Rhizome Experiment, Fall 2015Main MenuPowerteam pageRhizome ConceptThe Virtual and The RealSelfTeam Overview Page & TagIntro to the Virtual SelfThe world of social media, avatars, and the brandscapeSimulation MachineDerived from the previous paper to make an introduction to AI, the advanced simulation machineArtificial IntelligenceRace and the Social MachineDrone PilotsFull Battle RattleTechnology and the Black ExperienceVideo GamesDwayne Dixon5129acc1d78d02bed532993adeb2cc39f7be6920
The Abstract Machine
12015-12-08T15:44:03-08:00Kevin Mellinc6bbb8b22406e725e89cecfb1fc0b4a2ca7393c872258plain2015-12-13T07:39:17-08:00Stephanie Wiehee9c2269b8cd3a7fd38d84d94e26aaf6ee138df06The abstract machine exists in the human techne, and in human’s interaction with the physical machine. Techne is an Aristotelian concept that entails the human’s innate capacity to reason, conceptualize and act. To read more on techne, view this page. Essentially, it is the metacognition that facilitates both our self and environmental awareness, and it informs our action based on this awareness. Because it is the foundation of our rational existence, all of human creation and conception is predicated on the techne; it is the meta-machine. Without the techne, innovative creation and rational conceptualization would be impossible, deeming the techne both the foundation of machines, and a machine in itself. Guattari argues that there is constant human-machinic and machine-machinic interaction that contributes to the machinic assemblage. The abstract machine, comprised of the techne and intangible human cognition, is the machinic force that catalyzes creation of the machine through innovation and conceptualization. Guattari asserts this lofty notion as follows: “The abstract machine is transversal to them, and it is the abstract machine that will or will not give these levels an existence, an efficiency, a power of ontological auto-affirmation” (Guttari 35). The abstract machine is present in and responsible for the machine in each of its phases of existence. It is the force that propels innovative creation, and it is a set of tools used by humans to conceptualize, interact, and give life to the machine. The abstract machine gives machinic status to all other forms of the machine, which in turn grants itself machinic status, or “ontological auto-affirmation;” it is the machine that creates the machine (35). Further, culture, axiological determination, social constructs and other social structures that guide our interaction also comprise the machinic assemblage. An example of a physical machine coming to fruition via the abstract machine is the mp3 player, whose existence can be traced through all forms of the machine. The conceptual inception of the mp3 occurred in the techne, but human-machinic interaction occurred prior to the machines physical existence. This is because the human anatomy informed its construction: “But mp3s also anticipate the tiny movements of the inner ear, which are not so much organized and disciplined in the mathematical tabled as they are modeled and anticipated” (Sterne 838). The audio mp3 files are compressed to trim the frequencies that are imperceptible by the human ear to create the most efficient file. The mp3 “decides for its listeners what they need to hear and gives them only that” (838). Mp3 technology originated in the techne, became a physical machine, but interacted with the abstract human machine before it even existed. This illustrates the fluidity and ubiquitous nature of the abstract machine.
12015-12-07T21:11:54-08:00Sarah Frauen573e02a60281d966c9405a56bec47a01a933a5f7Hacktivism8A method to Achieve Freedom from Virtual and Government Hauntingplain2015-12-12T12:17:44-08:00Sarah Frauen573e02a60281d966c9405a56bec47a01a933a5f7
12015-12-11T12:05:19-08:00Stephanie Wiehee9c2269b8cd3a7fd38d84d94e26aaf6ee138df06Race and the Social Machine8plain2015-12-12T14:16:43-08:00Stephanie Wiehee9c2269b8cd3a7fd38d84d94e26aaf6ee138df06