To Be Posthuman, or Not to Be Posthuman
Will We Teach them How To Hug?, Samantha Pasut, Acrylic on Illustration Board
To think of a world where the notion of humanity, the foundational aspects of being – the human body, the mind, the brain, the central nervous system – i.e. the miracle of life, is up for debate is to confirm that we are in new uncharted territory. The epoch of the Posthuman conversation and theoretical work is that as an entity, humanity is up for query. Through models such as transhumanism and the development of the cyborg, technological developments have begun restructuring the body and what it means to be an Earthling. Posthuman dialect begins to challenge the notion of existence and being. This redefinition is propelled forward as the world experiences much evolution, more specifically on the science and technological front. The posthuman dialect initiates that change in the world, where “we” are forced to face our impermanence as humans. Reshaping every identity and the role that is played in the system, even the life of an artist. The notion of we, takes new form as there is question if these theories will be able to be applied to all life on Earth, as currently there is still much injustice present. Body and Machine: The Posthuman 101 opened my eyes to the theories and conversations that are flooding our intellectual world, with the hope to reimagine and assist the reshaping of humanity.
To imagine a posthuman world, is not to remove the human but to humanize all of humanity so that the Eurocentric Vitruvian Man, as Rosie Braidotti presents, is dismantled and there are universalities amongst all Earths participants. “What kind of subjects are we becoming? The change in humanities is the change in us.” (Braidotti) The Posthuman work challenges the ways of humanity, putting into perspective that this concept is not something to look forward too, but a change that is occurring simultaneously with our now. The only thing constant is change; and with hypothetical fantasies of AI and Cyborg now becoming the new reality this couldn’t be truer. “Approaching the present therefore produces a multi-faceted effect: on the one hand the sharp awareness of what we are ceasing to be (the end of the actual) and on the other the perception – in different degrees of clarity – of what we are in the process of becoming (the actualization of the virtual). Both phenomena occur at once, in a non-linear-time-continuum.” (Braidotti, 6) Past and present are coexisting together as we embrace the advancements that are coming to light from the depths of space. This is present in our daily lives as through the self-checkout options, virtual meetings, automatic voice operators, and robot waiters. The acknowledgement that time is not linear, brings us to the acceptance that the change we see in the world reflects the change we are experiencing.
The idea of the “endangered human” is introduced, as our ways of the archaic primitive being are ceasing to be relevant. Raising the question, should we think of this unavoidable revolution as extinction or renewal? Interesting to raise these questions in relation to what we are experiencing today. There seems to be an imbalance of power when it comes to the war on the female body, the reversal of the Roe v. Wade Bill in America makes me question if these theories have real ethical permanence in the world. Or are we just altering the psychic landscape in our minds but not in a constitutional way, so that these changes are not a real
representation of the change we wish to see in the world. “Transhumanism seeks a meta focus on healthy longevity as a positive end point rather than the path each person travels to get there.” (Vita-More) I wonder if the reversal of the ability to safely have an abortion in some states, a process that was designed to aid woman in making choices that suited their needs, is really a posthuman projection. “Feminist epistemology is about knowing the difference.” (Bradiotti, 24) Don’t we as a society know enough to know that these constitutional choices are a move backward? I think the posthuman dialect would agree.
On another hand, Katherine Hayles presents us to the concept of the feedback loop that introduces the studies of systems of any nature. With the unavoidable connection and codependency to the social media ecosphere humanity has become absorbed in the post-capitalist scene, and I use the world post, to insinuate that we are far beyond the emergence of capitalism. The posthuman, in my opinion, insinuates that we have capped our potential for growth and consumption as we are, and are now projected to evolve to the next level of marketing and advertisement of “human needs”. With apps that track your algorithm and listen in on conversations to send appropriate target ads in your direct path, brings into question if we have lost all sense of spontaneity and privacy. The feedback loop is an integral aspect of the posthuman, “the idea of the feedback loop implies that the boundaries of the autonomous subject are up for grabs.” (Hayles, 2) This deconstruction of how information flows in the world, removes the idea of a body providing it. Information has now become a constant stimulus for humanity, shaping and molding the world for better or for worse. I find the feedback loop particularly interesting especially when it comes to social trends and pop-culture.
The entertainment industry seems to be the biggest contribution to this theory as it uses this system of cybernetics to connect with a target audience. How we receive information entirely becomes a whole beast on its own. The headline is no longer in the local paper but is being pushed through numerous social channels, constant emails at double the rate and time that it takes an average person to digest what exactly is occurring. Our personal handheld computers, smart phones, that are more alive than some people have altered every authentic aspect of communication and the notion of embodiment through one-on-one interaction. Now from the comfort of your home, one can reach anyone and everyone at any moment.
The posthuman theory was manifested into the world with the hope of fulfilling a purpose that can be systematically planned and programmed. What I mean by this is that an AI, or Cyborg has specific requirements and purpose, whereas the human has endlessly possibilities and most of the development of a being comes from the will of the psyche. This makes me think of the term factory settings. All technology comes with the availability to erase and start again. Very interesting concept if we look at it from a humanities perspective. The posthuman construct has been designed to make the way we network in the world easier and more efficient for the human through systematic machine, fulfilling mundane matters that can be done through information feedback. When reading Leonel Moura’s, Symbiotic Art Manifesto, she touches upon the machine that makes art without the artist, stating that “Art as we know it is dead.” This statement in itself, removes all the work of the past centuries as man and all his training has the availability to be uploaded and reproduced without much effort. The act of creating for the human is to involve the mind, body and spirit to bring into the world
something that is outside of ourselves. How can we turn data into a Michelangelo? To imagine that is to put ourselves into futurist energy that carries the notion of speed and technology.
The foundational features of cybernetics and if I may, contrast these theories and the association of the master slave dialect that was proposed by Jean Paul Sartre. The main use of cybernetics is to assimilate control promoting homeostasis and bringing a sense of equilibrium into play in one’s life. Formulating a control system, being that there is a controller and controlled. (Rauch, Lecture June 9). Does this ultimately mean that in a world of determinate and indeterminate beings there is a sense of control that is present through the influence of the control theory? Putting the human in the shoes of the Other, the slave controlled by the technology we use, and the data the uses us? A slave to the system, the master being the feedback loop. When it comes to the notion of humanity, does that validate the idea that we are not born free. Through the act of birth, we are brought into class systems subjected to the ingrained and projected mindsets through programming and the feedback loop to grow and evolve, not in an individual sense, but in a controlled collective dynamic. Through cybernetics ability to study systems of any nature the whole world becomes a determinate being. The notion of embodiment then is removed, and all intuitive practices set aside.
The Gaia theory proposed by James Lovelock formulates the understanding that the Earth as a self-regulatory entity, relies solely on the self to regenerate the ecosystems that coexist within its biosphere. This process called the autopoietic system, shows us that regardless of mans need for control, there is no conducting a system that can sustain life, or remove it entirely. Does the posthuman dialect then contradict the world’s main function within itself? How can we regulate the discourse on human, posthuman, transhuman without the consideration of how this would affect Gaia as a sentient determinant system?
While is it undeniable that the concept of the posthuman brings the existentialist critic to its knees, are we as a humanity really ready for this shift of being within the world. How do we redefine what the meaning of life is and the question of, if life is even worth living? The abstraction to the existentialist dilemma comes from the postmodern dialogue, where man was the center of the conversation. Here in the posthuman world, the idea of living doesn’t have a foundation in embodiment or authenticity, but in efficiency, striving for collective homeostasis through our new advancements and ways of being. While homeostasis means balance, maybe the key to integration of the new is that must remember who we are, in order to become who, we will be.
Braidotti, Rosi. “A Theoretical Framework for the Critical Posthumanities.” Theory, Culture & Society, vol. 36, no. 6, 2018, pp. 31–61., https://doi.org/10.1177/0263276418771486.
Grusin, Richard A., and Rosi Bradiotti. “Four These on Posthuman Feminism.” Anthropocene Feminism, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, 2017.
Hayles, Nancy Katherine. “Chapter 1.” How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature and Informatics, Univ. of Chicago Press, Chicago, 2010.
Moura, Leonel. “Symbiotic Art Manifesto.” Leonel Moura, https://www.leonelmoura.com/symbiotic-art-manifesto/.
Vita-More, Natasha. “The Transhumanist Manifesto.” Natasha Vita-More PhD, 25 Aug. 2021, https://natashavita-more.com/transhumanist-manifesto/.
