Critical Annotated Webliography Question 1 by Connie

To find the useful online information for this question, I mainly used the professional tool and which I keep rely on, the Google search engine, to find all the relevant articles of Cyborg. A useful article ‘The cyborg’ was found by using keyword ‘Cyborg’ to be the search terms in Google. The article ‘Body Parts That Matter: Frankenstein, or The Modern Cyborg?’ was found when I tried to add more additional wordings to be the search terms, therefore ‘cyborg, soul’ had been used. To further on search terms ‘Cybernetic Organism’ had been use and produced article ‘Cybernetic Organism: Cyborg Pride and Culture’. I then searched the terms ‘Cyborg, urban’, article “Matthew Gandy: cyborg urbanization’ had been find and finally when I use ‘cyborg , experiment’ , article ‘Cyborg1.0' had been find.

To be started with, what make humanity to be so attracts to explore the new horizon into a new world of Cyborg? Why aren’t they just satisfy of the complete human world? This is a question that stand to reason for the inquisitive readers like us, whom totally stand at an unknown categories. May be we can figure out the answer of this question from ‘Cyber 1.0[1]’, an article that about the experiment that operate by Kevin Warwick. Content of experiment is a project of Kevin that make him become a cyborg, he will inserted a chip in his forearm and connected himself to a computer., he had complete the first stage that implanted a chip in his arm, create a linkage between he and the computer, it resulted at a succeed that the signals send out by him could be transmitted to the computer from an implant. To go ahead, the second stage which in the process is going to insert a clip into his nervous system, to demonstrate the signals can send back and forth between his nervous system and a computer. They want to through this project can demonstrate how the principles behind cybernetics could perform in real-life application. However, there are thousand of risks that can be happy during the process of the experiment which may threaten his life. To conclude his article, Kevin claimed that the desire of urge to explore may be a nature of human. It is the motive power for him and many other scientist to get into such horizon that never been attempted to explore a new world. His declare may representing the mindset of scientists why cyborg-minded at all.

In ‘Cybernetic: Cyborg Pride and Culture[2]’, Michael had provided a complete analysis of the definition of Cyborg through different aspects. It covered definition of cyborg by Donna Haraway and renew opinion, argument of humanity exist of cyborg, explore some example of cyborg imagination of relevant film and novels, like the virtual internet and artificially created biological being of all kind of live being , both are some semi-realistic elements to be consider. What is more, some interesting point of view of cyborg had been provided. For the physical body, the replacement or external attachment will not make people become a cyborg, as it does not affect the person’s body structure. For the aspect of humanity, the changes of physical body will not make someone lose their soul that spiritual essence will remains with the spiritual body , even though the physical body had be changed. Base on these two notions, he proves that cyborg is a live being that not only completely human but also not machine, they are something like transgressive figure.

‘Cyborg Urbanization[3]’ had represented a new point of view of ‘cyborg’. It used cyborg to illustrate the urbanization of the world, to explain the inevitability of human become cyborg in an urbanizing process of society. At the article, it describe the urban modern human are become cyborg that “offers insights into the ‘networks that enable bodies to function in the modern city’”, at the same time, the urban infrastructure are acting at a inter-connecting life-support systems to provide the need of the human baby, the relationship between human and the cities are just like the cuborg which rely on the machines to be function. Through this article it analysis the technology development: on one hand giving more opportunities and enhance the capability of humanity, but on the other hand it also mean the exist of cyborg is become a inevitability result. This article had showed a different representation of cyborg that had applied in different criteria , the boundary between human and machines, subject and object had been burring.

As Frankenstein does serve as a precursor to the cyborg, their entities are similar with a certain degree, people may confuse of their difference and how to define it. In the article, ‘Body Parts That Matter: Frankenstein, or The Modern Cyborg?[4]’, it had covered with the definition of Frankenstein and Cyborg , compare their similarities and differentials, design background of them , what they are representing and some novel to be case studies. Inside the passage, there are some significant similarities between Frankenstein's creature and the post-modern cyborg. They are both no truck with bisexuality, pre-oedipal symbiosis, unalienated labour, disrupting a variety of categories like the boundaries of natural and unnatural, nature and culture and humanity and creature .The only difference that I think is quite obvious between these two is that cybrog didn’t dream to become part of the humanity, dreams of the society that formed him, may be because his humility is holding upper hand in his virtual essence. They are both transgress and destructing the boundaries that make by society and human, but the way they are look for is totally different.

Contrast with those other article I referred to, ‘The cyborg[5]’ used a pessimistic view to analysis and bring out how cyborg become indispensability required to the daily live of human and had show how the boundary lines between human-machine, physical and non-physical had been lost. Author had judge that the human community became “a place that wouldn't exist without the idea of the body as high-performance machine”, urban humanity are over dependently on the cyborg to be alive , the cyborg we mention at here is the telephone, athletic shoes ,plane, internet and etc. We said they are cyborg is because of they are the external attachment that people could not function without them. As mention at ‘Cybernetic: Cyborg Pride and Culture’ before, only who have to rely on machines or something else to function is the cyborg, same here that author argue as the humanity now is become cyborg when they are rely on the cyborg to function at the society. Within this article, the boundries line between human and the machine they rely on had been lost, the date that human become cyborg is not so far at all, unless they change their culture from foundation.

All sources provided here are in agreement of cyborg and are still transgressive figures. The five articles adopted here are leading me to use a critical thinking to insight in how cyborg become indispensability part in our daily life and the how it can apply at different categories. Cyborg being a transgressive figure is a inevitability tend that the application of cyborg will be widespread adapt of society at the future.

Reference:

[1]Warwick,K. ”Cyborg1.0” Wired(2000).5March2009.

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.02/warwick.html?pg=1&topic=&topic_set=

[2] Anzia,M. “Cybernetic Organism: Cyborg Pride and Culture”Associatedcontent(2007).5March2009.

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/439572/cybernetic_organism_cyborg_pride_and.html?cat=15

[3] Gandy,M. ”Cyborg urbanisation” Royal Academy of Arts.5 march 2009.

http://www.royalacademy.org.uk/architecture/urbanism/matthew-gandy-cyborg-urbanisation,220,AR.html

[4] Anderson,R.W. “Body Parts That Matter: Frankenstein, or The Modern Cyborg?” Womenwriters(1999).5March2009.

http://www.womenwriters.net/editorials/anderson1.htm

[5] “The cyborg” auburn.edu.5March2009.

http://www.auburn.edu/~shoopej/cyborg.htm