S T A R T
-Donna Haraway A Cyborg Manifesto
What does it mean to be a hybrid of man and machine? Must one resemble the robotic creatures found in films like Ex Machina or Terminator? Not necessarily. If a stranger were to log onto your Facebook, they could quite possibly build a near exact replica of you based on the statuses and memories that are left behind throughout the years, the photos of you interacting with your surroundings and others, and the messages between you and anyone you've ever interacted with through the site. Would this not mean that a part of you and your personality resides within the metaphysical and cyberspace of Facebook and would that not then make you a hybrid of man and machine? What about other forms of social media which are used to project ideas, thoughts, and opinions if you're too reticent to bring them up in offline public spaces, would twitter not then be your voice box? In reality we are all cyborgs whether we are ready to admit it or not. Technology has come crashing into the new world and has woven its web into our very being and meaning. Everyday we project pieces of ourselves onto the technology we interact with. These interactions and projections develop new personalities and/or identities as technology becomes extensions of our bodies, minds, and souls. In this way, we are "Prosthetic Cyborgs" as we continue to augment ourselves with these advances in machinery and metaphysical spaces. We enable Technology into becoming pieces of ourselves or tools in which we can express ourselves, it is an extension of our senses and very being. Much like how we build history from the pieces left behind on cave walls or the architecture we find buried beneath us, we can build each other based on the pieces that can be found within the technology that we interact with daily. This chapter is going to focus on the three forms in which the prosthetic cyborg manifests; From the mind the 'Prosthetic Medium', the body the 'Prosthetic embodiment, and the soul the 'Prosthetic God'.
