Beyond the Physical Form

Beyond the Physical Form

Jordan Kulmar

Terms such as transhumanism or post-humanism are seldom thought to relate to the Facebook network. However, both can and do apply. However this does not mean that they are the same thing. Post-humanism focuses on cybernetics or, the combination of humans and intelligent technology. Function rather than form (LaGrandeur, 2014, para. 2-3). Vice versa there is transhumanism. Transhumanism focuses on fields such as bio-engineering and genetic engineering, with the goal of improving humans using technology (La Grandeur, 2014, para. 5-6). So with this in mind, how Facebook is contributing to post-humanism and transhumanism can be revealed.   

Transhumanism and post-humanism improves human functions. Retrieved from: http://www.igyaan.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Transhumanism.png

If Laurie McNiell is correct, modern humans can have two identities, one "real" and the other "virtual" (McNiell, 2012, p. 68). This is evident on the Facebook profile as you are not the only person constructing your identity (Kuttainen, 2017, pp. 6). So, by allowing users to choose what they would like to show the public, most users will disclose their positives, and not their "real" selves. On top of this, Facebook only allows a person to fill in fields specified by Facebook (McNiell, 2012, p. 69). This means that a person's virtual identity is designed in Facebook's ideal image, making Facebook a kind of co-author of the identity. Using this line of thinking, and applying the aforementioned definition of post-humanism, it can be seen that the interaction between the user (humans) and Facebook (intelligent technology), creates something more post-human than human.

Following the profile, the newsfeed consists of posts from the user, friends, and other pages or people the user has liked. Selecting who shows on the timeline however, is the extent of control the person has. Facebook predominately controls what appears on the new feed based on the user's "connections and activity" (Facebook, 2017) meaning, a person's virtual identity is created from the post-humanism interaction between the user and Facebook's software. This furthers the point that Facebook co-authors a user's identity (Mcneill, 2012, p. 73).

Now that it is clear that people have different "virtual" and "real" identities on Facebook (McNiell, 2012, p. 69), we can see that the virtual identity is certainly post-human. For it to be a cyborg like entity however, Facebook's software needs to improve a human aspect in some way (La Grandeur, 2014, para. 5-6). Consider a hypothetical situation where someone receives a prosthetic eye. This eye would allow the person to see further thereby, improving the person. Ultimately though, what the person sees is defined by the parameters set by the eyes' software. This would fall under the definition of transhumanism. Now examine Facebook. Like the prosthetic eye, Facebook allows its users to see further than they originally could. For example, they can read other countries news. But, also like the eye, the user is limited by the software parameters. So there is a degree of control and lack thereof, in both cases. But both would be considered a form of transhumanism.  

For more information on the difference between post-humanism and tranhumanism follow this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwvbzbJO4ow (Fuller, 2014).

References

Facebook. (2017). How News Feed Works. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/help/327131014036297/

Fuller, S. [Transhumanist Party UK]. (2015, October 14). Transhumanism vs. Post-humanism [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IwvbzbJO4ow

Kuttainen, V. (2017). BA1002: Our Space: Networks, narratives and the making of place, week 6 notes [PowerPoint Slides]. Retrieved from http://learnjcu.edu.au

LaGrandeur, K. (2014). What is the Difference between Posthumanism and Transhumanism?. Retrieved from https://ieet.org/index.php/IEET2/more/lagrandeur20140729

McNeill, L. (2012). There is no “I” in network: Social networking sites and posthuman auto/biography. Biography, 35(1), 64-82.https://doi.org/10.1353/bio.2012.0009

Zehra , R. (2015). Transhumanism [Image]. Retrieved from http://www.igyaan.in/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/Transhumanism.png