Transcript The Question that drives us…”

Theories to Guide our Thinking
What aspects of
humanity make us
human?
 Familiarity
 Originality/Individuality
“Uniqueness”)
(i.e.
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Things strike us as
strange when they are
unfamiliar.
Personal example:
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My parent’s reaction
of looking like this
for 5 years and then
showing up one day
looking like this.
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Quick write (2 minutes)
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Describe a time when you were
“weirded out” by something/someone
that you thought you
knew/understood.
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Sigmund Freud
“[T]he uncanny is that class of the frightening
which leads back to what is known of old and
long familiar.”
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Translation: For something to be “uncanny” there
must be something familiar about the unfamiliar
thing that is scaring you.
I.e. My haircut was “uncanny” to my parents
because I was recognizable, but it had been so many
years since they had seen me with short hair that
they associated my long hair with me, and forgot
what I looked like without it.
-Mori
(Robotics)
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Reasons why—
familiarity
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The idea is that
something that is
clearly not human
strikes us as normal
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Such as C3PO from
Star Wars.
But something that is
nearly human (or was
once human) is
familiar and uncanny
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So a Prosthetic hand
= something semialive
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Post-human: aka a “Cyborg”—Clynes and
Kline define Cyborg as “a self-regulating manmachine system, supposed to be more flexible
than the human organism thanks to the fusion
of organic and mechanical parts.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pzSnE3IkTw
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Trans-human: The level of evolution between
human and post-human. This is the level seen
as uncanny, as it is clearly not human, and yet
it still looks eerily human.

Examples:
 Prosthetics
 Reconstructive Surgery
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Liminal: Existing in a state of “inbetweeness”
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i.e. between human and cyborg
Prosthetic Human
Plastic Surgery
Prosthetic Robot
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Questions?
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Pair up—Ranking Activity
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Looking back at “post human.”
While clearly a cyborg, what did
Schwarzenegger look like?
A HUMAN
He was a “copy” of human life…

Had he come in fully clothed and not beat everyone
up as he did, could he have passed for human?
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Humans like to think of themselves as unique
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Only creatures with higher order thinking
Advanced Society
What happens to this perception when you add
cyborgs to the picture?
What becomes the basis of “human?”
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Ever tried to be like someone else?
Personal Example
Daren Patrick = Epic Fail
 Couldn’t be like him physically
 Tried to be like him mentally
 Liked what he liked
 Hated what he hated
 Etc. Etc.
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Think-Pair-Share
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Take a minute to think of a time where you copied
something someone did/someone copied something
you did/or an example that you observed in real life
or in the media.
Share with a partner.
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Plato: A copy of
something real
(intended to be no more
than a copy).
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Example: Reproduction
of Mona Lisa
**Baudrillard**: Not a
just a copy of reality,
but something that is
real in its own right.
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Example: The Matrix
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Paradox….what is it??
Paradox: A statement that defies
logic/common sense, yet may be true.

Example: I’m a compulsive liar.
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Jango Fett and His Clones
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Consider the following quote:
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“They are totally obedient, taking any order without
question. We modified their genetic structure to
make them less independent than their original
host.” (Prime Minster of Kamino, Star Wars Ep II)
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Question: The clones are now different from their
original. No longer an attempt at being an exact
copy (like the Mona Lisa reproduction)—are they
still an imitation of their host’s life, or are they now
their own separate life form. Agree or Disagree.
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In the first Terminator movie, the Terminator
model T-800 is sent to kill Sarah Connor. In the
second Terminator movie, the same Terminator
model is sent to protect John Connor, Sarah
Connor’s son.
Question: The Terminator model is identical, yet
they have been programmed with different
functions. However, they are still identical entities
because the way in which they function (shoot,
kill, obey instructions programmed with, etc.)
remains the same, regardless of their functions
being different. Agree/Disagree.
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Thirty years from now, I am able to buy
organically grown body parts on a mainstream
market. One day, I feel like I want to be taller
and stronger, so I go and purchase longer legs
and burlier arms.
Question: Even though these body parts
belonged to someone else, because I have now
incorporated them as part of my body they are
now distinctly mine, and I am still a completely
“original” individual. Agree or Disagree.
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Who have been the influences in your life?
Are you a carbon copy of them?
Are you more of a simulacrum of bits and
pieces of them, taking the pieces you most
admired but becoming your own individual in
the end? (A copy, but a copy that is still
“real.”)
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Looking at Cyberpunk’s central question of
“What aspect of humanity makes us human,”
consider the following question:
Is there such a thing as a truly “original”
human? Defend your answer.