Living in a virtual world... I am living in a virtual world!

You are all cyborgs not the kind you think, but whenever you look at a computer screen or a cell phone you are being a cyborg. This is how Amber Case starts her TED talk and it is a pretty thought provoking idea. However, one that is completely and utterly true. I instantly thought of the movie Surrogates which came out in 2009. Even though it was not that popular I believe it the perfect example of what I understand to be a cyborg. If you are not familiar with the film watch the clip below:

As you can see this film touches on what Case says about how being a cyborg is the extension of the mental self and because of this we are able to travel faster and communicated differently. These people lie down and get to become a robot and live their life without fear of consequences or being harm.  This film also ties into what Haraway says in her article in Everyday Theory when she writes “The cyborg is resolutely committed to partiality, irony, intimacy, and perversity. It is oppositional, utopian and completely with innocence.” The idea of being able to live your life without getting hurt and do whatever you want is a very utopian idea. However, even though this idea seems completely innocent it is not, as the film shows. Things can go wrong in the cyber world just like in the real world. As Case states these are our second self and we need to maintain it because we are connecting a new way. 

Cyberspace allows us to express ourselves in a new way which has never been done before. We can create a completely new identity and be whoever we want to be. For some people this is a chance to be who they really are and find a place where they fit in for once in their lives. They get to experience these new identities by creating blogs, or pinning on Pinterest, or joining chat rooms where they can talk about a common interest. 

This is was Haraway is talking about when she says cyber writing, of course she had a feminist twist on it, but both men and women can use these forms of cyber writing to express who they feel they truly are.

 There is a flip side to this, people become entranced and lose what is real and what is not. Even in the film Bruce Willis character did not remember what it was like to feel pain because he had been so used to being unharmed. There are always going to be those who are against the change but as Case said technology adapts because people are using it and it helps people live their lives more fully because it connects us faster to one another. This is another fact that is completely and utterly true.