Haraway says that “a cyborg is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction” (p.65).
The phrase “social reality” is the one that resonates the most with me. It is our social reality that machines comprise a large part of what do, how we do it and (let’s face it) who we are. I suppose we are part machine because we are the ones manipulating the physical machines; acting through these vessels and using them to replace former ways of doing things (especially communication). We are the cyborgs forged from the social reality that that machines are among us, so deeply entrenched in our way of living that to remove the cybernetics would surely drastically alter the world we now know.
As educators, it is our job to not only recognize this but ensure that students utilize the organism as much as the machine and develop a positive co-dependence between the two rather than a complete reliance on the machine.
This was a really interesting article and has not lost relevance since it was authored in 1985. I remember reading this article in a second year English class and the point was sadly lost on me. At that time, I did not have the breadth of knowledge to see past images of The Terminator. I’m happy to say that this program, combined with years of educational clarity have caused a complete change of heart 🙂
