Books
Published 2004 · Francesco Cara
Interactions
726
Citations
45
Influential Citations
Abstract
The latest book by philosopher and cognitive scientist Andy Clark is a challenging and eclectic discussion of how the relationship between biology, technology and culture construes our mind and our identity. The book is articulated around a unique central character: the cyborg, a CYBernetically controlled ORGanism. The first cyborgs Clark introduces are organisms which have incorporated machines into their bodies, in the form of prostheses, enhanced perceptual systems, and neural implants, to recover and extend physiological functions. Examples of such cyborgs are organisms with implanted pumps that inject chemicals to provide supplementary biotechnological control loops, thus extending their capacity to adapt to exceptional environmental conditions. Cochlear implants, which electronically stimulate the auditory nerve, and more advanced implants that bypass the cochlea, directly penetrate the brain stem to extend the hearing faculty. Few of us are cyborgs in this sense. The second cyborgs we meet are of a different kind. They are organisms surrounded by props, aids, tools, and artefacts external to their bodies, and yet completely integrated to their actions; contributing to the way information is processed and problems are solved. We are all cyborgs in this sense. In the course of our activities , we effortlessly couple with many of the technologies that are available to us, in what Andy Clark calls " information processing mergers " between our mental activities and the operations of artefacts, such as pen, paper, print and electronics. These technologies can be totally transparent: " a technology that is so well fit to, and integrated with, our own lives, biological capacities and projects as to become almost invisible in use. " We wake up in the morning at the ring of our alarm clock, PDA or mobile phone. The ring of the alarm takes on a very basic, yet critical morning task, creating a control loop for managing our daily schedule efficiently. The same happens with such mundane tools as pen and paper when we want to compute the result of a complex multiplication, when we need to remember a specific piece of information and write it down, i n t e r a c t i o n s / n o v e m b e r + d e c e m b e r 2 0 0 4 b bo oo ok ks s books