Humans, the Natural Cyborg (Book Review/Summary)

Clark, Andy.  Natural Born Cyborgs: Minds, Technologies, and the Future of Human Intelligence.  Oxford      University Press: Oxford, 2003.

Okay, this blog is rapidly becoming a way for me to brainstorm for my thesis, so this entry is going to be a review of the book "Natural Born Cyborgs" by Andy Clark (who is a very good writer, btw, made me chuckle a few times reading this).  I think a statement from his book that most basically sums up his argument for us being "natural cyborgs" is as follows:

"Our self-image as a species should not be that of ancient biological minds in colorful young technological clothes.  Instead our are chameleon minds, factory primed to merge with what they find and with what they themselves create." (141)

His argument is that we, as a tool using species, necessarily have sufficient plasticity of mind not only to integrate tools (and we're not just talking the computer-like tools I'm enamored with on this blog, we're also talking about things like pencils, books, hammers, wheels, etc), but also to extend our knowledge, sense of body, our sense of location, and ultimately our sense of self through these tools. Here's some examples of each:

KNOWLEDGE:  This blog itself is a tool I am creating for myself to store information about the cyborg.  I feel as though I "know" this information, but in reality, once I go back and look through stuff for my thesis, I'm probably going to browse through here to remember pertinent points I've thought of or considered.  

SENSE OF BODY:  If we use "Transparent technology" (see below) enough, we can extend our body through it.  For example, by driving frequently the car becomes an extention of our body.

SENSE OF LOCATION:   Clark uses the idea of telepresence to describe this idea; basically it's the thought of being able to extend your location from where you are standing to a different location.  QB is an example of telepresence through a robot, though to a certain extent, video chat such as skype could also be considered a form of telepresence. 

Other Definitions:

Transparent Technology: When using a tool we are used to, such as a pencil, a car, or a hammer, we are able to automatically make use of this tool without really thinking about it.  The less thought we invest in a technological item, the more 'transparent' it is.

Opaque Technology: Technology which is counter-intuitive, and takes a lot of brain power to think about and use.

Clark does depend on the philosopher Daniel Dennet a lot, so I might check out what he has to say in Elbow Room, Consciousness Explained, and Content and Consciousness eventually.

Dora the Explorer: Training the Young Cyborg

Back, after a long interlude of finals!!

So, after we give birth to our wonderfully organic child, how do we first acquaint him or her with the wonders of the interwebs?  Technology does not come naturally to small ones, though they do learn fast.  How can we train them to relate the movement of the cursor to the movement of hands, and thus familiarize our children with the concept of becoming a cyborg?

We parents may not think of all this stuff while we're trying to save the walls from being crayoned on and trying to get the green stuff eaten as much as the white and yellow stuff.  Nick Jr. on the other hand, has, and presents it to our offspring in the form of Dora the Explorer multiple times a day.

After a brief amount of research, I have been unable to find any evidence that Dora the Explorer started its life as a computer game, though I remember hearing that it did at some point.  Must have been an internet rumor.  Regardless, the opening sequence to the first two season consists of a camera panning a room, and eventually focusing in on a computer, where Dora and her friends are interacting in a computer game:

Throughout the show, children are encouraged to interact with the TV show as though it's a computer.  When Dora or her Backpack encourages the children to point at something, a cursor-like arrow floats onto the screen and points and clicks on the right image:
  

 

(the backpack video is shown in its Spainish version)

Excellente!  Not only have our children mastered some basic Foreign Language skills, but they have also mastered some basic computer skills as well.