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MACHINE DREAMS

Alexei Taylor, Author
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Cyborg

The term cyborg, which is short for 'cybernetic organism' is a creation with both biological and synthetic elements. These 'synthetic elements' can be electronic, robotic or mechanical parts. In Donna Haraway's article 'A Cyborg Manifesto', she describes the 'cyborg' as 'a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction' (Haraway 149). I take this to mean a creature that can be real in a sense that does not align with its fictional reality. For example, the cyborgs of science fiction do not exist and largely could not exist to the extent that they do, the creation of a real cyborg is reliant on the technology of artificial intelligence that has not yet been developed. However, the metaphor of a cyborg as someone who is, or is portrayed as, being robotic in personality yet composed of organic parts, a concept that I feel is at the heart Haraway's argument.

In science fiction cyborgs are often portrayed as fearful creatures that seek to harm humans. Haraway herself says: 'There are severe consequences to taking seriously the imagery of cyborgs as other than our enemies'(Haraway 180). This idea makes a lot of sense when we consider that a cyborg has the potential to think logically as a human does when lacks the compassion and emotion that makes us human and provides us with a safety net. 


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