A.I.: Artificial Intelligence

Prompt 12

I think Cronenberg using the idea of violence and pleasure as the means of infection is an interesting method. In today’s (or 1984) society, violent crimes are often associated with sexual acts. Often times someone is sexually abused AND physically abused, which is kind of played on, not to that extreme, but by Max and Niki’s sex scene. He is physically hurting her while they are having sex. And sex is also alluded to later on in the movie through heavy breathing from the cassette tape, then Max kills Convex. Cronenberg was pointing out how violence and sexual promiscuity in today’s society is infectious. According to The Disaster Center, US crime rates have been on a steady rise since the 1960’s. Both sexual crime and a variety of violent crimes have nearly quadrupled since 1960, as if an infectious disease. As society technologically advances and grows, society subsequently becomes more violent.
I think that the issue of violence doesn’t necessarily complicate the argument, but rather focuses it or goes hand in hand with it. Technologies affect on the body produces violence. There’s a fine line between how far is too far for that relationship, because it will ultimately create chaos.

In Artificial Intelligence we see the same argument of what truly makes you human, as we saw with AIs in Neuromancer. In Artificial Intelligence we are presented with the idea of this little boy, David, having all the physical attributes of a human and the ability to love like a human, but not physically being human. He has the longing to be loved in return and to become human so that this can happen. In Neuromancer we see this same situation occur with the two AIs Wintermute and Neuromancer, Wintermute has knowledge and memory, but lacks his own identity and personality. On the other hand Neuromancer has the personality and the capability to appear in a body that Wintermute longs for. But we learn that having one of the characteristics without the other, doesn’t make you human.
Another possible argument about the body in relation to technology presented in AI could be the idea of freedom. David is built as an android child and given to a family to test their creation with real humans. David, although he has the ability to love, is restricted by his lack of understanding. He is an AI, but doesn’t understand that he is. In the end of the movie David searches for the Blue Fairy that he remembered from Pinocchio so he can be made into a real boy. He ends up getting stuck in a car and repeating his wish of being made into a real boy. The city freezes over and 2,000 years later David and Teddy are found and David walks up to the frozen fairy, touches it, and it shatters. This illustrates the idea that David is restricted by his inability to understand that he is not real. No matter how many times that he heard it, he didn’t have the ability to comprehend. David had a lack of freedom because he was restricted by technology.

Prompt 10

I think that drugs/addiction is an interesting theme that is prevalent in Neuromancer. Throughout the book we see this common theme of drug use among all the characters, as well as various other addictions. Case is obviously an avid user of drugs, constantly trying to escape from his body and the real world. But when he is not using drugs, we also see that he is addicted to cyber space, which allows him the same out of body experience. By the end of the novel, we see how both of these addictions have taken a physical toll on his body. These addictions also affect his relationship with those around him, primarily molly, also an addict of many sorts. In the novel we find Molly to be addicted to several things including drugs, cyber space and body modifications. All of these things alter her body both mentally and physically. We see how Molly is especially affected by drug use through Case’s eyes when he explains he "watched her personality fragment, calving like an iceberg, splinters drifting away, and finally he'd seen the raw need, the hungry armature of addiction," (Gibson 8). Case and Molly are constantly seeing the world through a skewed perspective. It’s as if their society is so technologically advanced that normal unaltered living is no longer entertaining for them, so they are constantly stimulating their body and minds with external things, leading to addiction. This problem is also observed with Molly’s body modifications, her natural body is no longer good enough when body modifications can “upgrade” her. She constantly modifies her body as an addiction because one is never enough, which was also something we saw prevalent with tattoos and piercings in our last unit.

Prompt 9

I think the most interesting body would be Armitage and whether or not he can be considered a body, if that’s just what it is, a body. We’ve briefed on what makes a human, whether it’s a body with no knowledge/desires/feeling or having those three things and not a physical body. Armitage seems to have the first, a physical body but that’s all he has. It’s machine like, there are no thoughts or feelings behind that body. Throughout this semester we’ve discussed the definition of body and compared and contrast bodies that are physically different. These bodies that we’ve looked at have physically different appearances because of their belief system, whatever it may be. Whether they desired to get a modification to follow a trend, be different, or abstain from them all together. But in Neuromancer we see the idea of having a body without that belief system, so does that still qualify as a body??
I would say that the relationship of body and technology isn’t necessarily a good one. Yes it allows for bodies to do something they’ve never been able to do before and by modified in ways never imaginable, but that’s when the already skewed line of what is considered “normal” because virtually invisible. It becomes kind of chaotic as we see in the book, people being in more than one body and place at a time. Technology does liberate the body, allowing this “out of body” experience to escape from the worries of the real world. But doing this through technology isn’t any different from how people do it today with drugs, alcohol or any other addictive substance. I feel that whether technology or another substance, they are all basically doing the same thing of having an out of mind/out of body experience.

Prompt 7

When looking at any form of body modification there will always be a group of people who view it as normal, while others see it as something radical. In class we have been looking at modifications that, to society ‘the norm’, seem radical. But when the roles are reversed, this so called ‘radical’ crowd of modifiers is the norm, and those who partake in modification such as being young, thin and fit are those being radical. As we saw in the first unit, it’s all a matter of perspective.
In today’s society people will take extreme measures to obtain these characteristics of a normative body. Over the past decade we have seen a boom in the cosmetic industry. Everything from plastic surgery, cosmetics and beauty shows on television such as The Swan etc… We see girls as young as 10 years old worrying about their weight and struggling with eating disorders and self esteem issues. Teenagers and adults will spend hours upon hours at the gym trying to maintain a fit figure.
All of these acts that people partake in to fit the normative body standard could seem just as radical to those who cover themselves in tattoos and piercings. Just as we have trouble understanding why someone would want to abuse their bodies in this way, they may be asking society the same exact question. Why do people go through all of this? What is it for? But because popular culture has made young, thin, and fit the standard for today’s society, this is what the normal community strives for.

Prompt 6

For me formal writing has always been two words that I’ve dreaded hearing. The idea of a 5 page paper where I’m racking my brain for 2 more pages of information has never been my idea of the ideal assignment. Over my college career, my experiences with formal writing have helped me construct a definition for what I find it to be. To me I find college writing to have a thesis statement followed by multiple paragraphs consisting of transition and topic sentences, a quote of some sort and information to back it up. These papers are to be concise and clear, while still being elaborate. You are expected to support your thesis throughout your paper and not stray from making that point.

Other acts of inscriptions that all bodies take part in are things such as hairstyles. The way we keep our hair, from cleanliness to style, can make a statement about our body. Those who have dirty and un-brushed hair may be seen as not conforming to the standards of society. The norm is to have clean, well kept and brushed hair. Other things that could fall into this category are plucking the eyebrows and of course shaving the legs or face for men.

I believe that there are certain limits to authorship of the body. As much freedom as we do have as individuals (and especially as citizens of the United States), there are always limits. There are both physical limits and in some ways social limits to authorship. The physical limits, as pointed out in Pitts book, are that at some point modifying the body will be limited by physical harm to the body. And in a social context, when authorship reaches a certain point, society and government will stop a person from acting any further by classifying it as self mutilation or classifying the person as mentally ill.

Prompt 5

The National Geographic Society views these foreign bodies or communities as unique and intriguing. They approach these cultures and their body modifications with respect. In so many of the portraits we have analyzed and websites we have looked at show these exotic bodies as strange and freakish because they are unlike those of Western society. I think National Geographic does a good job of observing these bodies’ differences and treating them as something different but GOOD.
The Marketplace’s “Inc.’s a bit more at ease with ink,” approaches tattoos and other body modifications as a growing norm in today’s society. It’s something they say is becoming more and more popular in the younger generations. It is slowly being accepted by older and younger crowds alike and unlike National Geographic’s view, something common and normal.
I think body piercing can be considered both exotic and a social norm. I think you have to look at the context of the piercing and body modifications to determine whether it is to be considered exotic. A tribal tattoo covering an entire arm on a foreign body can be seen as something exotic because of its differences from Western tattoos. But the same tattoo on a white body of someone who just thought it looked ‘cool’ and doesn’t have any meaning or significance behind it to me is not seen exotic. But with this it can be hard to determine who actually follows this lifestyle based on appearances. And a tribal tattoo versus a Texas star tattoo clearly shows how one can be seen as exotic and the other not.

Curtis Zuni Girls

The Curtis Zuni girls seem to be a sad photograph. Everything from the facial expressions, background, color and stances of the figures suggests this. My very first observation in this photograph was the girls. They are standing with depressing expressions on their faces, fully wrapped in blankets and wearing boots allowing only their faces to be shown. They appear to be laboring possibly fetching water for their families. And because of the clothing they are wearing it seems to be cold weather. Both girls have one arm crossed over the other as if to stay as warm as possible. But both girls are wearing boots, which suggests that they either have enough resources to make them.

The fact that their faces are the only skin showing suggests that they live in a culture where women are inferior to men, which could be why they are the ones shown laboring in the picture. Their faces seem dull, no hint of joy. The girl on the left of the image appears to be somewhat forcing a smile, but unsuccessfully convincing the audience that she is in fact happy. Both of their gazes are straight into the lens of the camera which emphasizes them as the main subjects of the photograph. The girl on the right looks relatively young. She appears to only be 17 or 18 years of age, while the girl on the left looks older possibly her mother.

The background of the photograph seems dry, deserted and destitute. The left of the picture seems to be a flat surface that goes on for miles and miles of nothing, while the right has a plateau looking figure. When first looking at the image you would think that there is some kind of drought in the area, but the girls are standing next to a body of water. Perhaps this is the last of the water that exists in the area and even it looks murky and unclean. If this were the case this could add to the reason the girls look so sad. The sepia tone of the photograph also seems to enhance this idea. The orange tone makes everything to appear even more arid. Where is the village they live in? You can’t see any sign of life, which could suggest the girls hiked a long way to fetch water to take back to the village. And the pots on their heads are rather small, so they could possibly have to make more than one trip in a day.

These bodies don’t seem privileged or of high status. They seem underprivileged and deprived of necessities in life. They seem to surrender to someone of a higher position or rank in their community. This figure could possibly be a husband or head of a household. They don’t appear to be powerful bodies, but rather powerless. Whether they are pure or impure isn’t really suggested in this photograph.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/12295975@N05/2230297863/in/pool-487771@N21

Prompt 3

The two pictures appear to be mirror images of each other. But although they are mirror images, there are many differences among the two such as the the coloring , structural design, and several other aspects. One of the first major differences in the pictures is the focus. In the first painting the first thing that catches my eye is In Hicks version the Native Americans are on the left of the painting and the Colonial Americans on the right. Through this element the Native Americans seem restricted in their movements and almost forced to take part in this treaty. The Colonists are in close contact with them, huddled on one side. In West’s version the Colonial Americans and Native Americans are out in the open. The Native Americans are more dispersed about the land and the colonists don’t appear to be as forceful with the treaty. The colors of the photos are also very distinct in their differences. The first photo has very vivid colors, which makes it appear more realistic. The second photo has more pastel and dim colors that make it appear like an actual painting. In Hick’s picture the first thing to catch my eye is the Indian with his back to us, while in the West’s it is the mother holding her child. In Hick’s interpretation the mother with her child is in the shadows and hard to see as if unimportant.
In the first image the Native Americans also appear inferior to the colonists because of their postures. They seem to all be seated a few standing in the distance in the back. In the second there are some both seated and standing but those standing seem more involved in interacting with one another. To me this shows a higher status.

Prompt 2

The New World Body is one that European colonists found rather peculiar and unlike any group of individuals they had ever encountered. The “New World Body” was seen differently through each pair of eyes, but most of the observations made had a negative connotation.
In the beginning of the Travel Writings, the Native Americans were seen as lazy and disrespectful of their own bodies. The women were offering their bodies, something seen as pure and innocent by the Europeans, to the settlers as a mode of exchange. This was something new and unusual to the colonist that wasn’t seen as acceptable and therefore rejected.
Later on in Shelvoke’s writings, the “New World Body” was described as threatening, overwhelming, and almost presented as savages. “they even appeared so terrible to our Negroes, who had been born in Guienea (where they are not very polite) that one of them who was sent with the officer on shore, was afraid to stir from the boat, and all the while kept and axe in his hand to defend himself from any that might attack him” (Shelvocke 339-340). In the eyes of the settlers slaves were seen as the lowest level of the hierarchal pyramid, so for even the slaves to feel threatened of these new bodies goes to show that they were truly seen as wild creatures. The European bodies were seen as the powerful and superior race. To further support the idea of Native Americans being savage like, they are later compared to alligators by William Bartram.
The images on the map somewhat correspond to my translation of the “New World Body”.
I don’t feel that the images on the map accurately reflect my definition of the “New World Body”. In these images the Native Americans appear civilized. In my translation of the body from the Travel Writings, they seemed wild and barbaric. The explanation of this could simply be because of the eyes they were seen through. The map could have been designed by a more neutral party, opposed to the skewed vision of the settlers.

Atkinson Extra Credit

What point was the author trying to make with the discussion of plastination in the very beginning?

Prompt 1

Upon reading through the given prompts for this blog entry for the first time, I found myself confused as to what the questions were asking. How do bodies function in my environment? Does this question imply how they function physically or is it metaphorical for what groups of bodies I’m involved in and surrounded by?

If the first question is the correct interpretation then I would say the bodies in my environment are collectively functioning as individuals searching and prodding for answers. We are all seeking to discover meaning in our lives and what our role in this world may be. For some, education is the key that opens these doors to a greater meaning in life and for others it’s the day to day interactions and experiences that broaden our horizons. Whichever it may be, I feel that every body I encounter is searching for the same answers.

Now if the question should be interpreted the second way, there are several different general groups of bodies that function in my environment. There is my social network, which could overlap with all functioning bodies but would be interpreted to my body of friends. There is my church community, which could be seen as a Christian body. My family and relatives would create there own body and also the university student body. If I continued to break down my involvement in different communities I could come up with probably over 20 more bodies that both function in my environment and that I encounter most everyday.

These bodies differentiate their personal identities through the discoveries made in their search for answers. I think that each body makes different discoveries in life and has different experiences that help mold both unique thoughts and attitudes. This uniqueness then allows them to claim their personal identity.