When I first heard that we were going to have to read a book about how humans are cyborgs, I immediately thought that this was going to be a book that I would hate reading. Men as machines is something that just does not appeal to me, and I thought that reading about it would be boring. However, after reading the first chapter of Natural-Born Cyborgs, I found myself completely agreeing with Clark. I think what made me agree with Clark was the way he used wording in his book. He doesn’t simply say that men are machines, rather what Clark argues is that technology constitutes “”a cascade of mindware upgrades”: cognitive upheavals in which the effective architecture of the human mind is altered and transformed”. What makes us cyborgs is the fact that our use of technology has become so crucial in our lives that it has changed the way our brains function and made it harder to distinguish what is human intelligence from what is human intelligence aided by technological tools.
Clark gives the cell phone as an example of how we have become cyborgs. He discusses how we all get so wrapped up in text messaging and talking on the phone with others that we often seem to be leading divided lives. On the one hand, we are in the space that we are physically occupying, but on the other hand, our minds are with the people that we are talking to. I know that when I am talking to someone on the phone, my mind gets completely wrapped up in that conversation that I sometimes lose sight of where I actually am. The same thing happens when I am texting with someone. Physically I may be in class, but mentally I am with that person and focused on whatever it is that we are talking about. Another way that I think my cell phone has become a part of me is just the fact that when I don’t have it with me or within my reach, I feel as if a part of me is missing. I never feel comfortable when I don’t have my phone because I feel as though any communication that I have with the world has been totally cut off. In reality this is not the case, but I rely on my phone so much to communicate with others that I feel as if it is my only means of communication with the world.
The cell phone is one example among many that Clark gives, but I think it is the one that stands out the most and that almost all of us can probably relate to. I doubt that I am the only one that feels lost without a cell phone and that relies on it for so many parts of my life. I think that with all of the advancements in technology that have happened and are happening at this very moment, it is almost inevitable for us to become so integrated with it. We have become one with technology in so many ways that we can no longer really doubt that we are what Clark refers to as natural-born cyborgs.
Nicholas Marino | 03-Dec-06 at 10:25 pm | Permalink
Clark’s example of the cell phone is what made me agree with his human cyborg theory as well. I totally agree and see how humans have a hard time telling what is “human intelligence from what is human intelligence aided by technological tools,” like you nicely put. The wrist watch example and knowing the time also makes that point very clear. We believe we know the time even though it really isn’t us that knows the time, its the watch plus us that technically know it. Before the book I never thought about that but it actually makes sense.
stephanie hernandez | 04-Dec-06 at 6:59 pm | Permalink
I agree with you when you say that we have become so attached to technology that it now is a vital part of us. That is true, we can see it with our cell phones, with the internet, I mean practically all of the school work we do now requires it. Yet, we cannot forget the point Dreyfus was trying to make, no matter how attached we may become to things like messenger and cell phones, a conversation with the absence of our physical bodies can never be replaces by texts or anything of the sort.
Adam Warren | 04-Dec-06 at 7:33 pm | Permalink
I was skeptical about the book first as well. The title seems like it could repel the average reader. The selling point for me, though was when Dan was giving an overview in class before we read it. When he mentioned that Clark considered us cyborgs for the reason of language, I was immediately and extremely interested. The idea of language as technology had never occurred to me before, and the fact that it acts as a tool that allows us to make higher level associations, just like some sci-fi brain upgrade might is amazing. I have become a big fan of Clark in reading this book, and I believe that technology has become a big part of how we define ourselves. We are cyborgs.
Nkone Adu Dapaah | 05-Dec-06 at 4:50 pm | Permalink
i actually had a different feeling about the book before we started reading. i was more like “oh really? are humans truly cyborgs?” and i wanted to know what Clark’s reason was for saying that. He gave a really good reason for why human beings are cyborg and i totally agree with him. Teresa’s post give a really good example about how we humans are most of the time caught in doing something that we have little or no control of. like as said earlier, the cell phone which throw as sometimes intoadifferent kind of planet.
Danielle Bracken | 05-Dec-06 at 11:20 pm | Permalink
I also was interested in Clark’s reasoning behind saying we were cyborgs, and both the cell phone and the wristwatch example made me agree with him. I think that we have become so wrapped in technology that we consider it part of ourselves, for example the believing we know the time before we even look at our watch. We slowly are bcoming more and more similiar to machines and part of the technology that we create.
Victoria Trieu | 05-Dec-06 at 11:39 pm | Permalink
I honestly cannot believe that so many people think that we are human cyborgs. I agree that Clark makes awesome agruments. I really like his reasoning behind technology. I especially like the technology of language as well. I love it actually, but that is besides the point. For me, Clark is just defining technology and just showing us technology in a way that we haven’t thought of it before. But don’t you all still think that there is something in us that makes us human, something that constitutes us as more than just pieces of technology? Like Stephanie said, our physical presence cannot be replaced by instant messaging. I know I am going back into the whole telepresence debate, but I just don’t understand why a piece of technology that you rely on everyday, has to actually be considered a part of you? If I leave my cell phone in my room on accident, I will feel disconnected and figety all day. I will feel like I need it, but that isn’t a part of me. It is like an addiction. I rely on it. I need it, but it isn’t part of me.
Kevin K. Hong | 06-Dec-06 at 8:51 pm | Permalink
Are human beings natural born cyborgs? I don’t think so. The words “natural born” imply a freshly produced baby, still wet with placental fluids from the womb. Does this kicking, screaming, infantile human have the same capacity as you or I in respect to understanding and being able to seamlessly integrate into the hardware/wetware relationship? I think not. While technology has become a normal aspect in all of our lives, we were not born into it. Technology had to be slowly thought out, planned, and then put into production. A human will not be able to naturally grasp how to properly operate a given piece of technology without proper training and education.
We may be cyborgs, but not “natural born” cyborgs.
Erin Hogan | 07-Dec-06 at 1:53 pm | Permalink
This is a really interesting debate. Last year, I worked in a lab that did studies and tests on how technology could possible change the actual physical make-up of a person’s brain. The researchers would take people who had never before in the lives played video games. At this point, they would look at the physical make-up of their brains. Then they would have the participants spend 6 months playing all types of video games for a certain number of hours each week. After the 6 months ended, their brains would again be examined. It was really interesting because after the end of the 6 months, there would consistently be actual physical changes in each person’s brain. Obviously, the researchers believed that this was from the use of the video games. The reason I’m telling this story is because I think that while there’s debate over how much people are invested in technology, it’s possible that our bodies are actually changing as a result of our constant use of technology. It’s possible that even if we weren’t born cyborgs, we may physically be turning into them. Obviously, Clark typically talks about it from a more theoretical standpoint…I just thought it would be interesting to see how our actual physical beings change from our use of technology.
Miguel Guzman | 07-Dec-06 at 8:13 pm | Permalink
I don’t think that we could be called natural born cyborgs. Because I think that when we are born we don’t depend on technology or even know what that is however as we grow up we see that everyone depends on it so we began to use it. I think that however we are going to get to the point when we will create cyborgs.
Lindsey Schwartz | 07-Dec-06 at 9:31 pm | Permalink
I completely agree. I wrote a similar post about how I was really skeptical of Clark’s book, and how after I read it I ended up agreeing with him. I think what you said about cell phones is definitely true - if I ever leave my phone at home or in my car, even if I’m just in class, I feel like I’m naked. We’re so used to having our phones in our pockets it’s really hard to imagine going a day without it. It’s hard not to agree with Clark when we feel so connected to our phones.