Christian juxtapositions: How We Became Posthuman
How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature and Informatics.
By N. Katherine Hayles. University of Chicago Press, 350 pp.
There is a good chance that you are a cyborg. A cyborg is a cybernated organism—which is anyone whose normal biological systems are enhanced or extended by technological mechanisms, especially electronic and communication devices. The word "cybernetics" comes from the Greek word for "steersman" (kubernetes) and describes one who is in control, who is both flexible and agile in response to a given environment and who can tame it to certain ends. To the extent that we exercise such control through technological devices, our lives have become cybernated. If you have a hearing aid, a pacemaker or an artificial limb, if you use a computer or telephone or drive a car, you are a cyborg.
But cybernetics is also about exploring the similarities and differences between the way biological organisms and artificial mechanisms function. What is the relationship between computer-based artificial intelligence and human intelligence? On what basis can cyberneticists refer to their mechanisms as "artificial life"? In what sense are robots and humans really cousins under the skin?
