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Transcript of Cyborg consciousness
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ChristosPanayiotou
MediaandCommunicationsTheory
CyborgConsciousnessintheDigitalEra:TheSelfandIdentityasaCyborghybridinthepostmoderndigitaltimes.SocialNetworkSites:thecaseofFacebook
SummaryInthefollowingassignmentIamtryingtoanalyzetheroleofthecyborgmodelfromarather
broadperspectiveofthought,retrievingthoughtsfromculturalstudiesandalsomediaand
technologystudiesaswellfromthefieldofpsychology.Morespecifically Iwillexplorethe
areaof
artificial
identities
and
how
virtual
identities
we
acquire
from
our
exposure
to
the
mediaand thedigitalculturearesomuchembedded inourphysicalconsciousnessthat
theybecomeanindistinguishablepartofourownreality,thuscreatingacyborgselfwhichis
partlybasedonourphysicalrealityandpartlyonthecultural,artificialsphere.Firstly,Iwill
setatheoreticalargumentationabouttheroleofcyborg inoursocietywhile Iwillexplain
alsobrieflytheconceptofthecyborgandhowitemerged.ConsequentlyIwillseehowthis
cyborg model applies to human identity gaining insight from cyberpunk movies and
literaturesuchasthemovieBladeRunner.MyaimistoparallelizetheFacebook(asthecase
study) with the theories and ideas about the cyborg model and see the advantages and
disadvantagesthatemerge.
ForewordIt seems that human physicality has from long ago coexisted with human artificiality.
Artificial realitygoesbeyondourpostmodernage topremodern timesandevenancient
andprehistorictimes. Sincelongbeforetheelectronicmedia,humancultureswerealways
tryingtoreplicatephysicalrealitythroughlanguage,art,religiouspracticesortechnological
inventions,eitherasawaytohaveacontroloverthatphysicalrealityortomanipulateit,or
moreoftenandmoreimportantlytoaugmentthatreality.Humancivilizationhascreateda
complexsystem
of
representations
that
sometimes
seem
to
replace
the
deep
originality
(if
there isany)ofthephysicalworld(Baudrillard,2001).Thiscomplexrepresentationsystem
thatisallaroundusembeddedinthephysicalityoftheobjectstendstobethebenchmark
forouridentitiesandourmentalinteractionwiththephysicalandthesocialworld(Gillespie,
Kadianaki,O'SullivanLago,2007).Someof theseobjectsmightbewords,other couldbe
clothes,andother couldbe totallyarbitrary social symbols thatweassignmeaning to, in
ordertoreflectourselvesonthemandthuscommunicatewithothersandbeunderstood.In
otherwords,wetendtoobjectifyourselvesonobjectsoutsideofus.
Ouridentityandexistenceaspersonsinthesocialsphereistheresultoftheconstruction
of a narrative with these cultural objects. When narrating our identity we are trying to
createastory
that
differentiate
us,
or
assimilate
us
to
other
persons
stories
about
themselves(Howarth,2011).Butifinthepastpeoplewerenarratingstoriesinafacetoface
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manner,inthemodernworld,mediahascreatedahugesphereofrepresentationsinwhich
people are living in (Weinmann & Cohen, 2000) interacting with a simulated world of
simulacra (Baudrillard, p.169188, 2001), that are used as the main interface medium in
whichanymeaningandany identityconstructemerges (Debord,p.100 114,1994). Inmy
opinionthisparallelrealityofthemediasphere(inthecaseofthisstudy:thesocialmedia
sphere)is
merging
with
our
physical
emotions,
creating
an
identity,
socially
constructed
through artificial media but based on physical experiences (as emotions),in a way like a
cyborgwouldmergeitsphysicalpartwithitsartificial.Butonequestionthatcouldbeasked
hereisthequestionofwhatisourtrueself?Doesanoriginalidentitythatisseparated
fromartificialexistorthereal identity istheonethatemerges fromthehybridof the
two, the physical and the social? Donna Haraway would probably answer the second. In
facebookexampleIamreferringtobelowintheessay,Iseeapatternthatissimilartothe
one of the artificial memories described in the Blade Runner movie. In the movie the
replicants were using the memories of other persons to acquire knowledge about
themselves,whilesimilarly,infacebookweareusingideasandexpressionsofotherpeople
(forexample
in
the
case
we
upload
asong
we
use
the
words
expressed
by
the
songwriters)
toexpressourselves,creatinganartificiallyconstructedidentityintheelectronicspacethat
isnotusbutatthesametimeitrepresentsus.Inotherwordswearemergingourphysical
reality(ouremotionsinthephysicalworld)withanartificialreality(songs,multimediathat
arenotours),tocreateamerged identity(acyborg) inthecyberspacethatrepresentsour
identity. It is neither physical nor artificial; it is the result of the physical self using
artificialsocialconstructsinordertobecomevisibleinthecyberspace.
Theoreticalargumentation
about
the
statement
Inmypersonalopinion,cyborgmodelhasmultiplebeneficialandmultipleharmfulroles in
our society.Electronicagehas introducedaposthuman reality,whichexistsasaparallel
artificialworldmergedwithourphysicalone.Thisartificial,digitalworld,whenused ina
right way, it can augment the physical reality, give us more power and enrich our
experience,whileabolishanyphysicalconstrainsandbarriersexistinginthephysicalworld
(Turkle,1999).Humans inthedigitalagehavebecomeapowerfulhybrid,mixtureoftheir
physicalbodieswithacquiredelectroniccapabilities.Moreover,ifwetakethecyborgmodel
initsmorebroadconcept(asDonnaHarrawayproposesit)(2010),rejectingtheessentialist
thinkingmaybe
beneficial
to
our
growth
as
civic
beings.
Black
and
white
thinking
and
thinkingincategories(theoppositeofwhatthecyborgmodelproposes),preventsusfrom
growth, aswe arepreoccupiedwith fulfilling the categorydemands insteadof thinking
clearly forourselvesandtakingeachparticularsituation individually (Figure1).Tomake it
clearer, thinking in categories prevents us from dealing with the uniqueness of each
situation,whichincouldbemorebeneficial.Forexampleinsteadofcategorizingtheworld
andfollowthesecategories, itwouldbebetter ifweacquireknowledgefromamixtureof
things and thoughts, a cyborg blend of things that could be more accurate and more
beneficialinaparticularsituation. Soforexample,byfollowinganideologyinanessentialist
wayandbeingdogmaticabouttheseideologies(totalidentificationwiththem),preventsus
fromdealing
with
the
actual
situation
that
could
call
for
amerge
of
the
two
ideologies
into
a
third that is neither of them, but could be more beneficial for solving a particular social
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problem.Thesamegoeswithmoreeverydaysocialaspectsofourselves,asforexample
our identificationwithsubcultures.IfforexampleIportrayandfeelmyselfasahardcore
metalhead,andallIdoislistentoheavymetalmusicanddresslikethat,thispreventsme
fromactuallytryingtolistentootherkindsofmusicoracquiringelementsfromotherstyles
that I could also enjoy. So, in the aforementioned simplistic example, I believe that the
cyborgmodel
(acquiring
elements
of
various
styles
and
music
and
merging
them,
mixing
themtofitmyuniquepersonality)couldbebeneficialandredeeming.Insocialnetworksites
that I will refer as example below in this essay, this is actually something happening
especiallyinsiteslikefacebookortumblr,wherethemajorwayofpersonalrepresentation
ismade through themixtureof styles in thepersonsprofiles,creatinga collage that isa
mergeofstylesintoauniquestylethatrepresentseachindividualuserdifferently.
Besides,suchcleancutcategories/identitiesdonotexistintherealworld:insteadthereare
all individualsituationscallingforadifferentactionanddifferentwayofseeingthemeach
time.Inotherwords,ourexperiencesandbehaviorscouldnotbepredetermined,because
each singleexperiencewehave isdifferent.As suchanypredeterminationofa situation
(includingouridentity)isfalseandmaybesometimesevendangerous,astheyarebasedon
essentiallydifferentexperiences.
Neo:Ithoughtitwasn'treal.
Morpheus:Yourmindmakesitreal.
(TheMatrix,L.,A.,Wachowksi,1999)
Inourage this cyborgpostindustrialmodel, isbecoming increasinglypowerful so that I
believethere
is
the
danger
that
will
displace
the
physical
world
of
the
place
of
what
we
perceiveasreal. Ifthathappens,humansarerunning thedangerofbecomingalienated
fromtheirphysicality,andultimatelybedependableonthesupportoftechnologytoexist.
Moreoverinthebroadermeaningofthecyborgterm,throughtheacquisitionofthecyborg
modelwearebeginningtolosethecontactwithouroriginalself,that(evenifmuchofthe
postmodern philosophy rejects) I personally believe there exists. Communication in our
technologicallyadvancedera ismediated throughavastpoolof images;experiences that
arerecycled intonewbodiesOurbodies:Forexample, inorder toexpressouremotional
condition inoneparticular timewearemore likely to refer toamediaproduct,e.g. toa
preexisting song than to write one on our own. Our reality has become a synthetic
recycledself,fakeasfakeastherecycledmemory implants inreplicants inBladeRunner
movie(Deeley&Scott,1982).Inthemovie,Replicantsthinktheyhave livedthememories
theyhave, they think theyhave this identity theyhave,while instead theirmemoriesand
identityisagivenstrangetothem arecycledandsyntheticelementborrowedfrompeople
livedbeforethem.Just likethisweusemediaproductstoexpressourownemotionsas if
theywereourown.Ultimatelytheybecomeus,theydefineus.Theybecometheonlyway
weacquireknowledgeaboutourselves,theybecomeourselfimageandtheonlydefinition
ofourself.Originalityand individuality is lostandreplacedbymediaproductsthatarenot
our own, but nevertheless they are us! Thats how postmodern human runs the danger
feeling alienated from his own self and original feelings. Moreover, even if we feel
somethingcomingfromwithinouroriginalself,wetendtoignoreit,becauseitfeelsstrange
tous.
We
are
not
used
to
trust
our
original
self,
because
ultimately
the
borrowed
image
feelsmorerealtousthantheinnerselfimage,whichbecomesthefake.MediaGeneration
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isusedtosearchfortheirselvesoutsideratherthantheinside:weareconstantlytryingto
findmediaproducts (characters,celebrities) to identifywith, rather than searchand trust
ourinnerself.Wefeelthatthesemediaidentitiesaresomehowmorereal.Ultimatelythis
cyborg,mixedselfimage,becomesouronlyselfimage.
Beside
my
personal
beliefs
about
the
role
of
the
cyborg
model
in
our
society,
it
might
also
be
appropriatetodive intoacademic literature inordertofindhowactuallythismodelworks
intooursociety.Below, Iamtryingtoblend findings fromacademic literaturereferringto
cyborgmodel,whilegaining insightsalso frompostmodern literatureandmediaproducts
aboutcyborgs.IntheendIamtryingtoapplymyfindingsintothecaseoffacebook,because
Ithinkthatfacebookissomethingthatrepresentsinagreatextentourcurrentera,atleast
regardingtheroleofcyborgmodelintooursociety.
CyborgThe
term
cyborg
was
coined
when
scientists
at
NASA
were
searching
for
asolution
that
wouldenablespacetravelerstoadaptandsurvivetothestrangespaceconditionswiththe
help of machines. As the term cyborg (cyberneticorganism) implies, a humanmachine
systemwould interactasawholeneworganism that isneither fullybiologicalnor fully
syntheticbutamergeofthetwo,enablingtheadaptationtotheextremespaceconditions
inthecaseofalongdistancespacetravel(Clynes&Kline,1960).
Later,thetermwasusedbyDonnaHarraway(2010)tocriticizetraditionalfeministtheories
thatwerepreoccupiedwithcleardistinctionsbetweenmenandwomen.Insteadofdrawing
clear lines between genders Harraway proposed that gender theories should adapt to a
cyborgmodel that rejectsbinary identities.Harrawaydistinguishesbetween two kindsof
cyborgs,theoneinametaphoricalsenseandtheotherinamoreconcrete,literalsense.In
its literal sense, cyborg could be perceived as the merge of technological devices on an
organicbody(Lupton,2013),whileinitsfigurativesense,acyborgistheentitythatemerges
from multiple identities and realities that are enclosed in a single identity that is
neverthelessneitherofthe identities it isconsistedby,butratherahybridofthem. It isa
neverendingprocessthatithasnotateleologicalaimandneitherwantsany.Thereareno
absolutetruthsbutratheramixtureofthings(Figure1).
Regarding thecyborgmodel, there isalsoanargumentation that technologycouldnotbe
reallyperceivedasasomethingapartofhumanbeingsand thathumanbody isnot tobe
everdescribed
as
non
technical
(Mackenzie,
2002)
as
well
as
identities
could
not
be
categorizedinstatic,definitecategories(Harraway,2010).Harrawayapproachesthecyborg
ontology inaratherpositive light,making itclearthatabelief inbinaryidentities isnot
onlyabsurdbutalsodangerous. Inher textaCyborgManifestoDonaHaraway (2010) is
tryingtoredeemhumanexistencefromdualismsthataccordingtoherarenotbasedona
natural order but are just part of our cultural logic. As postconstructivists do, Dona
Harawaybelievesthatanessentialistapproachkeepsthethoughtnarrowandrepressedina
misleadingdualisticmodeloftheworld,recreatingthedynamicsofauthoritiesthatalready
existouttherebyadaptinganyreactiononanalreadyproblematicandoppressivemodelof
theworld. Soinsimplerwords,theoppositeofsomethingoppressiveisstilloppressive.
Forso
much
time,
identity
was
considered
something
stable
and
dependable
to
the
physical
body, and the stable social context one was born in, something that Dona Haraway and
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other poststructuralists seem to reject. Identity formation nowadays had become a
continuously changing, unstable state that is based on changing roles and environments.
Partly, this could be attributed to the dynamics of our postmodern society of endlessly
changingpersonasthatweareforcedtoadaptto. Inpostmoderncultures,apersoncould
changemultiplestatuses,rolesandidentitiesinasingledayformingadiverse,polyphrenic
selfin
order
to
adapt
to
the
ever
changing
contexts
we
find
ourselves
into
(Gergen,
p.171
198,1991), thusmovingawayourselves fromany identityblackandwhitedefinitionsand
introducing a saturated self (Gergen,p.171198, 1991), a collage of multiple and
different personas that we acquire through that motion into different contexts. Largely,
according toKenneth Gergen, this collage is the result of the artificial relationshipswe
formwithourcontactwithmediacharactersandcelebrities,withwhomwecommunicate
each timewewatchTV.WhatGergenarguesabout in theSaturatedSelf (1991), is that
mediaproductscreateaparallelartificialcontext inwhichwe immerseourselves in,and
thatthewhowearewhileimmersedinthismediaworldisnomorefakethatthewho
wearewhileoutsidethisworld.Thishybrididentitythatisformedwhileweareinteracting
withphysical
reality
and
while
we
simultaneously
interacting
with
this
artificial
reality
is
accordingtoGergenwhoweoriginallyare.Gergeninhiswritingsismuchmorepessimist
thatHaraway, and he sees that the saturated self creates feelings of inexistence of an
essential, stable me. This, feelings of inexistence, according to Gergen, intensifies the
feelingsofhypocrisy,astheindividualsviewonhimselfisbasedonmediaassumptions
of himself. In other words, Gergen argues that the subject is dead, and the identity is
consequentlyandwhollybasedonculturalproducts.
TheDigitalSpaceandtherecycledidentitiesWearemovingfrommodernistcalculationtopostmodernistsimulationwheretheselfis
multiple,distributedsystem(Turkle,1996,148).
Inthecaseoftheinternetandtheelectronicspace,thisidentityformationtendstobeeven
moreinfragments,thanwhatGergendescribes.AccordingtoSherryTurkle(1999),identity
formation in cyberspace, is based on totally arbitrary media (such as language), that are
independentfromphysicalreality.StudyingtheMUDs(MultiUserDomains)intheprimitive
internetofthe80s,shenoticedthattheusercouldhavemultiple identitieswhilebeing in
frontofacomputerscreenconnectedtotheinternet,afragmentedselfwiththephysical
selfjustanotherversion,nomorerealselfthantherestartificialselvesoftheuser.
Accordingto
literature,
the
cyber
self
has
become
another
aspect
of
our
self
constructed
solely from thematerialofthecyberspace. If that is rightthen,ourdigitalself isnomore
thananartificialaspectofus,constructedbymultimediapiecesfound inthevastmedia
poolofthe internet. Inotherwords,thedigitalself isrecycledcyberspacematerial(Figure
2).
Such ideas about an artificial self are a predominant theme in much cyberpunk
postmodern literature. In Phillip K. Dicks Do androids dream of electric sheep (1968)
adaptation:BladeRunner(Deeley&Scott,1982)moviethemovieinsteadofreferringto
anoriginal(monadic)spirit thatawakensabody,aswouldMaryShelleyinthecaseof
Frankenstein (Shelley, 1996) for example, what awakens the Replicants (humanoid
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robots)are constructedmemoriesand constructed identities, suggesting thatour identity
andourselfperceptionisultimatelysociallyconstructed,recycledandartificial.
InLosAngelesof2019, replicantsareandroidsvisually indistinguishable fromhuman that
are given artificial memories and identities in order to feel like human beings. Those
memory
implants
are
designed
to
give
the
replicants
the
impression
that
they
are
human
andthusnotseparablefromtheirhumanmasters.IntheBladeRunnerstoryreplicantsare
talking likehuman,are thinking likehuman,are looking likehuman, theyareeven feeling
like a human, they are everything a human is, but still they are lacking a true history
(Bruno,1987)thatwouldgivethemahumanstatus.
But, how would someone distinguish himself from replicants if the given memories and
identities are so much embedded in consciousness that are not distinguishable from the
original. What makes them real is their own reality, suggesting that their artificial
memories are no different from the real memories of the real human, so the lines
betweena fake selfandareal selfare completelyblurred. Inotherwords,originality
doesntmatter
anymore
as
the
line
between
reality
and
artificiality
doesnt
exist
anymore.
Moreover, the aestheticsof themovie continuously remindusof thehybridityofhuman
conditioninourpostindustrialage.Theclothesofthecharactersinthemovie,aswellasthe
environmentarefullofreusedwaste.Wasteinthemovie iseverywhereand it isreusable
implyingareusageofoldproducts(Bruno,1987),inanewmanner.Theoriginalpurpose
of the waste doesnt matter anymore because what matters is their new postoedipal
(Harraway,2010)reality,whichisnotpreoccupiedbyanyoriginalpurposeoridentity,justas
the given identities of the replicants. As reused waste, old styles are also reused in the
movie,whereyoucan findbuildingswithGrecoRomanaestheticsnexttoChinese.People
arealso
creating
pastiches
and
fusions
of
the
re
used
old
styles
like
punks
next
to
Chinese
peoplenexttowhomever.City language isalsoafusionofGerman,JapaneseandSpanish
(Bruno,1987)whilethecityitselfitissaidtobeLosAngeles,butremindsmoreofamixture
ofNewYorkwith Shanghai.Rain anddarkness arenot the typical representationsof Los
Angeles,yetthesceneryisdominatedbysuchweather.Soeverythingandeveryoneinthis
cyberpunk city are out of what expected, while they are forming a mixtureof signs that
representtheiroriginalitybuttheyallarefunctioningindependentlyfromtheiroriginality.
The movie itself as an object is not preoccupied with its originality: it is a mixture of
everythingreal.Theonlythingthatreferstoarealitybeyond,anoedipalcalendaras
Harawaywouldput it is thereplicantsyearning forexistence.Replicants inthe filmare
strivingto
establish
their
existence.
They
do
not
accept
their
artificiality
and
they
crave
to acquire human status. Subsequently, this existence is realized through objects like
photographsandotherartifactsand thought tobevalid.Replicantsare thusassumingan
objectivereality,aproofof theirhumannessbasedonvariousobjects,evidencesofa
pastlifethatactuallyexistasexperiencesofpeoplebeforethem,soultimatelyaconstructed
humanness.
In our world, interestingly enough, we are assuming ideas, thoughts and experiences of
other people to express our own existence, embedding them into our own reality and
identity,creatingamixtureofdifferent identitiesthatultimately isthoughttobeourown
identity (Figure 2). In Facebook alone there are 350 millions of uploaded multimedia
materialonline;
mostly
fusions
and
parts
of
other
peoples
ideas
(songs,
pictures,
slogans
etc)thatultimatelyconstructourownselfimageamongourfriends,ourownidentityin
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thisspace.Originalityindigitalspaceislostandreplacedbymediaproductsthatarenotour
own,butneverthelessitisus.
Case
Study
Facebook
Neo:Iusedtoeatthere.Reallygoodnoodles.Ihavethesememoriesfrommylife.Noneof
themhappened.Whatdoesthatmean?
Trinity:Thatthematrixcannottellyouwhoyouare.
TheMatrix(Silver&Wachowski,1999)In social media sites like Facebook, there is a vast number of multimedia uploads every
single second.Thesemediaobjects (videoclips,songs,words,photos)are referrals to the
selfof
the
user,
creating
an
online
aura
of
existence
in
his
network
of
friends
(Kaplan,
2012),anidentity.Someoftheseuploadsarecreatingareferencetotheemotionalstateof
theuser,someotherstohissenseofidentityandsomeothersarereferringtoplacesfrom
the real world something that is also making a statement about their identity at least
aimed to the persons that are known from the physical world. In social media sites like
Facebook,wecanarguethattherearemanylevelsonecanbeperceivedasacyborg.Firstof
all,holdinganelectronicmobiledevice thatenablesaccess toyour facebookaccountand
networkautomaticallyenablesthecoexistenceoftheuser intotwostates:aphysicalstate
andadigitalone,butagainnotastwoseparateentities inone insteadasasingularentity
notentirelyphysicalandnotentirelydigital:Walkingdown thestreetwithyour facebook
account
logged
in,
taking
pictures
and
automatically
uploading
them
onto
your
profile,
or
making statements in your digital network about how you feel or where you are, or
whatareyoudoinginaparticulartimeinthephysicalworld,youareneitherwhollyinthe
physical nor wholly immersed in the digital world. You are a cyborg, an organism
dependantonandresponsivetothedigitalandthephysicalrealitysimultaneously.That, I
believe is something that augments the physical and the digital reality. For example
uploadingapictureofyou inyour favoriteplace inyour facebookaccount,enrichesyour
identity in the cyberspace, as the objects like a picture work as a symbolic element
referringtoonessenseofself(Zittounet.all,2003).Atthesametime,beingvisibletoyour
digitalnetworkof friendsenablesyou tobe inmultiplepositionsat thesame time,being
sensedbyyourfriendsnetworkwhilebeingawayfromthemphysically.Butthiscyborg
self, I believe, doesnt augment ones reality only in a positive way. Owning a shattered
senseofself(Turkle,1999)whileinteractingwithmultiplecontextsatthesametime,brings
usbacktoKennethGergen (1991)andthemultiphrenicself.AccordingtoGergen,while
interactingwithmultiplecontextsnearlyatthesametime,thepostmodernmanhaslostits
uniquesenseofselfunderamulticoloredveilofeverchanging identitiesand roles that
thediversepostmodernlifeintroduces.Atthesametimehearguesthat,whileimmersingin
an iconic world (in his case the: the television in this essays case: the internet) we find
ourselvesinteractingwiththenewcontextsintroducedbythisworld,sothatwearefurther
more fragmented and alienated. Ultimately we are getting so much immersed in our
multiple identities,sothatwe losecontactwithourtruesenseofself. Inthecaseofthe
Facebook,we
came
to
the
point
where
we
actually
nearly
dont
know
if
our
profile
is
amore
realversionofourselves thanourphysical self.According toSherryTurkles latestbook
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8/13/2019 Cyborg consciousness
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alone together (2011), youngpeopleof the so called digital generation, are somuch
moreused indigital interactionthan inphysical interaction,thatthisphenomenoncreates
problems intheirphysical interactionwithpeople inthephysicalworld.Thissuggeststhat
becauseouronlinesenseofself isbasedonmultimediacontent (Kaplan,2012),weare in
danger thatwewouldcreateasenseofselfbasedjustonmediaproducts,andultimately
getalienated
from
our
physicality.
As
with
the
Replicants
in
the
Blade
Runner
example,
our
identity in the socialnetworksbecomesamixtureof memoriesof someoneelses:Our
identityisbasedonthelyricsofasongwehavesharedamongourdigitalnetwork,written
by someone else but reused and referred to us, as the implanted memories and the
photographsofdifferentpeoplewereusedasmaterialsofexistence for replicants in the
movie, indistinguishablebytheirownexistence,sothattheybecometheirownrealityand
selfunderstanding.Moreover,spendingmore time interacting throughourdigitalself,we
will ultimately get to a point where we will acquire more digital memories (more
memoriesofinteractinginthedigitalworld),thanphysicalmemories.Andsinceoursense
andconceptualunderstandingoftherealityoftheoutsideworld, is inabigpartbasedon
ourmemory
(Hart,
2007),
we
ultimately
we
might
come
to
believe
that
our
digital
persona
is
morerealthanourphysicalone.
ApartfromthispessimisticaspectheldforSNSidentities,thereisalsoanotsodarkideaof
how digital identities work in the cyberspace. If we see digital identities from the
philosophical angle of Harraways cyborg, the cyborg entity is free from any pseudo
universalrealitiesthatforcethesubjectintoablackandwhitethinkingtiedintoabeliefthat
there is a natural and an artificial self. This counteressentialist subject of Harraway,
accepts the blending as the only true original. If we apply this model of thinking into
digital identities inFacebook, the linesbetween thephysicaland theartificial identity
are blurred, and the real physical self becomesjust another image of the collage that
resemblesthe
self
(Turkle,
1999).
Moreover
if
we
see
more
clearly
into
identity
theories,
the
selfwasalwaysmediated through the realmofcivilizationand thusartificiality.Electronic
media are thus no different from any other humanmade media existed long before
electricity.Early psychologists, such asGeorgeHerbert Mead, introduced the theory that
human self is formedas a reflectionofour subjectivity into an objective levelof social
meaningsandconstructs(Bruner,1986).Additionally,socialpsychologistsacknowledgethe
roleof symbolicobjectsobjectswith socially assigned values in thewayweassign
meaningtoourownselvesandformingouridentity(Zittounet.al,2003).
In therealworld forexample,clothesaremanmade, technologicalobjects thatbeyond
theirutilitarianvalue theyserveasacommunicationmedium forour identities,justasan
electronic, multimedia product would do in Facebook. We wear black in a funeral or a
costume inawedding,weacceptpredetermined civilization values assignedarbitrarily to
objects inordertocommunicateourstatuses,emotionsand identities.Inotherwords,we
inevitablyareandwealwayswerepartlysyntheticevenoutsidetheelectronicspaceand
the Facebook. So what makes the electronic persona more useful in a sense is the vast
communicating options you have while immersed in the digital space. The hybrid of
digital/physical self, maybe more effective in communicating its real identity than the
physicalselfalone,becauseithasamuchlargerpoolofmeaningascribedobjectstochoose
from,and thusyouareable togetand togiveamoreaccurate senseof the selfand the
identityofyouandtheotherpeople(Figure2).Accordingtostudies,onlineusersofvirtual
worldswere
more
likely
to
portray
their
avatar
according
to
how
they
felt
about
an
idea
or
howtheywererelatedtoasocialstereotypethanhowtheyactuallywerephysically inthe
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physicalworld(Kafai,Fields&Cook,2007).Theabovementionedstudymayalsoconfirmthe
idea that the use of artificial iconic objects to communication and expression of the self
couldbemorerealthanthephysicalinteraction,becausetheyenablethetransformation
oftheselfmoreeasilyandmore freelythan inthephysicalworld,toaversionofhowwe
actuallyfeelaboutourselves.
Epilogue
Whilethereareendlessopinionsandperspectivesthatonecanseetheroleofthecyborg
modelinoursociety,theonlysureisthatcyborgmodelisamodelembeddedwellintoour
postindustrialworld.Initsabstractmeaning,inourmulticenteredandmulticulturalworld,
dominatedbymediaproductionandconsumption,cyborgmightbean inevitableresultfor
thehumancondition.
Inits
more
literal
sense,
we
become
more
and
more
cyborgs
each
day:
technology
and
humanityarecomingphysicallydaybydaynearerandnearer.Nowadaysitwouldbeeasyto
seeacontinuoustrendtomaketechnologymobile,comingwithus.Mobiletechnologyand
connectivity is always on development all around us with a greater than ever rate. The
desktop computersof the80swere replacedby laptopcomputers in the90sand the00s
that ultimately were replaced by smart phones by the end of the last decade. In the
currentdecadeweseeaugmentedrealitydevicestakingover,suchasGoogleGlassthatwill
augment reality in a more literal sense enabling multiple perspectives of reality literally
coexistingwiththephysical.
ConnectCompeteCollide
Intoyour
body,
under
your
skin,
beyond
your
senses
Wheredoesrealitystop...Andthegamebegins?
eXistenZ(Cronenberg,1999)
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Figures
Figure1.
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Figure2.