtual cloning will dramatically alter the way we think about the individual.
Still, language and links played the most prominent role in Plurk communication. Most mediums (i.e. Facebook and Email) push people to reach tangible goals through their messages. Because the comments or messages only appear in certain pages or folders, these mediums encourage people to make intentional statements to an intended audience of one. With a timeline displaying plurks and responses to all friends and followers, Plurk celebrates stream of consciousness messages. Since anyone can view and respond to the messages, there need not be a single purpose or audience. Seen in the diversity of Plurk responses, Plurk encourages people to interpret the statement from their own paradigm and react with their own opinions, often transforming a single message into a group discussion immediately. For example, Gatticus elicited forty responses from nine different people simply by saying he “dislikes dealing with airlines and their money making schemes.” Although this statement was hardly profound, people were able to empathize and elaborate on his common opinion. Additionally, people can provide links to Youtube videos, articles, or anything else they feel like sharing. While this content is available outside of Plurk, these links provide a way to create networks of media and share our virtual journeys with each other.
With the ability to communicate with others and present our personalities in virtual space, more complex representations are possible. In physical space, I can only be in one place at a time whereas in virtual space I can be on Plurk, AIM, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and many more virtual places at once. Even within one of these places, I can create links between my own ideas, connect to other people’s ideas, and provide people a map to my personality and life. This allows for more sophisticated analysis of different facets of my personality than interaction with my physical self can allot.
Interestingly, the secrecy involved in presenting oneself in virtual space is different than the secrecy involved in presenting oneself in person. On Plurk and other networking sites, I can choose what images and videos of myself to display. Furthermore, I can hide the emotional tone of my comments by typing instead of speaking. Still, people have freedom over the parts of my self-presentation they wish to explore since I cannot direct them away from certain aspects directly. Paradoxically, Plurk provides the notion of more freedom of presentation and investigation.
For creatures that thrive off feedback from others, Plurk allows people to solicit specific responses from multiple people quickly and efficiently. Although computers have been deemed as vehicles for creating self-sufficiency and anti-social behavior, technologies like Plurk allow people to have more conversations than they could in person. Since personal information is already listed in people’s profiles, people are able to skip mundane introductions and move on to more meaningful conversation content. By allowing people to network their ideas quickly and efficiently, Plurk has the potential to improve self-esteem and friend acceptance. Inevitably, the opposite may be true if people feel like their biological mechanisms pale in comparison to the complexity and networking potentials of the technology. Currently, our bodies still need nourishment and physical pleasures play important roles in the development and well-being of individuals. By showing virtual possibilities beyond the capacity of our physical bodies, technologies may infantilize the biological organism. Perhaps this will drive humans to add more technology onto their persons, splice their genes with technology, and evolve into a post-human species. This may be one incentive economists have yet to predict.
Through profile pictures and movie links, people can allow others to view their appearance without being in their physical presence. Since our class only met for three hours a week and we only played the name game once, Plurk provided a useful tool for putting names to faces, remembering the personalities behind those faces, and sharing images of ourselves outside of class.
Since our Plurk profiles exist outside of our organic bodies, they have the potential for eternal life. As the timeline of plurks explicitly illustrates, technology has allowed people to keep explicit records of their stream of consciousness, objectively check the material of information they presented in the past, and create personas that expand beyond the timelines of their artificial existence. While humans have mainly tried to pass on their heritage through memories in other people, representations of themselves in their children, and oral legacy, technologies like Plurk allow people to live on in a virtual reality without the necessity of their physical bodies.
If people learned our passwords or if a computer was programmed to emulate our behavior, they could continue to elaborate on our Plurk lives after our death. Even when we are still alive, we do not need to personally do anything to change our personas in such technologies. Although the media frenzy about identity theft typically refers to theft of financial information, it would be feasible for people to steal plurk or other network identities, and drastically alter others perception of ourselves. Or, taking a different spin, we could create doubles of ourselves by creating multiple profiles, each reflecting, yet transcending the other. As virtual personas become more prominent, the possibility for social identity theft and virtual cloning will dramatically alter the way we think about the individual.
Still, language and links played the most prominent role in Plurk communication. Most mediums (i.e. Facebook and Email) push people to reach tangible goals through their messages. Because the comments or messages only appear in certain pages or folders, these mediums encourage people to make intentional statements to an intended audience of one. With a timeline displaying plurks and responses to all friends and followers, Plurk celebrates stream of consciousness messages. Since anyone can view and respond to the messages, there need not be a single purpose or audience. Seen in the diversity of Plurk responses, Plurk encourages people to interpret the statement from their own paradigm and react with their own opinions, often transforming a single message into a group discussion immediately. For example, Gatticus elicited forty responses from nine different people simply by saying he “dislikes dealing with airlines and their money making schemes.” Although this statement was hardly profound, people were able to empathize and elaborate on his common opinion. Additionally, people can provide links to Youtube videos, articles, or anything else they feel like sharing. While this content is available outside of Plurk, these links provide a way to create networks of media and share our virtual journeys with each other.
With the ability to communicate with others and present our personalities in virtual space, more complex representations are possible. In physical space, I can only be in one place at a time whereas in virtual space I can be on Plurk, AIM, Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and many more virtual places at once. Even within one of these places, I can create links between my own ideas, connect to other people’s ideas, and provide people a map to my personality and life. This allows for more sophisticated analysis of different facets of my personality than interaction with my physical self can allot.
Interestingly, the secrecy involved in presenting oneself in virtual space is different than the secrecy involved in presenting oneself in person. On Plurk and other networking sites, I can choose what images and videos of myself to display. Furthermore, I can hide the emotional tone of my comments by typing instead of speaking. Still, people have freedom over the parts of my self-presentation they wish to explore since I cannot direct them away from certain aspects directly. Paradoxically, Plurk provides the notion of more freedom of presentation and investigation.
For creatures that thrive off feedback from others, Plurk allows people to solicit specific responses from multiple people quickly and efficiently. Although computers have been deemed as vehicles for creating self-sufficiency and anti-social behavior, technologies like Plurk allow people to have more conversations than they could in person. Since personal information is already listed in people’s profiles, people are able to skip mundane introductions and move on to more meaningful conversation content. By allowing people to network their ideas quickly and efficiently, Plurk has the potential to improve self-esteem and friend acceptance. Inevitably, the opposite may be true if people feel like their biological mechanisms pale in comparison to the complexity and networking potentials of the technology. Currently, our bodies still need nourishment and physical pleasures play important roles in the development and well-being of individuals. By showing virtual possibilities beyond the capacity of our physical bodies, technologies may infantilize the biological organism. Perhaps this will drive humans to add more technology onto their persons, splice their genes with technology, and evolve into a post-human species. This may be one incentive economists have yet to predict.
Monday, June 1, 2009
Virtual Autonomy
“Strange to say, Jayjay’s nearly fifty years of life in Vearth had lasted but five of the real world’s hours. He was plagued by a persistent sense of living in a dream. Would he never awake?”(296).
Although Jayjay’s experience may have been more severe, I can empathize with the emotional feeling of perceiving life as a dream. Often times, I feel like I’m observing my life from a distance and analyzing myself from an objective perspective. Although self-evaluation can be a useful tool for psychological well-being, this disassociation between mind and body creates an emotional strain. It becomes difficult to rediscover oneself as an active participant in a life one feels they are watching.
Through advice from others, I've realized that there is no specific psychological trick to waking up from this symbolic dream of life. In order to feel like a participant, I need to participate. In order to feel active, I need to act. As Albert Camus posits, "You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life." Indeed, the trick to life is living.
If virtual reality becomes a reality, it will be important to give people access to the controls to the virtual world. As creatures who love to alter aspects of their worlds according to their will, people will want to be involved in processes that change their virtual landscapes. Without the autonomy to at least impact part of the virtual world, people will become passive observes. And from my experience, passive observation does not make anyone happy.
Although Jayjay’s experience may have been more severe, I can empathize with the emotional feeling of perceiving life as a dream. Often times, I feel like I’m observing my life from a distance and analyzing myself from an objective perspective. Although self-evaluation can be a useful tool for psychological well-being, this disassociation between mind and body creates an emotional strain. It becomes difficult to rediscover oneself as an active participant in a life one feels they are watching.
Through advice from others, I've realized that there is no specific psychological trick to waking up from this symbolic dream of life. In order to feel like a participant, I need to participate. In order to feel active, I need to act. As Albert Camus posits, "You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life." Indeed, the trick to life is living.
If virtual reality becomes a reality, it will be important to give people access to the controls to the virtual world. As creatures who love to alter aspects of their worlds according to their will, people will want to be involved in processes that change their virtual landscapes. Without the autonomy to at least impact part of the virtual world, people will become passive observes. And from my experience, passive observation does not make anyone happy.
Subject to Time
In class, we talked about how we can tell whether we are in the past, present, or future. Since there is a lag between events and the perception of those events, it would be impossible for humans to realize the present if it actually existed. Even assuming that humans had immediate perception to the world of their senses, it could still be fallacious to claim that the moment of their current perception is an objective present.
In philosophy, two common paradigms of time are designated as the A-series and B-series. The A-series is a tensed theory of time, postulating an objective past, present, and future. In this construct, tenses such as ‘was’, ‘is’, and ‘will be’ reflect an objective temporal reality. The B-series purposes that there is no definite past, present, and future. According to B-theorists, there is merely a series of events which occur earlier and later than one another. Thus, tenses in ordinary language are merely used for convenience. For example, ‘Bob used to work as a lawyer’ simplifies the meaning of ‘Bob worked as a lawyer at an earlier time then the utterance of this sentence’ in order to communicate the idea easier.
Although the competition between these theories is largely a matter of semantics, the B-series seems to be a more accurate reflection of human knowledge about time than the A-series. Although people desire to see their current consciousness as the present, there is no way to tell whether their perspective parallels anything outside of themselves. Perhaps their future selves also currently exist in a different dimension. Perhaps their earlier selves are actively living in the temporal space typically referred to as past. Without an objective view of the temporal path, it is impossible to determine whether the moment we perceive to be present is actually unique in its illumination.
Outside of the constraints of human consciousness, there may not even be a linear progression from earlier to later. Throughout history, people have imagined that earlier events contextualize current events. Could it not be the case that later events create a context for current events? Even in our analysis of other people, it is just as easy to tell where people came from as where they are going. From a perspective outside of the time scale, it may be just as relevant to analyze life backwards as forwards. Could the one-dimensional construct of time be wrong altogether? Could each time-perceiving agent manifest their own construction of time? Does time even exist? Investigating time seems to lead to more questions than answers.
In philosophy, two common paradigms of time are designated as the A-series and B-series. The A-series is a tensed theory of time, postulating an objective past, present, and future. In this construct, tenses such as ‘was’, ‘is’, and ‘will be’ reflect an objective temporal reality. The B-series purposes that there is no definite past, present, and future. According to B-theorists, there is merely a series of events which occur earlier and later than one another. Thus, tenses in ordinary language are merely used for convenience. For example, ‘Bob used to work as a lawyer’ simplifies the meaning of ‘Bob worked as a lawyer at an earlier time then the utterance of this sentence’ in order to communicate the idea easier.
Although the competition between these theories is largely a matter of semantics, the B-series seems to be a more accurate reflection of human knowledge about time than the A-series. Although people desire to see their current consciousness as the present, there is no way to tell whether their perspective parallels anything outside of themselves. Perhaps their future selves also currently exist in a different dimension. Perhaps their earlier selves are actively living in the temporal space typically referred to as past. Without an objective view of the temporal path, it is impossible to determine whether the moment we perceive to be present is actually unique in its illumination.
Outside of the constraints of human consciousness, there may not even be a linear progression from earlier to later. Throughout history, people have imagined that earlier events contextualize current events. Could it not be the case that later events create a context for current events? Even in our analysis of other people, it is just as easy to tell where people came from as where they are going. From a perspective outside of the time scale, it may be just as relevant to analyze life backwards as forwards. Could the one-dimensional construct of time be wrong altogether? Could each time-perceiving agent manifest their own construction of time? Does time even exist? Investigating time seems to lead to more questions than answers.
Rucker's Cartesian Demon
Even with the profound escalations in human knowledge and ability Postsingular purposes, Rudy Rucker demonstrates human inability to answer certain pressing philosophical questions. By highlighting the limitations of human knowledge within the context of incredible human achievement, Rucker displays the limitless nature of investigation into metaphysical and epistemological ideas. Indeed, future technology and epiphanies may merely clarify the impossibility of answering certain questions.
Specifically, Postsingular forces the reader to question their knowledge of and access to an external world.
“What actually happened was that the Big Pig, for reasons of her own, threw Jayjay into a profoundly convincing hallucination that seemed to him, to last a full sixty years. During the six or seven hours that Thuy was gone, Jayjay lived out an entire simulated life, full of incident and emotion, the sim life ending with death by virus at the deeply hallucinated age of eighty-four” (Postsingular, 290).
Although this occurrence is specific to and contextualized within Postsingular, it has implications that intellectuals have wrestled with for ages. For example, as an underpinning to Cartesian skepticism, René Descartes purposed a similar story about a delusion caused by a demon.
"I will suppose some malicious demon of the utmost power and cunning has employed all his energies in order to deceive me. I shall think that the sky, the air, the earth, colors, shapes, sounds and all external things are merely the delusions of dreams which he has devised to ensnare my judgment" (René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy: First Meditation).
Inevitably, the philosophical implications of doubt about external world knowledge are not unique to Postsingular or the science fiction genre in general. But by developing a story to suspend disbelief about the possibility of extended delusions, Postsingular makes the question all the more interesting. In general, science fiction postulates philosophical questions in specific, evolving, and unique stories to contextualize the concept with names, personalities, places, and emotions. By creating concrete variables to engage the concept, science fiction literature enables the reader to understand and synthesize the information more explicitly.
Through the character development of Big Pig and analysis of Jayjay’s life, Rucker is providing a name and personality to the Cartesian demon, analyzing the content of a delusional life, and investigating the emotions involved in this dilemma. Ultimately, he unravels the same epistemological dilemma: no one truly knows whether the world external to people is merely a figment of their own, or someone else’s imagination or simulation.
Specifically, Postsingular forces the reader to question their knowledge of and access to an external world.
“What actually happened was that the Big Pig, for reasons of her own, threw Jayjay into a profoundly convincing hallucination that seemed to him, to last a full sixty years. During the six or seven hours that Thuy was gone, Jayjay lived out an entire simulated life, full of incident and emotion, the sim life ending with death by virus at the deeply hallucinated age of eighty-four” (Postsingular, 290).
Although this occurrence is specific to and contextualized within Postsingular, it has implications that intellectuals have wrestled with for ages. For example, as an underpinning to Cartesian skepticism, René Descartes purposed a similar story about a delusion caused by a demon.
"I will suppose some malicious demon of the utmost power and cunning has employed all his energies in order to deceive me. I shall think that the sky, the air, the earth, colors, shapes, sounds and all external things are merely the delusions of dreams which he has devised to ensnare my judgment" (René Descartes, Meditations on First Philosophy: First Meditation).
Inevitably, the philosophical implications of doubt about external world knowledge are not unique to Postsingular or the science fiction genre in general. But by developing a story to suspend disbelief about the possibility of extended delusions, Postsingular makes the question all the more interesting. In general, science fiction postulates philosophical questions in specific, evolving, and unique stories to contextualize the concept with names, personalities, places, and emotions. By creating concrete variables to engage the concept, science fiction literature enables the reader to understand and synthesize the information more explicitly.
Through the character development of Big Pig and analysis of Jayjay’s life, Rucker is providing a name and personality to the Cartesian demon, analyzing the content of a delusional life, and investigating the emotions involved in this dilemma. Ultimately, he unravels the same epistemological dilemma: no one truly knows whether the world external to people is merely a figment of their own, or someone else’s imagination or simulation.
The Politics of Technology
Although technology could be able to potentially give people incredibly easier access to exponentially more resources and allot people incredible more universal knowledge, it may not be able to rid humanity of power hierarchies and economic inequality. For the majority of people in America and many other places in the world, basic needs have been adequately met and exceeded. Of course, without needing to worry about the amount of water, food, and shelter, people focus on the aesthetic appeal of their resources, create artifacts for psychological desire instead of biological need, and develop artificially high standards of living.
Although our current economic situation has slightly reduced the average amount of resources consumed by individuals, the wave of technology should eventually develop even more objects of psychological desire to compete over. Although we may be able to cure diseases, restore body organs and tissue, and create a virtual reality in the future, technology alone will not prevent inequality. Even in the virtual world of Postsingular, there was still a battle over scarce resources.
“Vearth had an active cash economy, with the cash standing for computational resources. You needed money to buy or rent a simulated house, to view a show, or to get new clothes. And if you paid Big Pig a certain monthly fee, your personal reality was rendered in higher resolution than was other people’s” (Postsingular, 291).
As artificial intelligence improves, it will be important to evaluate and moniter the politics of distributing new technologies. People should not allow the ruling class to horde tools of physical and social evolution.
Although our current economic situation has slightly reduced the average amount of resources consumed by individuals, the wave of technology should eventually develop even more objects of psychological desire to compete over. Although we may be able to cure diseases, restore body organs and tissue, and create a virtual reality in the future, technology alone will not prevent inequality. Even in the virtual world of Postsingular, there was still a battle over scarce resources.
“Vearth had an active cash economy, with the cash standing for computational resources. You needed money to buy or rent a simulated house, to view a show, or to get new clothes. And if you paid Big Pig a certain monthly fee, your personal reality was rendered in higher resolution than was other people’s” (Postsingular, 291).
As artificial intelligence improves, it will be important to evaluate and moniter the politics of distributing new technologies. People should not allow the ruling class to horde tools of physical and social evolution.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Closed Eyes
By observing and emulating others, we interpret the proper uses of our senses at different times. Although learning from others is a valuable skill, it often leads us to take unecessary applications for granted. For example, people have learned to keep their eyes constantly open when they are awake even when they are not navigating the physical universe. While this habbit does not seem to harm people physically in any way, it may be worth our while to question this common habbit.
Perhaps we have developed so strong of associations to keeping our eyes open in our waking state and eyes closed in our sleeping state, that our bodies react negatively when we break those norms. Some people sleep with their eyes open (usually due to short or weak eyelids) and usually become irratated by dry eyes (netwellness.org). This is an obvious reason not to sleep with our eyes open.
But there does not seem to be as obvious of a consequence to staying awake with our eyes open. Because of the association with sleep, some people might feel like they would not be able to stay awake. But this could probably be overcome by practice. This may cause sleeping difficulties, since there there would be less physical differentiation between visual images during times when people want to stay awake and visual images when people want to fall asleep. But this could probably be prevented by changing the content of the visual imagery when eyes are closed to make a different type of distinction.
A benefit may be enhanced memory for information. Prominent cognitive psychology research indicates that imagery improves recall and recognition on auditory recall tasks. For example, closing ones eyes and creating visual images of words while listening to word lists increases recall of those words. Thus, closing ones eyes during a professors lecture and creating images of the professors words may help the student remember the information.
Another possible benefit would be easier access to abstract ideas. Without a physical environment to guide our perceptions and consequent ideas, people would be forced to form images from their imaginations. Since human imagination is not limited by the laws of the physical universe, this would help people think outside of the physical realm and entertain metaphorical and pataphorical ideas more easily.
Although there may be more potential defects to closing eyes when awake, these potential benefits support experimenting with the idea. While the status quo allows us to function, it may not be the best way to strive, improve, and evolve as human beings. There is really nothing to lose; one could simply open their eyes.
Perhaps we have developed so strong of associations to keeping our eyes open in our waking state and eyes closed in our sleeping state, that our bodies react negatively when we break those norms. Some people sleep with their eyes open (usually due to short or weak eyelids) and usually become irratated by dry eyes (netwellness.org). This is an obvious reason not to sleep with our eyes open.
But there does not seem to be as obvious of a consequence to staying awake with our eyes open. Because of the association with sleep, some people might feel like they would not be able to stay awake. But this could probably be overcome by practice. This may cause sleeping difficulties, since there there would be less physical differentiation between visual images during times when people want to stay awake and visual images when people want to fall asleep. But this could probably be prevented by changing the content of the visual imagery when eyes are closed to make a different type of distinction.
A benefit may be enhanced memory for information. Prominent cognitive psychology research indicates that imagery improves recall and recognition on auditory recall tasks. For example, closing ones eyes and creating visual images of words while listening to word lists increases recall of those words. Thus, closing ones eyes during a professors lecture and creating images of the professors words may help the student remember the information.
Another possible benefit would be easier access to abstract ideas. Without a physical environment to guide our perceptions and consequent ideas, people would be forced to form images from their imaginations. Since human imagination is not limited by the laws of the physical universe, this would help people think outside of the physical realm and entertain metaphorical and pataphorical ideas more easily.
Although there may be more potential defects to closing eyes when awake, these potential benefits support experimenting with the idea. While the status quo allows us to function, it may not be the best way to strive, improve, and evolve as human beings. There is really nothing to lose; one could simply open their eyes.
Dissociative Human Identity
In The Filth, Slade becomes confused about whether doppelgangers are impersonating him or he has parapersonas within himself. Although his character persevered through a unique form of brainwashing, the implications of his psychological struggle apply to ordinary human psychology.
Typically, people get scared of people who are eerily similar to them in the external world, but long to have their internal voices conform to one personality. By attempting to develop the self as a united individual, people seek to distinguish themselves from a chaotic external world. To stay sane, people squelch frequent internal dialogue from drastically different voices and perspectives.
But without conscious effort to unite our personas, emotions, and inner voices, people may not be as stable as they like to think. Perhaps the reason why were so scared of people with dissociative identity disorder is that they reveal an element of all human's psychology. While some people's identities are more separeted than others, everyone has different personalities within them and engage in internal dialogue. As I write this, I am thinking from different perspectives, drawing from different experiences, and summarizing information from multiple inner voices. In stream of consciousness, human thought is not organized or linear. In contrast, our free consciousness elicits spontaneous and random ideas and emotions. In order to transform these jumbled ideas in a thought process that represents a single mind, one initially needs to make an effort of will. Eventually this thought organization becomes second-nature and people forget how they ever created the linear network of ideas in the first place.
But even when we attempt to unify our inner voices and conform to one thought patter, can we ever truly eliminate the distinct personas inside of us? Perhaps part of the reason why we seek solidarity and kinship with other people is to learn how to improve the relationships between different personas in ourselves. As a reflection of our inner relationships, external relationships demonstrate our self-worth and likeability. By maintaining stability in our relationships with other people through family units, friendship, and other social connections, people learn how to unite their inner families, develop friendships between their different personas, and navigate their inner social world.
Just like Slade, people seek to discover a common theme within themselves to attain a single vantage point to view the world. But we should be careful not to sublimate important personas within ourselves in order to consolidate ourselves.
Typically, people get scared of people who are eerily similar to them in the external world, but long to have their internal voices conform to one personality. By attempting to develop the self as a united individual, people seek to distinguish themselves from a chaotic external world. To stay sane, people squelch frequent internal dialogue from drastically different voices and perspectives.
But without conscious effort to unite our personas, emotions, and inner voices, people may not be as stable as they like to think. Perhaps the reason why were so scared of people with dissociative identity disorder is that they reveal an element of all human's psychology. While some people's identities are more separeted than others, everyone has different personalities within them and engage in internal dialogue. As I write this, I am thinking from different perspectives, drawing from different experiences, and summarizing information from multiple inner voices. In stream of consciousness, human thought is not organized or linear. In contrast, our free consciousness elicits spontaneous and random ideas and emotions. In order to transform these jumbled ideas in a thought process that represents a single mind, one initially needs to make an effort of will. Eventually this thought organization becomes second-nature and people forget how they ever created the linear network of ideas in the first place.
But even when we attempt to unify our inner voices and conform to one thought patter, can we ever truly eliminate the distinct personas inside of us? Perhaps part of the reason why we seek solidarity and kinship with other people is to learn how to improve the relationships between different personas in ourselves. As a reflection of our inner relationships, external relationships demonstrate our self-worth and likeability. By maintaining stability in our relationships with other people through family units, friendship, and other social connections, people learn how to unite their inner families, develop friendships between their different personas, and navigate their inner social world.
Just like Slade, people seek to discover a common theme within themselves to attain a single vantage point to view the world. But we should be careful not to sublimate important personas within ourselves in order to consolidate ourselves.
Monday, May 18, 2009
Changing Personas
In class, we discussed what happens to people when they enter a virtual world (such as a television show, movie, or video game) and what happens when they exit. Although we explored surrounding ideas, we never came to a satisfying answer to this question. And perhaps there is no logical or rational answer to this question.
Proposed solutions depend on philisophical perspectives of being. For a materialist, the person is not literaly transported into another realm when they are interacting with different medias. They are merely reacting to the visual and auditory rays and waves from the physical apparatus. For a dualist, a persons soul could literaly depart and exist within the story created through the medium. Since the body and soul have such a close assosiation within this metaphysical paradigm, occurances within this alterior universe could affect the persons body. For example, when a persons soul feels the weight on a characters emotion in a movie, the body could sense this burden and react through crying. An idealist might claim that a person could fully engage and exist within the virtual universe and return to their bodies later on in order to achieve physical goals.
Whatever happens, there seems to be degrees to which people are transported into the technological worlds. The senses of an imaginative person in a dark imax theatre with surround sound will be more embedded in the technological sensory world than a person in a light room surfing channels on a small, low-defintion television.
Ofcourse, the degree to which a person is transported into another world does not necessarily correalate with the complexity of the technology which creates the other universe. A good book for an avid reader can transport an individual further from their original supposed reality than a movie based off that book since reading inspires people to create their own unique mental imagery. Often, this process of translating words into pictures allows the reader to escape their physical setting to enter the author's literary world.
No matter what actually happens and to what degree, the person can never return from any encounter with an alterior universe without changing their perspective, although it could be very subtle.
Proposed solutions depend on philisophical perspectives of being. For a materialist, the person is not literaly transported into another realm when they are interacting with different medias. They are merely reacting to the visual and auditory rays and waves from the physical apparatus. For a dualist, a persons soul could literaly depart and exist within the story created through the medium. Since the body and soul have such a close assosiation within this metaphysical paradigm, occurances within this alterior universe could affect the persons body. For example, when a persons soul feels the weight on a characters emotion in a movie, the body could sense this burden and react through crying. An idealist might claim that a person could fully engage and exist within the virtual universe and return to their bodies later on in order to achieve physical goals.
Whatever happens, there seems to be degrees to which people are transported into the technological worlds. The senses of an imaginative person in a dark imax theatre with surround sound will be more embedded in the technological sensory world than a person in a light room surfing channels on a small, low-defintion television.
Ofcourse, the degree to which a person is transported into another world does not necessarily correalate with the complexity of the technology which creates the other universe. A good book for an avid reader can transport an individual further from their original supposed reality than a movie based off that book since reading inspires people to create their own unique mental imagery. Often, this process of translating words into pictures allows the reader to escape their physical setting to enter the author's literary world.
No matter what actually happens and to what degree, the person can never return from any encounter with an alterior universe without changing their perspective, although it could be very subtle.
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Double-edged Sword
The Novel The Filth is an exaltation of repessed desires. It portrays a world in which people act considerably more on instincts than today's society and considerably less on systems of ethics. In disollution of a supergo, violent and sexual fantasies escaped the imagination of the individual and manifested themselves in the physical realm. Perhaps the novel predicts the physological, political, and relational revolutions of the future, in which secret and dark fantasies are openly sought and fulfilled. But this book is not purely a degradation or warning about a future society; it is mostly an exploration of the qualities of latent mental and emotional desires.
The contextualization of The Filth's thematic ideas in prophetic literature and related ethical and metaphorical revalations lays a framework for discussion about the graphic novel's central themes. Although unique in its combination of mediums and harsh rhetoric, The Filth expands upon a vast, evolving collection of literature and media about the opression of people.
In The Shawshank Redemption, Red (Morgan Freeman) discusses the psychological stages of life in prison. At first, he admits, people have a repulsion to the system that took away their freedom. But over time, they become accustomed to the system and cope with it. Eventually, Red intonates, people become dependent upon the prison constructs. But even without the precise confines of a secured prison in the 1950's, individuals and societies utilize artificial references, frames, and scales to embed human behavior in certain habbits, routines, and supposed duties that benefit the greater good. Likewise, we become dependent on our social contracts and conceptualization of relationships to limit certain social behaviors.
To introduce his novel Amusing ourselves to death, Neil Postman discusses the accuracy of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley's dystopia novels. In Postman's comparison of the writers prophecies, he writes, “Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think” (Foreword, vii).
Although Postman makes a credible argument for his intended purpose (to point out the recall effect in delegation of mental imagery to physical apparatuses), he assumes a mutual exclusion between two symbiotic mechanisms of oppression. Although a Big Brother is indeed not required for a society to opress itself, the government will naturally fill the void that people leave for it. Thus, pain and pleasure play comlimentary roles in opression of groups of people. By seeking pleasure purely outside a polticial realm, people force the governmental leaders to research theories, predict outcomes, and create policies and laws among a smaller groups of people. Likewise, the pain perpetuates pleasure because it uses up the majority of individuals mental energy with information that conforms to social norms within a production paradigm. As a consequence of this increased power, the leaders seek further control over other people. In order to attain sufficient information about people to implement coercive strategies, the government uses technologies to investigate private behavior.
In today's society, particularly American culture, people safeguard themselves from thinking about or contributing to important political decisions by distracting themselves with trivial information. Whether watching scripted reality television, reading about the latest happenings in the lives of Paris Hilton or Brittiny Spears, or obsessing over games where men play with different shaped balls and hit each other, society has revealed that it has an infinite appetite for triviality. As people feed their appetites, the government fills a larger and larger void, making more and more decisions, controlling more and more of the infastructure of society. Although information about local government decisions, international relations, and military activities are often open to the public, they typically choose not to learn about these subjects. For example, a survey after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and subsequent declaration of war against Iraq indicated that the majority of Americans thought that the individuals who hijacked or attempted to hijack planes were all from Iraq, even though the majority of them were from Saudi Arabia. As in Huxley's prophecy, the government did not have to hide this information from the public in order to gain support for their political agenda; the government could rest assured that people would voluntarily choose to ignore such information.
Through another allotance of society's ignorance, the government designed and implemented homeland security laws that allow private organizations to listen to phone conversations, check physical and virtual mail, and maintain intimate records on individuals private lives. Although some of these privacy statutes are being overturned, the fact that they were implemented is a sign of increased delegation to authority.
As these real world examples illustrate, pain and pleasure are both tools of our opression imposed by the government and by ourselves. As Grant Morrison intended, The Filth depicts the revelation of both of these prophecies together. Through images, dialogue, and symbols, Morrison develops a unique example of how pain and pleasure can be complimentary forms of opression.
Depicted throughout the novel in sex scenes and pornography use, The Filth exposes latent mental and emotional fantasies and desires. By indulging their biological urges constantly, people distract themselves from important poltical decisions and often delegate the rational and logic of their personal decision making to the Hand.
As a representation of self-imposed fate, the Hand acts as an internal moral code and external enforcing agent in the novel. With sophisticated technology, the Hand moniters the everyday lives of individuals and coerces them to become more efficient and productive. Through sophisticated technology, human operatives, and fear mongering, the Hand dictates the every day behavior of individuals within the society and symbolizes their self-imposed fate.
An ardent example of this is the Hands intervention with Slade's phone sex habbits. While he is watching pornography, the Hand directly calls him and asks "have you thought about reducing your teleophone bill? I notice you've been calling a lot of seedy sex lines during peak times when its more expensive"(The Filth, 66). By invading Slade's privacy to help him economize on his pleasure-seeking habbits, the Hand is inducing submission through pleasure. Although this indirectly causes strife (Slade's frustration with the invasion of privacy), the support of fulfilling desires shows how the authority is using people's biological instincts against them to repress their rational thought.
By specifically exploring the politics of sexual desire's manifestation, The Filth contributes an important dimension to the literature and media about mind control. Similar to the prophecies of Huxley and Orwell, the characters in The Filth delegate their superego to an organization that imposes fate on them. Ironically, the revolution against personal repression creates a vaccuum for an external opression. Indeed, The Filth demonstrates that pain and pleasure can symbiotically opress the masses.
The contextualization of The Filth's thematic ideas in prophetic literature and related ethical and metaphorical revalations lays a framework for discussion about the graphic novel's central themes. Although unique in its combination of mediums and harsh rhetoric, The Filth expands upon a vast, evolving collection of literature and media about the opression of people.
In The Shawshank Redemption, Red (Morgan Freeman) discusses the psychological stages of life in prison. At first, he admits, people have a repulsion to the system that took away their freedom. But over time, they become accustomed to the system and cope with it. Eventually, Red intonates, people become dependent upon the prison constructs. But even without the precise confines of a secured prison in the 1950's, individuals and societies utilize artificial references, frames, and scales to embed human behavior in certain habbits, routines, and supposed duties that benefit the greater good. Likewise, we become dependent on our social contracts and conceptualization of relationships to limit certain social behaviors.
To introduce his novel Amusing ourselves to death, Neil Postman discusses the accuracy of George Orwell and Aldous Huxley's dystopia novels. In Postman's comparison of the writers prophecies, he writes, “Orwell warns that we will be overcome by an externally imposed oppression. But in Huxley’s vision, no Big Brother is required to deprive people of their autonomy, maturity and history. As he saw it, people will come to love their oppression, to adore the technologies that undo their capacities to think” (Foreword, vii).
Although Postman makes a credible argument for his intended purpose (to point out the recall effect in delegation of mental imagery to physical apparatuses), he assumes a mutual exclusion between two symbiotic mechanisms of oppression. Although a Big Brother is indeed not required for a society to opress itself, the government will naturally fill the void that people leave for it. Thus, pain and pleasure play comlimentary roles in opression of groups of people. By seeking pleasure purely outside a polticial realm, people force the governmental leaders to research theories, predict outcomes, and create policies and laws among a smaller groups of people. Likewise, the pain perpetuates pleasure because it uses up the majority of individuals mental energy with information that conforms to social norms within a production paradigm. As a consequence of this increased power, the leaders seek further control over other people. In order to attain sufficient information about people to implement coercive strategies, the government uses technologies to investigate private behavior.
In today's society, particularly American culture, people safeguard themselves from thinking about or contributing to important political decisions by distracting themselves with trivial information. Whether watching scripted reality television, reading about the latest happenings in the lives of Paris Hilton or Brittiny Spears, or obsessing over games where men play with different shaped balls and hit each other, society has revealed that it has an infinite appetite for triviality. As people feed their appetites, the government fills a larger and larger void, making more and more decisions, controlling more and more of the infastructure of society. Although information about local government decisions, international relations, and military activities are often open to the public, they typically choose not to learn about these subjects. For example, a survey after the 9/11 terrorist attacks and subsequent declaration of war against Iraq indicated that the majority of Americans thought that the individuals who hijacked or attempted to hijack planes were all from Iraq, even though the majority of them were from Saudi Arabia. As in Huxley's prophecy, the government did not have to hide this information from the public in order to gain support for their political agenda; the government could rest assured that people would voluntarily choose to ignore such information.
Through another allotance of society's ignorance, the government designed and implemented homeland security laws that allow private organizations to listen to phone conversations, check physical and virtual mail, and maintain intimate records on individuals private lives. Although some of these privacy statutes are being overturned, the fact that they were implemented is a sign of increased delegation to authority.
As these real world examples illustrate, pain and pleasure are both tools of our opression imposed by the government and by ourselves. As Grant Morrison intended, The Filth depicts the revelation of both of these prophecies together. Through images, dialogue, and symbols, Morrison develops a unique example of how pain and pleasure can be complimentary forms of opression.
Depicted throughout the novel in sex scenes and pornography use, The Filth exposes latent mental and emotional fantasies and desires. By indulging their biological urges constantly, people distract themselves from important poltical decisions and often delegate the rational and logic of their personal decision making to the Hand.
As a representation of self-imposed fate, the Hand acts as an internal moral code and external enforcing agent in the novel. With sophisticated technology, the Hand moniters the everyday lives of individuals and coerces them to become more efficient and productive. Through sophisticated technology, human operatives, and fear mongering, the Hand dictates the every day behavior of individuals within the society and symbolizes their self-imposed fate.
An ardent example of this is the Hands intervention with Slade's phone sex habbits. While he is watching pornography, the Hand directly calls him and asks "have you thought about reducing your teleophone bill? I notice you've been calling a lot of seedy sex lines during peak times when its more expensive"(The Filth, 66). By invading Slade's privacy to help him economize on his pleasure-seeking habbits, the Hand is inducing submission through pleasure. Although this indirectly causes strife (Slade's frustration with the invasion of privacy), the support of fulfilling desires shows how the authority is using people's biological instincts against them to repress their rational thought.
By specifically exploring the politics of sexual desire's manifestation, The Filth contributes an important dimension to the literature and media about mind control. Similar to the prophecies of Huxley and Orwell, the characters in The Filth delegate their superego to an organization that imposes fate on them. Ironically, the revolution against personal repression creates a vaccuum for an external opression. Indeed, The Filth demonstrates that pain and pleasure can symbiotically opress the masses.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Evolutionary Oblivion
In our arrogance, man has designated himself to at top of the food chain, claiming the pinochocle of evolutionary processes. In common evolutionary paradigm, man is the final result of single-celled organisms evolving slowly but surely into creatures with central nervous systems and intelligent thought. The linear narrative of evolution has focused on the past, analyzing creatures that preceded human beings. By fallaciously delegating ourselves as the conclusion of this long and intricate process, "we live in oblivion of our metamorpheses" (Paul Eluard, Life Extreme).
As part of our desire to express their alterity from other species, humans often claim that the ability to conceptualize and synthesize abstract ideas sets humans apart from animals. Within this world view, we conceptualize that humans can achieve higher levels of fulfillment, catharsis, and happiness than other creatures. But without an objective perspective, this view cannot be evaluated fairly and seems to collapse on itself. Although our mental processes and emotions are unique, every species possesses physical and metaphysical characteristics that set it apart from other species. Accurately described by Friedrich Nietzsche,
"it is not true that the unconscious goal in the evolution of every conscious being (animal, man, mankind, etc) is its "highest happiness"; the case, on the contrary is that every stage of evolution posesses a special and incomparable happiness neither higher or lower but simply its own. Evolution does not have happiness in view, but evolution and nothing else" (Nietzsche, Life Extreme).
Since each species has different capacities, instincts, and desires, the concept of achieving happiness will always mean something different. Just as one should not say that a cheetah is more athletic than a man because he or she can run faster, one should not claim that humans are more intelligent, fulfilled, or content than another species because we think in a unique way. With different bioligical instincts, each species seeks and demonstrates satisfaction in drastically different ways, which cannot be objectively rated as higher or lower from one another.
Another common distinction people use to seperate humans from animals is the idea that animals adapt to their environment while humans alter their environment to fit their needs. But like humans, other species manipulate material in their environment to serve their biological purposes. For example, birds create nests to form safe havens to care for their young. Likewise, even with their most sophisticated technologies, humans adapt to their environments just like animals. As indicated in Life Extreme,
"nature evolves ingenious forms, often technologically useful. Every bush, every tree, can instruct us in and reveal new uses, potential apparatus, and technological inventions without number" (Moholy Nagy, Life Extreme).
By learning from animals, plants, and other environmental cues to create ideas for inventions and improve technology, humans are adapting to their environment just like any other animal.
Admittedly, it is difficult to see and understand the evolutionary processes which are currently happening. With short life spans and a limited perspective in space in the grand scheme of the universe, humans can merely catch a glimpse of the drastic changes that happen on a large enough scale. Perhaps the synthesis of neurology, bio-technology, computer technology and other fields implicated in post-human possibilities will make discoveries that exponentially spur the punctuations of evolution and make the processes more immediately evident. Perhaps with this accelaration in the rate of subtle manifestations, people will be able to better understand that "nothing is stable. In the whole universe, everything passes; all the forms are made only to come and go" (Ovide, Life Extreme).
As part of our desire to express their alterity from other species, humans often claim that the ability to conceptualize and synthesize abstract ideas sets humans apart from animals. Within this world view, we conceptualize that humans can achieve higher levels of fulfillment, catharsis, and happiness than other creatures. But without an objective perspective, this view cannot be evaluated fairly and seems to collapse on itself. Although our mental processes and emotions are unique, every species possesses physical and metaphysical characteristics that set it apart from other species. Accurately described by Friedrich Nietzsche,
"it is not true that the unconscious goal in the evolution of every conscious being (animal, man, mankind, etc) is its "highest happiness"; the case, on the contrary is that every stage of evolution posesses a special and incomparable happiness neither higher or lower but simply its own. Evolution does not have happiness in view, but evolution and nothing else" (Nietzsche, Life Extreme).
Since each species has different capacities, instincts, and desires, the concept of achieving happiness will always mean something different. Just as one should not say that a cheetah is more athletic than a man because he or she can run faster, one should not claim that humans are more intelligent, fulfilled, or content than another species because we think in a unique way. With different bioligical instincts, each species seeks and demonstrates satisfaction in drastically different ways, which cannot be objectively rated as higher or lower from one another.
Another common distinction people use to seperate humans from animals is the idea that animals adapt to their environment while humans alter their environment to fit their needs. But like humans, other species manipulate material in their environment to serve their biological purposes. For example, birds create nests to form safe havens to care for their young. Likewise, even with their most sophisticated technologies, humans adapt to their environments just like animals. As indicated in Life Extreme,
"nature evolves ingenious forms, often technologically useful. Every bush, every tree, can instruct us in and reveal new uses, potential apparatus, and technological inventions without number" (Moholy Nagy, Life Extreme).
By learning from animals, plants, and other environmental cues to create ideas for inventions and improve technology, humans are adapting to their environment just like any other animal.
Admittedly, it is difficult to see and understand the evolutionary processes which are currently happening. With short life spans and a limited perspective in space in the grand scheme of the universe, humans can merely catch a glimpse of the drastic changes that happen on a large enough scale. Perhaps the synthesis of neurology, bio-technology, computer technology and other fields implicated in post-human possibilities will make discoveries that exponentially spur the punctuations of evolution and make the processes more immediately evident. Perhaps with this accelaration in the rate of subtle manifestations, people will be able to better understand that "nothing is stable. In the whole universe, everything passes; all the forms are made only to come and go" (Ovide, Life Extreme).
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Glancing at a wikipedia article about cut-ups, I ran into an interesting idea. Coined by the CrimethInc. collective in their book, Recipes for Disaster: An Anarchist Cookbook, behavioural cut-ups are a method of changing one's life by performing activities which are thought to cut up two socially acceptable, mundane behaviours and combining them to form a creative, amusing activity.
Although we specifically cut up language by physically cutting paper and rearanging fourths of pages and copying and pasting on plurk, these class activities are merely symbols of the greater cut-up structure of our nanotext class. Even The Ticket that Exploded, while intrinsically valuable, is merely a vehicle to illustrate the overall class concept.
Specifically, the class cut up the elements of time, space, and leadership hierarchy to question the arbitrary social norms within academia.
From the begining of class, Doctor Prichard told us that he wanted class to exist outside of the specified time frames of Mondays, Wednessdays, and Fridays from 1:00 to 2:20 PM. By providing blog and plurk assignments, he has encouraged us to communicate with each other when ispiration strikes, regardless of the time of day. By taking class communication outside of chosen time frame, Nanotext has cut up our typical homework behavior with our classroom discussion behavior to question the existing educational paradigm and propose a new learning tool.
Additionally, Doctor Prichard frequently questioned the space where we hold our tri-weekly class meetings. He encouraged us to look for other spaces to have class, searched buildings to see if other rooms would be available, and suspended his voice for a day to have class via plurk. Each of these statements and activities forced us to question our notion of environmental constantcy for class activities and cut up the spaces for our class, our homework, and our everyday lives.
Perhaps most importantly, Doctor Prichard is trying to cut up his own profession. By generating reasons for students to come to the front of the room, allowing students to guide the class discussion, and openly questioning the teacher-student relationship, Doctor Prichard is helping to cut up our categories of teachers and students, and the roles that individuals should play in college.
Although cutting paper and copying and pasting to create language cut ups is significantly interesting, behavioral cut ups are the most salient tool for our class to open the acedmic box.
Although we specifically cut up language by physically cutting paper and rearanging fourths of pages and copying and pasting on plurk, these class activities are merely symbols of the greater cut-up structure of our nanotext class. Even The Ticket that Exploded, while intrinsically valuable, is merely a vehicle to illustrate the overall class concept.
Specifically, the class cut up the elements of time, space, and leadership hierarchy to question the arbitrary social norms within academia.
From the begining of class, Doctor Prichard told us that he wanted class to exist outside of the specified time frames of Mondays, Wednessdays, and Fridays from 1:00 to 2:20 PM. By providing blog and plurk assignments, he has encouraged us to communicate with each other when ispiration strikes, regardless of the time of day. By taking class communication outside of chosen time frame, Nanotext has cut up our typical homework behavior with our classroom discussion behavior to question the existing educational paradigm and propose a new learning tool.
Additionally, Doctor Prichard frequently questioned the space where we hold our tri-weekly class meetings. He encouraged us to look for other spaces to have class, searched buildings to see if other rooms would be available, and suspended his voice for a day to have class via plurk. Each of these statements and activities forced us to question our notion of environmental constantcy for class activities and cut up the spaces for our class, our homework, and our everyday lives.
Perhaps most importantly, Doctor Prichard is trying to cut up his own profession. By generating reasons for students to come to the front of the room, allowing students to guide the class discussion, and openly questioning the teacher-student relationship, Doctor Prichard is helping to cut up our categories of teachers and students, and the roles that individuals should play in college.
Although cutting paper and copying and pasting to create language cut ups is significantly interesting, behavioral cut ups are the most salient tool for our class to open the acedmic box.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Economic Crisis
In times of crisis, people are left with a couple options. They can open their mind to new perspectives and lobby on behalf of ideas and solutions or they can shrink to the crisis, providing a vaccuum for a few select leaders to attain more power.
The current economic crisis has led people to do both. Overwhelmed by the economic collapse and realization of the complexity of the global financial system, people have chosen to put more faith in the government, specifically federal icons, to solve our problems. After the excitement of Oboma's election dissolved, government oversight has decreased and become more ambiguous.
Along with this reduction in government scrutiny, people seem to be more open to an economic paradigm shift. While the capitalist system was promoting growth through competition, it seemed impossible to drastically change our system while the media (particularly the arrows that point up or down representing stock market fluctuations) presented positive ideas about our economic position. People seem more open to socialism when their ability to use the capitalist system to their advantage appears more difficult. With greater uncertainty about their investments and less security in their jobs, people's economic paradigms shift closer to the ideal of equity proposed by John Rawlings writing about the veil of ignorance. If people are unsure about what end of the economic totem pole they will wind up on, they are more willing to equalize compensation.
Perhaps Marx was right all along and we'll eventually move towards socialism. Perhaps the market of ideas will open to a brand new economic system. Perhaps capitalist tradition will hold. But goddam are people scared right now.
The current economic crisis has led people to do both. Overwhelmed by the economic collapse and realization of the complexity of the global financial system, people have chosen to put more faith in the government, specifically federal icons, to solve our problems. After the excitement of Oboma's election dissolved, government oversight has decreased and become more ambiguous.
Along with this reduction in government scrutiny, people seem to be more open to an economic paradigm shift. While the capitalist system was promoting growth through competition, it seemed impossible to drastically change our system while the media (particularly the arrows that point up or down representing stock market fluctuations) presented positive ideas about our economic position. People seem more open to socialism when their ability to use the capitalist system to their advantage appears more difficult. With greater uncertainty about their investments and less security in their jobs, people's economic paradigms shift closer to the ideal of equity proposed by John Rawlings writing about the veil of ignorance. If people are unsure about what end of the economic totem pole they will wind up on, they are more willing to equalize compensation.
Perhaps Marx was right all along and we'll eventually move towards socialism. Perhaps the market of ideas will open to a brand new economic system. Perhaps capitalist tradition will hold. But goddam are people scared right now.
Monday, April 27, 2009
Determinism
In his description of fate, the Flouroscopic Kid claims that, "the house know every card you will be dealt and how you will play all your cards" (The Ticket that Exploded, 159). In this paradigm, one who plays a card that was not dealt is an exception to the rule.
But from my vantage point, there seems to be enough agency and absurdity in the unraveling of events to dismiss the idea that a symbolic house determines our every day lives. For example, my decision to go to class today instead of staying in the sun may have been influenced by environmental factors and previous conditions, but ultimately I held complete autonomy over that decision. By choosing to skip class I would not be breaking any fatalist rule, but rather simply making a different choice. Since decisions like this rest within the agent, any form of fate is ultimately self imposed.
But from my vantage point, there seems to be enough agency and absurdity in the unraveling of events to dismiss the idea that a symbolic house determines our every day lives. For example, my decision to go to class today instead of staying in the sun may have been influenced by environmental factors and previous conditions, but ultimately I held complete autonomy over that decision. By choosing to skip class I would not be breaking any fatalist rule, but rather simply making a different choice. Since decisions like this rest within the agent, any form of fate is ultimately self imposed.
Saturday, April 25, 2009
Although recorded material is incredibly popular and taken for granted, the accumulated effects of listening to past conversations are difficult to measure. In The Ticket that Exploded, William S. Burroughs suggests that "after analyzing recorded conversations, you will learn to steer a conversation where you want it to go" (208). Indeed, analyzing the cues and transitions in human conversations from an objective perspective helps us learn how to emulate, avoid, or strengthen certain comminication tools.
Perhaps, the average person with access to recorded media does not utilize this learning tool well enough. In our every day media outlets, such as movies, television, and youtube, we rarely watch or analyze our own previous conversations to become conscious of our communication tactics. In a media world where our analysis of recorded actions and conversations develop our schema about how the world works, it would be helpful to include ourselves within that representation. Our metaphors of ourselves cannot exist intraveniously through other people alone.
Perhaps, the average person with access to recorded media does not utilize this learning tool well enough. In our every day media outlets, such as movies, television, and youtube, we rarely watch or analyze our own previous conversations to become conscious of our communication tactics. In a media world where our analysis of recorded actions and conversations develop our schema about how the world works, it would be helpful to include ourselves within that representation. Our metaphors of ourselves cannot exist intraveniously through other people alone.
Monday, April 13, 2009
The End of Work
As a major theme in part one of Technocalyps, people are dissatisfied with the biological status quo. In an age where technology can outperform us in many areas and potentially could outperform us in every practical area, our biological mechanisms feel inadequate. To compete with our virtual representations and artificial intelligence in general, we need to modify our biological functions drastically.
In our discussion of the potential affect of future technology on our way of life, several people suggested that the necessity of work is essential to humanity. Supposedly, without work, humans would have nothing to strive for. But throughout history, people have tried to delegate work to others or create inventions that can complete the tasks faster. Within this process, we have not gotten bored. We have merely transferred a large portion of our work into information technology and research investigation. Without complex organization and technology, we could not practically focus on fields such as philosophy and psychology or entertain ourselves with recreation such as football or baseball. Perhaps at a stage of human existence where work is completely unnecessary, people could find joy in the acts themselves and challenge themselves physically and intellectually for fun. Without obligations, the contrast between the ideas of work and play would dissolve and true human nature could be revealed more openly.
In our discussion of the potential affect of future technology on our way of life, several people suggested that the necessity of work is essential to humanity. Supposedly, without work, humans would have nothing to strive for. But throughout history, people have tried to delegate work to others or create inventions that can complete the tasks faster. Within this process, we have not gotten bored. We have merely transferred a large portion of our work into information technology and research investigation. Without complex organization and technology, we could not practically focus on fields such as philosophy and psychology or entertain ourselves with recreation such as football or baseball. Perhaps at a stage of human existence where work is completely unnecessary, people could find joy in the acts themselves and challenge themselves physically and intellectually for fun. Without obligations, the contrast between the ideas of work and play would dissolve and true human nature could be revealed more openly.
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