Cyborgs

Anthropology
Computer and Technology
English > Persuasive Writing

Cyborgs

A discussion on whether humans have already become 'cyborgs', using examples from fiction and film to support the argument that we have.

1,316 words () | 25 sources | MLA | 2007 Australia

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses and critically evaluates Donna Haraway's assertion that, we are all, already, 'cyborgs'. To help make this argument, the paper uses references from science fiction films and literature about the co-implication of humans, machines and informatic technologies in 20th/21st century life.

From the Paper:

"In 1908 fiction writer Jean de la Hire introduced his superhero 'Nyctalope' in the novel 'The man who can live in water', since then hundreds of fictional characters have been created both in literature and more recently in feature films that are human beings with beneficial technological enhancements. The term generally used to describe such characters is 'cyborg', an abbreviation for cybernetic organism that was originally coined in 1960 by Manfred E. Clines and Nathan S. Kline in their article 'Cyborgs and space' '...for the exogenously extended organizational complex functioning as an integrated homeostatic system unconsciously, we propose the term 'Cyborg'.' (p. 26) "

Sample of Sources Used:

2001: A Space Odyssey, Feature Film, Stanley Kubrick, (USA), Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1968
A. M. Turing (1950) Computing Machinery and Intelligence. Mind 49: 433-460.
Asimov, I. Sullivan, R.(1993) "The Positronic Man" New York, Doubleday
Benedikt, M. (ed) (1992). "Cyberspace: First Steps." Cambridge: MIT Press.
Bicentennial Man, Feature Film, Chris Columbus, USA, 1492 Pictures, 1999