The Imitation Game
By Madelaine Sacco
Image: http://www.denofgeek.com
What is a Cyborg? According to The Oxford English Dictionary
(as cited in Santone, 2013) a cyborg is,
“A person whose
physical tolerances or capabilities are extended beyond normal human
limitations by a machine or other external agency that modifies the body's
functions; an integrated man-machine system.”
As we engage with computer technology, such as Facebook, the boundary
between human and machine is blurred allowing participating individuals to be
classified as cyborgs (van Luyn, 2015). Facebook, in particular, is
distinguishable for its production of post-human subjects which relate to the
idea of the cyborg (Mcneill, 2012).
So how does the movie starring Benedict Cumberbatch relate? It doesn’t. The
Imitation Game was actually a theory produced by Alan Turing that determined if
a computer could think based on a person’s ability to distinguish between human
and machine responses (Turing, 1950). Katherine Hayles (1999) argues that
Turing’s test proves the overlap of the enacted and represented body. Hayles
also states that they are “mediated by a technology
that has become so entwined with the production of identity that it can no
longer meaningfully be separated from the human subject” (Hayles, 1999,
p.14).
In 2015, Facebook acts as the facilitator that cannot
function separate from a human subject. As individuals interact on Facebook they
are unable to distinguish between human and machine while not in physical view
of their responder. Therefore, Facebook, as software, works in conjunction with
people to create identity and produce the cyborg image (Mcneill as cited in van
Luyn, 2015). Interaction with technology to create and express identity is why
post-humanism theory suggests that individuals are cyborgs. What is inheritably
human can now be produced and conveyed in conjunction with (or in some cases
exclusively by) machine. Therefore, the argument that identity is exclusive to
humanity, or what constitutes as human, is negated. Because of social media
like Facebook, we are cyborg, and the cyborg is us.
References:
Hayles, N.K. (1999) How
we became post-human: Virtual bodies in cybernetics, literature, and informatics. Chicago, IL: University
of Chicago Press.
Mcneill, L. (2012) There is no “I” in network: Social
networking sites and post-humanism auto/biography: Winter, 35(1), 65-82. doi:
10.1353/bio.2012.0009
Santone, J. (2003) Cyborg: Winter. Retrieved from http://csmt.uchicago.edu/glossary2004/cyborg.htm
The
Imitation Game Poster [Image]. (2014). Retrieved from http://www.denofgeek.com/movies/the-imitation-game/32435/the-imitation-game- review
Turing, A. (1950) Computing
machinery and intelligence: Mind, 49, 433-460. Retrieved from http://www.csee.umbc.edu/courses/471/papers/turing.pdf
Van Luyn, A. (2015) BA1002:
Narrative: A series of linked events, week 6 notes [Powerpoint slides]. Retrieved from www.learnjcu.jcu.edu.au
I like the position you have taken, claiming that humans are cyborg, and cyborg is us. It's a very interesting take on post-human, that is a society that "challenges the boundaries between the human and natural world and the mechanical and technological" (Van Luyn, 2015). I mainly like what you are saying because it goes completely against facebook's ideology, which is "insisting on identity being singular and 'authentic'" (McNeill, 2012), which I personally believe is wrong. Everyone has multiple ways of expressing themselves, and I believe this to be the way every person is online, it's simply another extract of their personality. It comes down to having a form of identity - many people act different ways around their friends to how they would act around their family, and this is different again as to how they would act around their partner. Facebook is no different, or at least in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
McNeill, L. (2012) There is no "I" in network: Social networking sites and posthuman auto/biography. Retrieved on September 6, 2015 from http://learnjcu.edu.au
Van Luyn, A. (2015) Our Space: Networks, narratives, and the making of place, lecture 5: Interextuality [Powerpoint Slides]. Retrieved on September 6, 2015 from http://learnjcu.edu.au
I like the position you have taken, claiming that humans are cyborg, and cyborg is us. It's a very interesting take on post-human, that is a society that "challenges the boundaries between the human and natural world and the mechanical and technological" (Van Luyn, 2015). I mainly like what you are saying because it goes completely against facebook's ideology, which is "insisting on identity being singular and 'authentic'" (McNeill, 2012), which I personally believe is wrong. Everyone has multiple ways of expressing themselves, and I believe this to be the way every person is online, it's simply another extract of their personality. It comes down to having a form of identity - many people act different ways around their friends to how they would act around their family, and this is different again as to how they would act around their partner. Facebook is no different, or at least in my opinion.
ReplyDeleteReferences:
McNeill, L. (2012) There is no "I" in network: Social networking sites and posthuman auto/biography. Retrieved on September 6, 2015 from http://learnjcu.edu.au
Van Luyn, A. (2015) Our Space: Networks, narratives, and the making of place, lecture 5: Interextuality [Powerpoint Slides]. Retrieved on September 6, 2015 from http://learnjcu.edu.au