Why should our bodies end at the skin?

‘Why should our bodies end at the skin?’ asks Donna Haraway. Discuss the idea of skin in relation to how we might imagine our future embodiment.

Warwick, Kevin (2000) ‘Cyborg 1.0’ (accessed 08 September 2010)

In his article Cyborg 1.0 Kevin Warwick outlines his plans to implant a chip into his arm, which would receive and transmit electronic impulses based on his nervous systems reactions to his actions. Warwick plans to record the signal his brain sends, when he moves his index finger, and possibly replay it to himself at a later date, hopefully causing his body to react by moving his index finger without any of his conscious input. This article would link in well with the idea of different ways we could be embodied in the future, because it allows for the idea that we may be able to exist with a completely external input into our nervous system or into our selves. Imagine the possibilities for control over bodies from long distances, or the opportunity to transmit feelings and sensations to someone directly from the other side of the globe- with no physical presence required. It takes our ‘selves’ right out of our skin. This assumes that we identify our ‘selves’ merely as our own ability to control our motions and our situations. However, it also allows us to ask ourselves what we actually classify as our ‘selves’ and thus how do we measure our existence in terms of physical presence versus mental presence.

Thacker, Eugene (2003) ‘Data Made Flesh: Biotechnology and the Discourse of the Posthuman’ Cultural Critique 53 (accessed 08 September 2010)

This article provides a summary of many of the posthuman and cyborg dialogues. Thacker refers to some of the main thinkers in the field such as Donna Haraway, Katherine Hayles, Rosi Braidotti, Scott Bukatman and Keith Ansell-Pearson and critiques their work and ideas. Thacker also discusses the necessity of the separation between humans and technology. He claims that technology should be used as a tool, and that as such it requires an ontological separation between human and machine. This notion would be a good juxtaposition for the other articles that would be used, as it provides an interesting alternative to the other articles that all speak of similar notions of human/technology symbiosis. The article goes into Hayles’ position that in a posthuman society the body or the biological/material domain is not considered to be unconscious or of vacant mind, but rather that we absorb the material world as information, and the reactions and situations that arise from that information filtering become a sense of who we are and the situation within which we exist.

Hayles, Katherine (2002) ‘Flesh and Metal: Reconfiguring the Mindbody in Virtual Environments’ Configurations 10:2 (accessed 08 September 2010)

Hayles’ article follows several different topics, all of which relate quite closely to the ideas of human experience, the human/technology interface, physical reality, embodiment and our concept of what constitutes the body. She highlights how our notions of embodiment have changed over the centuries, in just the same way our notions of the body have, and she discusses our sense of occupation of our own bodies. Hayles also explores peoples relation to avatars and the sense of disembodiment/alternative embodiment associated with having an alternate representation of our selves, as well as exploring notions of bodies with “fuzzy boundaries” and how that influences our sense of embodiment. The article also articulates the idea that we only see ourselves as limited by our skins- we see that as the extent of ourselves, when in fact it is not- we have connectedness to the outside world through a myriad of other ways, from the air we breathe into our lungs, to the viruses we catch that exist in our nervous system, to the interfaces we create with technology every day (just think of how often you use a computer or a mobile phone). The article goes into dense discussion of many of these topics, and as such provides a good resource because of its wide and varied collection of ideas.

Malmborg, Lone & Schick, Lea. ‘Bodies, embodiment and ubiquitous computing’ Digital Creativity 21 (accessed 08 September 2010)

This article deals with technologies interaction with humans. It looks at the ways in which Schick and Malmborg perceive technology needing to develop in the future; namely by developing the ability to read humans interactions and reactions to situations, and being able to react accordingly itself because of that. It also discusses how that technology could be incorporated into clothing (such as the Whisper project) to enable us to be more completely aware of our surroundings. This ties in with my research because of the way that at the moment we perceive skin as some sort of boundary between us and the outside world, and the introduction of technology such as this would enable our boundary to the outside world to be moved further away from us than simply just our skin; in this instance it moves as far away as clothing perhaps one day it will reach as far the entire room that we are occupying. Schick and Malmborg’s theory poses problems for the idea of the self as an independent entity, separate from the environment which it inhabits, but it also creates solutions to the sense of being limited by our skins, and being confined to experiencing sensations through our physical bodies receptors only.

Van Wolputte, Steven (2004) ‘Hang on to Your Self: Of Bodies, Embodiment, and Selves’ Annual Review of Anthropology 33 (accessed 08 September 2010)

This article looks at the body-self relationship, and how we perceive ourselves. It discusses the ways in which we associate our physical body with our identity. In terms of skin, it provides a useful collection of insights into embodiment of the self, and as such it allows for comparisons to be made between the notion of the ‘body’ and the notion of ‘skin’. The article also helps to isolate individual ideas about the self and the body. For instance, it discusses the different ways the body serves as a means to identifying social constructs, allowing us to perceive which behaviours are appropriate to which people etc.This is significant because without firm support for the place of the physical body in society and culture, we cannot begin to imagine the possibilities for us outside of our bodies in the future. It also helps us to isolate our ideas about the different ways we think we will be able to exist outside of our skins in the future, because we can see through the article the things that we do now.