tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077894518004905090.post8213318885212727522..comments2022-08-26T03:59:54.084-07:00Comments on Laura's ENGL 766 Blog: Reading, Thinking, & Reflecting Post - 2/27Lulu Elizabethhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02366803257052632443noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077894518004905090.post-79910839287439653012012-03-15T20:11:59.136-07:002012-03-15T20:11:59.136-07:00I concur with the others that this post is thoroug...I concur with the others that this post is thorough and engaging and that your perspective (having come from a wildlife biology background) gives us a fresh angle on these ideas. I can imagine this type of book that links literature with new media concepts would act as a good "hinge" for students straddling the New Media vs. Rhetorical tracks in this program. The idea that a frog constructs what it sees is very similar to what is covered in this video on ASIMO, a robot several centers are studying right now: <br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QfPkHU_36Cs<br /><br />(I couldn't get Blogspot to embed it, but you can still copy/paste it into a browser). <br /><br />Enjoy the video and thanks again for a great post!D. Cookehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01727493033825671698noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077894518004905090.post-88655133470711575482012-03-13T10:29:45.433-07:002012-03-13T10:29:45.433-07:00Laura,
Great post, Laura! Thank you for being so ...Laura,<br /><br />Great post, Laura! Thank you for being so thorough. Hayles has been on my list of people to read, and this helps me to see whether or not her key concepts are related to my research. I agree the creepy music on the You Tube video is, well, creepy. <br /><br />I find your background in science to be especially fascinating given that you chose this text. When you question what is "live," I also think of other posts by those in our class who are talking about what is "human." I think our mediated selves cause us to find ways to qualify presence in ways that pre-mediated selves don't require. We can no longer take the body, our physical presence, as a given. So, we are pressed to account for presence in other ways, but how? <br /><br />Your mention of embodiment in the third wave of cybernetics is something I would like to look into. My research often leads me to new media texts that talk about sound as embodied, however, many fail to really characterize what that means. Embodied as, "contextual enmeshed within the specifics of place, time, physiology, and culture, which together compose enactment" suggests that this is complex. Such complexity opens the door for socio-cultural theories that account for context, demographics, and culture, however, it continues to grey the concept of embodiment itself. <br /><br />Jenniferjbucknerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09854659321471351175noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5077894518004905090.post-76004947946169732732012-03-07T09:26:57.252-08:002012-03-07T09:26:57.252-08:00Laura - Thanks for the very detailed summary and d...Laura - Thanks for the very detailed summary and discussion of your canonical text. Although you claim you "just scratched the surface," I think you've saved me the trouble of reading it myself! I've been interested in Hayles' ideas since reading New Media: The Key Concepts, so I enjoyed your thorough post. <br /><br />The parallels between science and cybernetics raise some fascinating implications, such as the similarity of DNA and Binary coding. I agree with your approach of examining the physical aspects of cybernetics. When abstract theories become concrete, their tenor often changes. In this case, you illustrate how cybernetic theory - particularly the distinction between "artificial life" and "artificial intelligence" -- becomes much more real when the "simulation" exists physically. That reality makes me uncomfortable, probably because of all the sci-fi I've consumed in my lifetime. <br /><br />Technology may surprise me, but I can't imagine that human beings will ever have the ability to create "artificial life" in any genuine sense. The more I learn about the human body and mind, the more I realize how irreducibly complex and individualized both can be. I'm sure science will generate some "life-like" computer interfaces, robots, etc., but I don't think anything will ever replicate a human being's capacity for creative, dynamic thought. <br /><br />Thanks for stimulating these ideas!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com