Reflection

Hey guys,

Though I see how this blog could be considered more of an outlet for shy students who are uncomfortable voicing their opinions than an offline tutorial environment, I feel that posting work up on a blog made me feel ever so slightly more paranoid. What you've written is there forever and can be "judged" forever, more so than a transient spoken comment. If a blog is not anonymous, then I think that a lack of confidence to speak one's mind can be transferred from an offline situation to online. (But that could just be me.) That said, I do feel that the blog allowed access to a lot more information than I generally got out of the tutorials - although as was mentioned before, huge blocks of text can be intimidating. Perhaps the discussion wasn't as great, but the information was definitely there... forever. Also, I have never been part of a blog before and am happy that now I know how to post something and make hyperlinks.

In regards to the unit in general, my feelings are positive. I did enjoy much of the content and found the readings to be very interesting - points were brought to my attention that I had never considered before. The tutorials could also be quite informative - it was worthwhile to hear what everybody thought and some good discussions were generated.

Do I consider myself to be a cyborg? Being honest, I hated the term "cyborg" from the very beginning. Perhaps it came down to its phonetics more so than even its connotations, but I still do not like the word; as such I would never want to label myself as one out of pure irritation by it. But in the context of Harraway's article, I suppose that yes, I am something of a cyborg, because technology has become such a crucial aspect of my life. A large portion of what I know has been learnt through watching television and surfing the internet, and if we are looking beyond electronic / "modern" technologies, then most of my time is spent making use of various other technologies such as books, or language. I am happy to live in an age where these technologies are available to us. So in that context, yes, I do consider myself to be a cyborg, and a proud one at that.