Dis Rep

Dis Resp

1. On Maja

In the Chicago School of Media Theory there are many different ways that different authors have thought of what posthumans means to them. For example, Hayles believes that "the transformation from human to post-human has already occurred. But Hayles notes the “multiple ironies” of her title, since her thesis is “more complex than ‘That was then, this is now’”.[ii] Her “argument” is that human subjectivity is always “historically specific”: the “changes [from human to post-human] were never complete transformations or sharp breaks; without exception, they reinscribed traditional ideas and assumptions even as they articulated something new.” ("Posthuman | The Chicago School of Media Theory").  She entertains the idea of whether or not we need a human body since technology has had great advances such as prosthesis and instead only need the brain. However, both are interconnected as we need the one for the other despite great technological advances made “inextricable intertwining of body with mind . . .. We are the medium, and the medium is us” ("Posthuman | The Chicago School of Media Theory" )she explains. 

Lyotard, however  believes "post-human is thus grounded not in the transcendence of certain human capabilities or features, like Parmelee’s emotions or Hayles’ digital subjectivity, but on a fundamental altering of the world as we have ever known it" ("Posthuman | The Chicago School of Media Theory"). If the world were to end, if there were no humans to think for themselves, or even to keep a record of what humanism is then how can there ever be post-humanism? Without humans we can not have a future and thus as he states "that the post-human as an essentially alien thing, even suggesting that the post-human condition is beyound the scope of our imaginations." ("Posthuman | The Chicago School of Media Theory").

Habermas, has a different approach on what post-humanism is, "Habermas believes developments of biology call into question our natural idea of the human being, and consequently, our laws, societal organization, nuclear families, and even philosophies" ("Posthuman | The Chicago School of Media Theory"). If gene-modification occurs then everyone would want to perfect what humans should be, what they look like, how they behave? However, what kinds of implications can this bring? If a per, say, made up perfect gene did not come up as perfect as the person or persons who created it what would happen to it? Yes, this happens in our world now, but the question comes to be more so what would happen to such an imperfection in a perfected human world? 

British journalist Steven Poole looks more into how algorithm can shape the way we think, what we look online, and how other things such as figuring out whether or not a criminal will commit a crime again. There are many algorithms for everything technological we can think of, however, how do this algorithms shape our every day lives as little as what we see on our phones, computers to recidivism. Just for arguments sake, someone who does not believe in vaccines will keep getting articles, news, etc., about the side effects, all the bad that vaccines will have. Fulling more their believes in not getting the vaccines rather than automatically generating information on both sides of the story. Another example that Poole uses was massive open online courses (MOOC) where an essay can grades by a computer software however, many academics in the US argued that "Computers cannot ‘read’. They cannot measure the essentials of effective written communication: accuracy, reasoning, adequacy of evidence, good sense, ethical stance, convincing argument, meaningful organisation, clarity, and veracity, among others" (Poole). How can a software grade reasoning? Reasoning, thinking, arguments, come from a person or person, and one can think about an argument similarly, but at the same time somewhat differently and how will a software be able to grade that or put that into a thought? 

Works Cited

Poole, Steven. "Which Decisions Should We Leave to Algorithms? – Steven Poole | Aeon Essays." Aeon, 13 May 2013, aeon.co/essays/which-decisions-should-we-leave-to-algorithms.

"Posthuman | The Chicago School of Media Theory." Blogs in the Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago, lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/posthuman/.

2. Chan Shef

Post-humanism was everyone’s problem, but the day humanity accepted post-humanism as the new human state, humanity completely and finally lost its freedom, and to an extent, humanity itself. What made humanity capable of its greatest achievements, its writings, literature, and philosophies, its religion, and art, and music, were inherently human. A part of the greater human condition, separate, but related, that all worked to make a human part of the world they lived in. With the onset of post-humanism, the ability for a person to be both their own person, and also part of the living world around them, ceased to be possible.

It was not as Hayles said, “People become posthuman because they think they are posthuman”, but rather, people became posthuman when they accepted post-humanism as the accepted, unavoidable conclusion to the human condition. Humanity has been vectoring and course-correcting towards the post-human for decades, for centuries, possibly for as long as humanity has wanted to be more than it was. Humanity struggled with the question, “at what point does a human stop being a human” (The Chicago School of Media Theory)?

The answer was always just on the horizon, its hazy outline almost visible, and spurring humanity to plod along closer in search of clarity. By the time humanity understood what the answer could mean, it was already too late. Machines had replaced humans in factories, artificial intelligence had replaced literary analysts, data streams had replaced musicians, and technology has replaced religion. Before humanity could wrap itself around the question “does scientific advancement necessarily improve the human condition, or ought we limit it” (The Chicago School of Media Theory), scientific advancement had become a fully ingrained part of humanity.

Now, as the days of human connection to the world, and to each other meaningfully, becomes a hazing outline on the receding horizon, technology and machines and algorithms are being utilized to compress the human spirit into data streams, and make the machine and the human one. The thought, grasped and accepted, that the human spirt and human mind were imperfect, and as such “surely replacing them with actual computers can have nothing but benefits” (Poole), was one of the last nails in humanity’s spiritual coffin.

There is no art in the machine. There is no music, no spirituality, no god. There is only the machine, and the machine will consume all that made humanity different from world that bore it. The machine is the end of humanity.

“The Chicago School of Media Theory Theorizing Media since 2003.” The Chicago School of Media Theory RSS, lucian.uchicago.edu/blogs/mediatheory/keywords/posthuman/.

Poole, Steven. “Which Decisions Should We Leave to Algorithms? – Steven Poole: Aeon Essays.” Aeon, Aeon, 2 Apr. 2021, aeon.co/essays/which-decisions-should-we-leave-to-algorithms.

3. Ste kar

What new problems might be created because we have solved this problem?

According to the article The Chicago School of Media Theory ,on posthumanism, there still lingers questions about this posthumanism technology in human culture, “What is the post-human?” a corollary set of questions arise: Are we already post-human or is post-humanism permanently stuck in the future? At what point does a human stop being a human? What is the relationship between humans and animals? Does scientific advancement necessarily improve the human condition, or ought we limit it?, but as various thinkers  share their opinions on how they understand the post-human technology, it is evident that posthumanism according  to the author may destroy the notion of human nature, posthumanism can undermine the ideals of liberal society which are the very foundation of posthumanism itself; furthermore, in the article one of the thinker Lyotard presents a radicalized vision of the post-human as an essentially alien thing, even suggesting that the post-human condition is beyond the scope of our imaginations. The post-human is not a half-man, half-robot: he has no attachment to the earth whatsoever.

 

In the article slaves to the algorithm by Steven Poole, computers could take some tough choices out of our hands. By them taking these choices it become a complex issue on how to audit them if something goes wrong. According to the author, “If we erect algorithms as our ultimate judges and arbiters, we face the threat of difficulties not only in law-enforcement but also in culture. In the latter realm, the potential unintended consequences are not as serious as depriving an innocent person of liberty, but they still might be regrettable. For if they become very popular, algorithmic systems could end up destroying what they feed on”. (Poole, 2013)

 

 

References:-

Chicago, T. U. (2021). The Chicago School of Media Theory. Posthuman.

Poole, S. (2013, May 13). Slaves to the algorithm. Retrieved from aeon: https://aeon.co/essays/which-decisions-should-we-leave-to-algorithms