A reflective post by Ava

Am I a cyborg?

Whether I am a cyborg or not, if I strictly follow the definition suggested by Donna Haraway, well, I am not, definitely not! At least, besides the braces in my mouth, you can hardly ever find any machine in my body. In general, I am not a “hybrid of machine and organism”. But, as we continuously discuss in this unit, the concept of cyborg seems can be re-defined regarding the case of JenniCAM, virtual community and posthuman for example. Well, then I forced to admit that I am a cyborg! Not that I can’t live without technology, but I can’t break away from machines. In fact, Hayles voiced out most people’s view. Technology, in a way, changes our bodily experience. Just like the existence of smartphone, both schedule and contact list are “memorized” inside its memory card, but not human brain. I guess many of us once lost the smartphone and turned out that, we are “cleared”! No friends, no meetings, no mind! Only body is left. It illustrates that human are now “customized” by machines, maybe say in this way, we are “customized” by machines which are “customized” by us. Finally, as a matter of fact, I, as a human, involve myself in this complex relationship. I guess, “Am I a cyborg” would no longer a core question to this unit in the future, but “Am I a human” instead!

How did the blog work for me?

To any fresh students who first hear the term “cyborg”, this blog would definitely provide a brilliant platform for UWA students to discuss cyborgs. It is quite interesting to hand in assignments on the weblog and in a way gather all students’ analysis for review. However, the most effective function of the weblog, I guess, is that it makes me reinforce my feeling that I am unable to escape from the complex relationship between machines and eventually forced to recognize myself as a cyborg!

Evaluation of the unit

Honestly speaking, what is cyborg? Why I am asked whether I am a cyborg? They are the questions I raised up after my first lesson. It is because I am asking something which I take for granted for nearly more than 10 years. It is quite shocked when I was told maybe I am a cyborg just because I create an online identity in forum. However, after the introduction of Donna Haraway, Katherine Hayles and Kate Moss (cover page of unit guide), I admit that there’s a close relationship between machines and me, and it is worth to study it academically and critically. Before I become a slave of machines, I should first understand the correlation between us in this digital age. Self.Net undoubtedly gave me time for reflection.