One of the ways I thought cyborgs could have an impact is with issues of identity. In “A Manifesto for Cyborgs” Donna Harraway seems to talk about gender identity as it pertains to women. She seems to point out an artificial social construction of an idea of “woman” when she says “There is nothing about being “female” that naturally binds women. There is not even such a state as “being” female, itself a highly complex category constructed in contested sexual scientific discourses and other social practices”. Such issues of artificial identity can be seen with cyborgs as well. If we were to have a hybrid human and machine, how would we use language to artificially identify this being. Perhaps this new cyborg technology could alter our idea of gender identity with the introduction of a new technological identity. This seems to be an area where both the sciences and humanities could come together
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Your discussion of Haraway’s idea that the cyborg seems to embody the blurred distinction between real/artificial, which already exists in the construction of gender identity, brought to mind another problem that seems related to this topic. She suggests that “perhaps, ironically, we can learn from our fusions with animals and machines how not to be Man, the embodiment of Western logos” (33). While she is specifically talking about the breakdown of a Western ideology with patriarchal traditions, I wonder if the cyborg could also make us question the distinction between humans (in general) and machines. Can machines teach us what it means to be human, and how not to be human, if, politically, humans tend to create dangerous hierarchical structures?
I found the idea of “machines teaching us” interesting. By that, do you mean to say that machines can teach us humans of what we have the potential of creating, even if it is mechanical and non human like? Kinda like how Frankenstein created his wretch? If so, I’m trying to think of how they would be able to teach us?