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Transformation of Social Relations Through the Fleshy Machine

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Humans oftentimes find themselves restricted or limited by the finite possibilities of the real. When this occurs, they turn to the virtual realm, where the possibilities are endless. What the human machine is unable to do in the real world it can achieve through virtuality. The technical machine of the computer algorithm or device capable of giving rise to the virtual can be fused with the human machine to produce the greater social, fleshy machine, which allows social relations to be produced and facilitated. When this fusion occurs, the technical machine and human machine do together what they would otherwise be entirely unable to do on their own. Through this larger social machine, social possibilities are realized. With the emergence of these social possibilities, social relations can be created and transformed through involvement in other virtual or real spaces.

Although an integral function of the human machine, such as hearing, can fail, the technical machine can assist the human machine restore its original function to the best of its ability. In his book Rebuilt, Michael Chorost describes his journey back to the hearing world after suffering from loss of hearing due to rubella. Although the hairs in Chorost’s ear that transmitted sound were physically damaged, the nerves themselves were still intact, and could still “be triggered with implanted electrodes under computer control, which is what a cochlear implant does” (Chorost, 2006, 7). The diagram below shows a cochlear implant in the human ear, and illustrates the fusion of the material, technical hearing device and the warm, squishy, wet flesh of the human to produce the fleshy machine, a “cyborg” (Chorost, 2006, 7).


Although the computer algorithm contained by the technical machine would allow Chorost to acquire the ability to hear again, what he would hear would be mediated by the computer. Everything would sound “synthetic” (Chorost, 2006, 9). After receiving the implant, Chorost describes the technical device as a “computer inside [his] body, literally woven into [his] flesh, [his] head” (2006, 15). On its own, the cochlear implant has no function without the human machine. Likewise, the human machine, on its own, cannot produce certain functions when debilitated. However, together, these machines produce something extremely powerful. The consequent creation of the social machine, due to restored hearing, is able to produce social relations with others once again, either through real life interactions or those in multi-player online virtual worlds. However, in real life, these social relations may differ from those that would have been formed with normal hearing, as all interactions would be mediated by the social machine, rather than by the human machine itself.

Wafaa Bilal, a professor of photography at NYU, also uses and incorporates the technical machine, but to serve a different function: to enhance his ability to see. According to an article by Cnet, Bilal accepted the proposition to have “a camera implanted into the back of his head that takes shots of what is going on behind his back” for an art project called “The 3rd I” (Matyszczyk, 2010). By implanting the technical camera machine into his human machine, Balil could view what was going on behind him, an ability otherwise impossible in the absence of the camera. By becoming a cyber human, Bilal explored new social, virtual possibilities in the real world.

Note: Social input into the technical machine, which creates the social machine, can also transform social relations through virtual play and military incentives.

Citations:
Chorost, Michael. Rebuilt: My Journey Back to the Hearing World (2006).

Matyszczyk, Chris. "Professor to have camera implanted in head." Cnet (2010).
Link: http://www.cnet.com/news/professor-to-have-camera-implanted-in-head/#!

This page has paths:

  1. Transformation of Social Relations Esther Liu

Contents of this path:

  1. The Virtual and The Real

This page has tags:

  1. Transformation of Social Relations Esther Liu
  2. Transformation of Social Relations Through Virtual Play Esther Liu
  3. Transformation of Social Relations Through Military Incentives Esther Liu
  4. The Virtual and The Real Chloe Lewis
  5. The Tension Between the Virtual and the Real Esther Liu
  6. Virtuality Chloe Lewis
  7. Esther Liu, Author Esther Liu
  8. Real World Kayla McCoy

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