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Fragmentation

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Fragmentation is a Marxist concept that entails the division of a previously unified entity into multiple distinct components. It is a fluid concept that manifests itself in a variety of settings and is often primarily fueled by techne, machinic innovation, and immersion. The introduction of machines in industrial settings catalyzed the metamorphosis of the machine from a means of labor to labor itself, prompted the separation of the laborer from the labor itself, and immersion in Halo and Second Life’s simulated spaces causes self-fragmentation and the breakdown between the real and the virtual.
Marx discusses the impact of introducing the machine to the production world. The machine is able to do the work of the laborer more efficiently, which causes a rise in prevalence of mechanical production and greatly alters the role of the laborer. The worker loses autonomy in his or her craft and is forced to act vicariously through the machine. Marx describes this phenomena as follows: “the science which compels the inanimate limbs of the machinery, by their construction, to act purposefully, as an automaton, does not exist in the worker’s consciousness, but rather acts upon him through the machine as an alien power” (Marx 693). In this case, the physical machine replaces the function of the laborer and alters the laborer’s interaction with both the machine and their trade. Instead of assuming total dominion over their work, the task is completed regardless of their cognitive force or action; the laborer becomes separate from the labor itself. Thus, the laborer is expendable while labor becomes a commodity. Labor becomes a machine that can be universalized, bought and sold, and infinitely interchanged; the laborer no longer has to be particularly skilled in completing a task, but must rather merely oversee the mechanized completion. This is an example of the physical machine, a product of the abstract machine, undergoing auto-affirmation and metamorphosing into a separate entity from its human creators in an act of machinic fragmentation.
The immersive nature of Halo and Second Life’s simulated spaces prompt self-fragmentation and facilitate the breakdown between the real and virtual worlds. There is a directly proportional relationship between the level of immersion into simulation and self-fragmentation; the more immersed one becomes, the more fragmented the real and virtual self becomes. Additionally, as this self-fragmentation occurs, the boundary between the virtual and real world breaks down, resulting in a fragmented self existing in a unified space of real and virtual. This tricky dichotomy may seem convoluted, but separating the self from the inhabited space is essential to unveiling the true role of sociality in a simulated space. The most prevalent and popular form of Xbox simulation is Halo, a fast-paced combat game featuring a valiant cyborg-soldier male protagonist named Master Chief, who is faced with the task of fighting off the Covenant, a malicious alien adversary (82). This objective-based simulated space, though not a fully immersive social simulation, subjects the player to self-fragmentation while also redefining the social. The nonstop action of Halo demands undivided attention from the user, which results in the division of the user’s real and virtual self. To accommodate constant opponent infiltration, the gamer must become sutured to the virtual world, becoming Master Chief himself. The controller becomes the brain, and, after mastery and immersion, the hands of the user seem to operate independently and auto-intuitively. There are layers of fragmentation at play; the real world user transforms into Master Chief, the hands of the user fragment from the dominion of the user and assume dominion over the controller, which acts as the brains of the newly fragmented user that is embodied by Master Chief.
The structure of Second Life is such that techne is an integral aspect driving all action and interaction. As a result, as player immersion into this simulated space increases, so to does the level of fragmentation. Evidence of this fragmentation is provided by this exchange between Tom Boellstorff, an anthropologist and ethnographer researching Second Life, and Trishie, a second life resident he encountered:
Trishie: Mommie left us lunch
Me: Yum!
Trishie: Yes, it’s good
Trishie: Brb, gotta check my meatloaf.
Me: Ok (Boellstorff 109).
In Second Life, Trishie’s avatar is a child, while in reality she is a mother of two. In this instance, she is so immersed in this simulated space that her ‘self’ is fragmented from physical reality and exists primarily in Second Life; she is focused on the food her simulated mother made for her, then she shifts to her real-world responsibility and communicates from her real-world self through her simulated self. There is clear self-fragmentation here; Second Life Trishie exists independently from the real world Trishie. Additionally, this simulated space creates unity between the real and the virtual, illustrated by Trishies ability to express both her real and simulated self in this virtual space. Immersion into social simulation spurs self-fragmentation while unifying the real and the virtual through the ability to act as the real self and the virtual self simultaneously in a virtual space.
 

This page has tags:

  1. The Tension Between the Virtual and the Real Esther Liu
  2. Second Life Chloe Lewis
  3. Connection of the Real and Virtual Shreyas Kolavennu
  4. Karl Marx zachary hersh
  5. Nick Dyer-Witheford Esther Liu
  6. Kevin Mellin Kevin Mellin
  7. Second Life Anna Quinn

Contents of this tag:

  1. Transformation of Social Relations
  2. Transformation of Social Relations Through Virtual Play
  3. Transformation of Social Relations Through Military Incentives
  4. How the Real Influences Online Self
  5. How the Real and Virtual Contribute to Self Identity
  6. The Tension Between the Virtual and the Real
  7. Self in Media: Virtual Persona
  8. The Physical Machine
  9. Self: Conclusion