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last.updated 5.17.05

 

Cyborgs


Purpose

To examine the metaphors and narratives of the cyborg and apply them to real world technological practices, especially writing.


Questions

  • According to Haraway, what is a cyborg? What purpose does the cyborg fulfill in life? What are the limitations ofthe cyborgs as a metaphor for race, class, and gender.
  • How does Haraway's vision of the cyborg differe from Clark's?
  • Are the students in Romano's English 306 course cyborgs? Was Alex a cyborg? Explain.


Haraway

  • If race, gender, relations (e.g., child, parent, friend"), etc. are all constructions, aren't we all, in essence, cyborgs?
  • I don't know if I completely understand her desire to be cyborg, or her envisioning of the freedoms that would allow. Though gender might only be a construction and a unified self might be impossible, isn't there more freedom in being wholly human, fragmented or not, than being reliant on machine, something that is limited by it's own coded specifications?
  • Haraway gives many definitions of Cyborg, however, my question is this – is she comparing a Cyborg only to women? Need some clarification??
  • Haraway discuss MacKinnon’s argument where women “do not exist as a subject, or even a potential subject, since she owes her existence to sexual appropriation.” (p299). MacKinnon also states “feminists’ conciousness of the non-existence of women, except as products of men’s desire.” (p299) This is not a question but just something I thought worth digging into.
  • Apparently, it's better to be a cyborg that a goddess. How can we apply this philosophy to the use of technology in the classroom? What metaphorically might represent the "goddess" as opposed to the "cyborg" when discussing technologies? To what degree may we include men in this highly gendered discussion?
  • What is she trying to say? I read the Clark article and am having
    trouble making the connection.
  • Haraway uses the term "feminization" to represent any group (male or female) who has been marginalized and exploited. In doing this does she reinforce the feminist trope of the female victim? Does she discredit or somehow minimalize the actual victimization of women by using the term in this way?
  • On page 303, Harraway writes, "In the US gay men and intravenous drug users are the ‘privileged’ victims of an awful immune system disease that marks (inscribes on the body) confusion of boundaries and moral pollution." What is her intention when emphasizing the term "privileged"? What does she mean by moral pollution? What does this assertion have to do with the rest of the text?
  • Is the author suggesting that a cyborgs image is a means of opposing the social construction of gender and race? And if so does this serves as a sort of electronic emancipation for individuals who are typically relegated to subservient positions in society? In addition, the author quotes” Gender, race or class consciousness is an achievement forced on us by the terrible historical experience of the contradictory social realities of patriarchy, colonialism, and capitalism.” The question is whether the internet also has societal constructions imbedded intentional or inadvertently in its programs. For example, designated chat rooms and other rooms of interest?

Clark

  • In terms of the idea that increasing technology and humanity, is
    Clark saying that part of what makes us human is the fact that we are
    capable of creating and incorporating technology into our everyday
    existence?
  • Let's say that these new implants evolve for a few years. How might these new cyborg technologies manifest themselves in the writing classroom?
  • Have we truly become cyborgs because we allow machines to do things for us?
  • Does applying the term cyborg to the "natural" bio-mechanical functions that happen in humans (i.e. the commands sent unconsciously from the brain to the muscles in the arm and hand when we make a decision to reach) weaken the origingal meaning of the term as a fusion of human and machine technology or is it simply another reading of the term? Is it possible to talk about a term or symbol having "strength"?
  • Where does technology begin to infringe on the ethics and morals of human nature? If technology can mimic impulsive controls and reactionary thinking process, will our thought processes belong to us, or will it be control be anyone’s perception or reality?

Van Gelder

  • Is this "mind-rape" an actual concern among feminist? I'm
    just too cynical to see how anyone can be so naieve they might achieve even the slightest bit of intimacy on the WORLD WIDE WEB.
  • I think there are both pros and cons in having the computer be able to keep race, color, sex and identity a secret. Since I plan to teach distance education, I pose the question, would it be beneficial or detrimental to the instructor if he/she did not know anything about the student? That is if they could go by a screen name until the end of the semester.
  • Though I have no inherent issues with web gender-bending, I do have
    tremendous issue with deceit when dealing in human communication. How does someone return to the Internet if they feel their trust has been broken in such a severe way?
  • Van Gelder's article is both funny and frightening. "Joan's" friends are outraged, and Alex returns to his 'unexciting' life as a male psychologist. Most revealing of all is the degree to which physical metaphors affect online realities. But why the outrage? Do we always expect to encounter an uninhibited reality online?
  • Is trust implied on message boards and in chat rooms? Is it a given that because people communicate in cyberspace (with the use of
    usernames, aliases, etc.), they are being more honest than they would be in real life?
  • This article raises the question of ethics and honesty on the web. Was it unethical for Alex to pretend to be someone he wasn't? Don't we reinvent ourselves all the time in new environments and new contexts? Where is the line and how do we know when it has been crossed?
  • I feel that this is an excellent piece of literature because it illustrates the flaws of operating in cyber space with individuals who detach themselves from reality in order to maliciously or innocuously feign to be another for the purpose of cyber entertainment. These incidents represent the perils of operating in a world without rules and order.

Romano

  • Can technology really have the power to demarginalize individuals,
    if its not readily and equally available to all individuals, be it through
    actual access to the tecnological instruments or a firm understanding or
    training in how it's purposed?
  • Given the anecdotal evidence presented, does this view support a theory that thinks the instructor is more important or even less important? How can an on-line instructor both share power and achieve curriculum goals?
  • Does networking technology change teaching and learning?
  • What does Romano mean on page 2 ( end of third paragraph) “critical examination of that restructuring (of context and power relationships) is sometimes impeded by an insistence that networked classrooms are pedagogically and ethically sound”?
  • Romano's research results indicate that the networked egalitarian classroom of ENGL 306 is far from facilitating open discussion, despite efforts to create a "safe" space for a dialogue on cultural constructions. Is this merely a consequence of the classroom, or might we also implicate the emphasis on English as the prime langauge in this discussion? Might results have been different in an ESL classroom?
  • Referring to a passage on pg. 13, "If, however, speakers squander
    the opportunity or if speakers are blocked by discourses to which they cannot connect, the narrative consigns them to failure," does technology fail to be egalitarian because people don't use it in ways they could?
  • In her quest to "query the egalitarianism narrative" Romano posits that it is necessary for the students who are participating in her "experiment" claim their difference and inequality. Is this really necessary? How can they do this if they don’t know they are subjects being evaluated in this "experiment" or that there an attempt being made to establish some egalitarian space?