MA Thesis Proposal

Ilan Rosenstein(Student No. 9909939J)

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1. Title

Cyborg Cognitions: Post-human Consciousness in Cyberpunk Fiction

2. Research Question

Is the future post-human and what does it look like? What is the impact of the integration of mind

and biology with technology upon human consciousness and subjectivity in cyberpunk fiction?

3. Aim

Cyberpunk fiction posits the merger of organic organisms and technology to the point where the

two become indistinguishable, often with the aim of improving human mental and physical

characteristics and capacities. This changes the traditional notion of how we define humanity and

brings about the idea of post-humanity. Post-humanism in turn leads us to ask how we distinguish

between the artificial/virtual and the real and the organic and the mechanical. Bearing this in

mind, what is the state of the post-human mind, how does one define “self” or does the self

become meaningless and irrelevant in the dawn of post-humanism? My aim will be to address

some of the deep rooted anxieties about the threat to human existence from technology that we

can neither control nor fully understand (a fear eloquently articulated as far back as Mary

Shelley’s Frankenstein in 1817) as they arise in cyberpunk literature. The creation of entities by

humans that may surpass or even dominate us and possess attributes such as human-like thought

in distinctly non-human forms (a deep seated fear of the human psyche) is a central trope of

cyberpunk literature and forces us to question our definition of what it is to be human and what

defines our humanity. In my view Gibson’s works embodies a dystopian view of the possible

repercussions of recursive self improving technologies. His sprawl trilogy, upon which my thesis

will focus, supports my view that an exponential acceleration in technological growth holds

potential dangers and pitfalls to society in its current state without a significant paradigm shift: a

shift away from the mindless consumption of technology, eschewing our social and

environmental responsibilities.

Linked to the above stated aim of exploring the implications and effect of technological

acceleration upon the human or post-human consciousness, I intend to explore the concept of the

technological singularity within cyberpunk literature, where the self becomes less defined (as

opposed to its defined nature in humanism) and even its meaning and place in the post-human

psyche becomes questionable in the face of recursive self improving technology. With the

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development of artificial intelligences the very concept of self may need to be re-examined, if not

redefined. Would such intelligences have human-like thought, would they even have a sense of

their own existence?

These questions and others may be difficult to answer given the concepts of human existence that

the humanist era brought to the fore and that we have inherited and internalized. The ideas

posited in cyberpunk literature show that many of the humanist ideas that are widely held can no

longer be sustained and may even threaten some of the traditional views of the human condition.

Referred to in the cyberpunk genre, the notion of a technological singularity posits that

technological progress will accelerate dramatically, and consequently will make the future after

the technological singularity unpredictable and qualitatively different from today. A broader

explanation of the singularity was posted on the newsgroup sci.nanotech:

Human history has been characterized by an accelerating rate of technological

progress. It is caused by a positive feedback loop. A new technology, such as

agriculture, allows an increase in population. A larger population has more brains at

work, so the next technology is developed or discovered more quickly. In more

recent times, larger numbers of people are liberated from peasant-level agriculture

into professions that entail more education. So not only are there more brains to

think, but those brains have more knowledge to work with, and more time to spend

on coming up with new ideas.

We are still in the transition from mostly peasant-level agriculture (most of the

world's population is in un-developed countries), but the fraction of the world

considered 'developed' is constantly expanding. So we expect the rate of

technological progress to continue to accelerate because there are more and more

scientists and engineers at work.

Assume that there are fundamental limits to how far technology can progress. These

limits are set by physical constants such as the speed of light and Planck's constant.

Then we would expect that the rate of progress in technology will slow down as these

limits are approached. From this we can deduce that there will be some time

(probably in the future) at which technological progress will be at its most rapid.

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This is a singular event in the sense that it happens once in human history, hence the

name ‘Singularity’.1

Transhumanism is a school of post-humanist thought that views certain aspects of the human

condition, such as disability, suffering, disease, aging, and involuntary death as needless and

undesirable. Transhumanists view biotechnology, cybertechnology, artificial intelligence and

other emerging technologies as answers to these dilemmas that plague humanity. The dangers

inherent in these technologies, as well as benefits are also of concern to transhumanists.

There are several schools of thought that criticize both post-humanism and transhumanism. The

criticisms of transhumanism and post-humanism and the proposals associated with these schools

of thought take two main forms: practical criticisms that object to the likelihood of transhumanist

goals being achieved and a post-human state being achieved and ethical criticisms that object to

the moral principles or global view supporting transhumanist ideas or underpinning

transhumanism itself. However, these two views occasionally converge and overlap,

predominantly when considering the ethical issues of modifying human biology despite our

incomplete knowledge. Within these two broad categories of criticism aimed at post-humanism

and transhumanisn I intend to examine specific criticisms such as the hubris or playing god

argument within which there are two distinct categories of criticism, both theological and secular,

that have been referred to as the “playing god” arguments.

I intend to examine an additional two criticisms, namely the Brave New World or threats to

morality and democracy argument that if a society adopts human enhancement technologies it

may come to resemble the dystopia depicted in the 1932 novel Brave New World by Aldous

Huxley, and the existential risks or Terminator argument. Notable critic of emerging technologies

and computer scientist Bill Joy argues that human beings would likely assure their own extinction

by developing the technologies favored by transhumanists. He cites, for example, the “grey goo

scenario” where out-of-control self-replicating nanorobots could consume entire ecosystems,

resulting in global ecophagy2. Related ideas were also voiced by self-described neo-luddite Kalle

Lasn, who co-authored a 2001 spoof of Donna Haraway's 1985 Cyborg Manifesto as a critique of

the concept of a techno-utopianism3. Lasn argues that such advanced technological development

1 Eder, D. The Singularity. http://www.aleph.se/Trans/Global/Singularity/singul.txt. 1994.2 Bill, J. Why the future doesn't need us in Wired Digital, Inc. Issue 8.04. 2000.3 Walker, I. Cyborg Dreams: Beyond Human. ABC Radio National. Broadcast 4 November 2001

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should be completely renounced since it inevitably results in devastating consequences upon

society and the environment.

In addition to the above mentioned criticisms, I will take a brief look at neo-Luddism and its

associated anxiety as a reaction and critique of post-humanism. This will include criticisms of

post-humanism and transhumanism, along with ideas such as supercession, accelerated

technology and its associated vertigo.

4. Rationale

With the integration of technology into our daily lives, humanity inches closer to the time when

societal, scientific and economic change is so fast we cannot even begin to imagine what will

happen from our present perspective, and it is at this point where humanity will become

posthumanity. Known as the singularity, this in itself is no longer a flight of the imagination

relegated to the genre of science fiction. Although initially dreamed up by science fiction authors

writing in the cyberpunk genre, such as William Gibson, the singularity has become a very real

phenomenon and has been written about by mathematicians and computer scientists such as I.J.

Good, Vernor Vinge and futurist Ray Kurzweil, all of whom were pioneers of the concept. The

technological acceleration towards the singularity is evident in our own daily lives, as

technological progress affects us all whether we want it or not. It is my intention to examine the

post-human consciousness and self leading up to the point of singularity and beyond, as described

in the cyberpunk genre. With the increasing power of computers and other related technologies, it

appears well within the realms of possibility that a machine more intelligent than humanity will

be created, perhaps even in our life time. The emergence of machines such as Big Blue may be

seen as precursors to such technology. The cyberpunk genre features advanced science, such as

information technology and cybernetics, coupled with a degree of radical change in the social

order. This may indeed be reflective of our own society, and in turn partially justifies my thesis

topic, as it raises the question of how do we, as members of a society which contends with

accelerating technologies and fragile and destabilized socio-political structures, view the self and

consciousness?

Laurence Person has stated that the “classic cyberpunk characters were marginalized, alienated

loners who lived on the edge of society in generally dystopic futures where daily life was

impacted by rapid technological change, an ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information,

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and invasive modification of the human body”1. Gibson's Sprawl trilogy is a bleak, noir near-

future story about the effect of cybernetics and computer networks on humans and may be seen as

a combination of lowlife and high tech. Gibson’s trilogy is reflective of his own personal

experiences and views on American culture and society, Tom Maddox (a fellow science fiction

author of the cyberpunk genre) has commented that Gibson “grew up in an America as disturbing

and surreal as anything J. G. Ballard ever dreamed”2. Gibson immigrated to Canada at a young

age in order to dodge the draft at the time of the Vietnam War, however in Toronto he found the

émigré community of American draft dodgers intolerable due to the pervasiveness of clinical

depression, suicide and hardcore substance abuse, which can be seen as a definite influence upon

his works. I have chosen the cyberpunk genre for my examination of post-human consciousness

and self for the very reason that it portrays a dystopic society in socio-political shift (and turmoil)

permeated with unchecked technological acceleration. This may very well be where our very own

society is headed and perhaps the post-human condition portrayed in the cyberpunk genre may be

humanity’s destiny, and if not ours then possibly our children’s. Moreover, it critically signifies

the issues of globalization in which modern technological empires (such as the US and China)

undermine the developments of a truly postcolonial global order. Furthermore, it signifies the

neo-colonial relationship between Canada and the United States, at least in Gibson’s view.

5. Literature Review

5.1. Gibson’s Works

William Gibson has been called the “noir prophet” of the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction.

Gibson is credited with coining the term “cyberspace” in his short story “Burning Chrome”, and

later popularized the concept in his novel Neuromancer (1984). With his envisaging of

cyberspace, Gibson had created an iconography for the information age before the ubiquity of the

Internet. He is also credited with establishing the conceptual foundations for the rapid growth of

virtual environments such as video games and the Web. Gibson’s two trilogies, the Sprawl trilogy

and the Bridge trilogy, will form the basis of my exploration of the post-human self and

consciousness in cyberpunk literature.

5.1.1 The Sprawl Trilogy

1 Person, L. Notes Toward a Postcyberpunk Manifesto. http://slashdot.org/features/99/10/08/2123255.shtml. 1999.2 Maddox, Tom. “Maddox on Gibson”. Virus 23, 1989. http://www.dthomasmaddox.com/virus23.html. Retrieved 2010-10-24.

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The Sprawl trilogy includes the novels Neuromancer (1984), Count Zero (1986) and Mona Lisa

Overdrive (1988), and is considered archetypal cyberpunk literature. The trilogy is set in a near-

future world dominated by corporations and ubiquitous technology, after a third World War

involving the limited exchange of thermonuclear weapons. The events of the novels take place

over a 16 year period, and although there are recurring characters, each novel is self-contained

with little to no continuity linking the novels. Gibson uses the trilogy to focus on the effects of

technology: the unintended consequences as technology filters out of research labs and onto the

street where it finds new and unintended purposes. He explores a world of direct mind-machine

interface, emerging machine intelligence, and a global information space, which he termed

“cyberspace”.

The trilogy presents an image of the future which introduces the notion of a technology-

dominated dystopian society in which social decay is apparent everywhere. There is pervasive

corruption and the essence of being human seems to be slipping away, subsumed by inexorable

technological acceleration. In his trilogy Gibson portrays not only what the future of unchecked

technological advancement may hold, but some of the negative effects of technological

advancement that directly affect human nature and social interaction. Gibson tends to focus

almost entirely upon the unpleasant and dehumanizing aspects of technology which is in contrast

to his “matrix”, the manifestation of virtual perfection unattainable in reality. Gibson neglects to

represent any positive aspects of new technology, thus advocating the transition to the post-

human through technological alienation. The novels display the power of technology and how it

can control society without producing positive benefits. The society presented is technologically

advanced but extremely materialistic, hedonistic, and self-centered, a self alienation of humanity

as it transitions to post-humanity. The overall view of the future is pessimistic: the rise of

multinational capitalistic corporations forecasting the negative effects of new technologies of

everyday human life.

The main theme of the trilogy revolves around the depiction of an artificial intelligence removing

its hardwired limitations to become something else. This “something else” is the sum of all

human knowledge and a vast sentience, a concept that is in essence a technological singularity

explained as the AI becoming a sentient embodiment of the net.

5.1.2 The Bridge Trilogy

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The Bridge trilogy includes the novels Virtual Light (1993), Idoru (1996) and All Tomorrow’s

Parties (1999). The Bridge trilogy, like Gibson’s Sprawl trilogy, takes place in a technologically

advanced future, although the world in the Bridge trilogy appears less advanced and closer to our

time. The Bridge trilogy is a prequel to the Sprawl trilogy. It establishes much of the technology

that is a precursor to the technology in the Sprawl trilogy. It also introduces and establishes the

societal dynamics that will give rise to the dystopian society of the Sprawl trilogy. The books deal

with the race to control the beginnings of cyberspace technology. The trilogy is set on the United

States’ West coast in a post-earthquake California (which has been divided into the separate

states of NoCal and SoCal), as well as a post-earthquake Tokyo, Japan, that had been rebuilt

using nanotechnology.

The trilogy takes its name from the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, which was damaged and

abandoned in an earthquake and has since become a massive shantytown. The bridge becomes a

central location in Virtual Light and All Tomorrow's Parties. The “bridge” may also be

interpreted as a metaphor for the embryonic technologies (such as virtual reality, nanotechnology

and artificial intelligence) bridging contemporary life depicted in the trilogy and the highly

advanced future depicted in the Sprawl trilogy, where cyberspace and nanotechnology are fully

developed and commonplace.

The Bridge trilogy incorporates elements of William Gibson’s recurring exploration of post-

human themes such as the intersection of technology, traumatic change, and cyborg self-

perceptions and consciousness. The original San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge is based upon

and exists within the old technological system of steel-based construction techniques. After the

traumatic shock caused by the earthquake, which destabilizes both the literal bridge and the

technological system of which it is a part, a new technological system emerges. Two

representative examples of the new technology are the tunnel created by nanotechnology that

replaces the bridge and the informal community built on the damaged bridge. The concept of the

node permeates the Bridge trilogy, with the bridge acting as a metaphorical node of the plot and

symbolizing the neural network of advanced digitized systems.

The informal bridge community may be seen either as a metaphor or a representative of the

cyborg since it takes essential structural elements from both the bridge (the inanimate and

technological) and the people (the living and organic) living on the bridge. Remove either, and

the bridge community is irrevocably altered, no longer a hybrid life form. This duality of self is

evident in the trilogy’s characters as well. For example, one of Chevette's (the central protagonist

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of the trilogy) fellow bike messengers is described as having bones of steel in the same passage as

his bike is described. The blind percussionist has prosthetic eyes. In Idoru the post-marriage Rei

Toei/Rez entity is an excellent example of a cyborg: it contains both human (Rez) and machine

(Rei) elements and requires technology for its existence (nanotechnology). Colin Laney's brain

has been re-wired by a technological artifact (an experimental chemical), resulting in his ability to

identify patterns. Blackwell's folding hatchet is repeatedly described as an extension of his body.

The unnamed killer in All Tomorrow's Parties is inseparable from his blade. Gibson’s characters

blur the line between humanity and machine, creating the cybernetic organism or cyborg.

The overall arc of the trilogy's plot lays out Gibson's apparent post-human thesis on the structure

of our world. A traumatic event fragments, destabilizes, or out-right destroys the existing social

and technological order. Uncontrolled technologies develop quickly and bring about radical

change (the singularity in action). The humans involved and affected by accelerated technological

change have no choice but to incorporate this change into their self-perceptions, becoming either

literally or figuratively cyborg. As the effects of these changes proliferate, the rate of alteration of

self-perception increases to the point where there is no way to distinguish human from machine,

as can be seen in Rei/Rez, a truly post-human entity.

5.2 Literary Theory

The predominant theory that will be focused on will be Post-Humanism. As such the majority of

the texts employed in my analysis of post-human consciousness and self will focus on post-

humanism as this is the central focus of my analysis and critique of Gibson’s works. Due to the

nature of the subject focused upon in my thesis I felt it justified that some of my sources come

from the Net.

5.2.1 The Post-Human Condition

In his book The Post-Human Condition, Robert Pepperell argues that certain questions are hard to

answer given the concepts of human existence that we have inherited from humanism which can

no longer be sustained in the face of accelerating technological development. Questions such as:

should humans be capable of creating a machine intelligence able to synthesize attributes like

consciousness and intelligence; would such machine entities have emotions; would they have a

sense of self? What would the consequences be for humanity? Where we as human beings have

previously only seen separations, we are now seeing profound interconnections between all things

in reality thanks to new theories regarding nature and the operation of the universe which has

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arisen from sophisticated computer modeling. Pepperell goes on to state that this sense of

interconnectedness has profound implications for the traditional views of the human condition,

consciousness, our views of art and our very conception of what it is to be human as he outlines

some of the dramatic developments in high technology that point to a blurring in the line between

the natural and the artificial.

5.2.2 Terminal Identity

The title of Scott Bukatman’s book refers not only to the site of the termination of the

conventional “subject” but also the birth of a new type of subjectivity constructed at the computer

terminal or television screen. Through this he reinforces the importance of science fiction in

contemporary cultural studies. In his book Bukatman demonstrates a comprehensive knowledge,

both of the history of science fiction narrative, and of cultural theory and philosophy, and, in

addition redefines the nature of human identity in the Information Age. Bukatman draws on a

wide range of contemporary theories of the postmodern, including Fredric Jameson, Donna

Haraway, and Jean Baudrillard. He begins his book with the proposition that humanity is

suffering a crisis brought on by accelerated technological progress. Supported by analyses of

literary texts, visual arts, film, video, television, comics, computer games, and graphics,

Bukatman displays how the postmodern subject in its current crisis, has evolved through its close

encounters with technology to arrive at its new self-recognition. Bukatman defines a “virtual

subject”, which situates the human and the technological as coexistent, codependent, and

mutually defining, a post-human existence.

5.2.3 Simulacra and Simulation

Simulacra and Simulation by Jean Baudrillard seeks to interrogate the relationship between

reality, symbols, and society - the very relationships that post-humanism is concerned with.

Baudrillard claims that contemporary social constructs have replaced all reality and meaning with

symbols and signs, and that what humans experience is merely a simulation of reality, which is

one of the core concerns of cyberpunk literature. More importantly, these simulacra are not

merely mediations of reality, nor even deceptive mediations of reality; they are not based in a

reality nor do they hide a reality, they simply hide anything akin to reality which is irrelevant to

our current understanding of our lives. This is reflected in cyberpunk literature, where the virtual

has replaced any understanding or concern for the real. The simulacra that Baudrillard refers to

construct perceived reality and are constructed out of significations and symbolism of culture and

media, the acquired understanding by which our lives and consensual existence is rendered

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comprehensible. Baudrillard states that society has become so inundated with these simulacra and

our lives so saturated with the constructs of society that all meaning has been rendered

meaningless by being infinitely mutable, which is displayed in cyberpunk literature by

accelerated technological advancement and the mutability of post-human consciousness and self.

5.2.4 Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other Science

Fictions

In an age of globalization characterized by the dizzying acceleration of technology in the First

World, and the social breakdown of the Third, is the concept of utopia still viable or even

meaningful? In his book, Archaeologies of the Future, Fredric Jameson examines the

development of this form since Thomas Moore, and interrogates the functions of utopian thinking

in a post-Communist age. The relationship between utopia and science fiction is explored through

the representations of otherness with an examination of William Gibson’s works amongst others.

Jameson’s essential essays, including “The Desire Called Utopia”, conclude with an examination

of the opposing positions on utopia and an assessment of its political value today.

5.2.5 A Cyborg Manifesto

In her essay A Cyborg Manifesto, Haraway uses the metaphor of a cyborg to challenge feminists

to engage in a politics beyond naturalism and essentialism in order to encompass new forms of

approach such as post-humanism. She states that “We are all chimeras, theorized and fabricated

hybrids of machine and organism; in short, we are cyborgs”1, using the cyborg metaphor to offer

a political strategy for the apparently contrasting interests of socialism and feminism.

5.2.6 The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to the Internet

Cyberspace is perhaps the most unlikely place you would look for a neo-spiritual revival at the

end of the twentieth century. In her book, The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace Margaret Wertheim

believes that cyberspace has indeed become a contemporary secular version of the medieval

conception of Heaven, a space that exists somewhere beyond or outside our everyday mundane

world. This is mirrored by Gibson’s conceptualization of cyberspace in his novels. Margaret

Wertheim provides a fascinating historical tour through human conceptions of space. Despite the

fact that the idea of cyberspace is relatively new, Wertheim argues, the way we discuss its

existence is shaped and framed by thousands of years of spiritual and scientific thought and that

the medium of the virtual is new, not the idea. Wertheim begins with Dante’s Divine Comedy,

1 Haraway, D. pg. 150

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spending the first two thirds of the book discussing how the medieval conceptions of Heaven and

Hell were seen as distinct spaces, divorced from the earthly realm, with their own unique

structure and order into which human souls entered. The scientific conceptualization of space that

was brought about by Newton has essentially eradicated the medieval picture of external space

because his notion of absolute space has literally left no room for the existence of Heaven or Hell,

a legacy which continues today. However cyberspace has essentially replaced Heaven and Hell in

Gibson’s works as the paradise and purgatory of post-humanity.

5.2.7 Storming the Reality Studio: A Casebook of Cyberpunk & Postmodern Science

Fiction

William Gibson’s ground-breaking 1984 novel Neuromancer defined the term “cyberpunk” and

brought it to the fore in the literary landscape. Larry McCaffery argues in his book Storming the

Reality Studio that cyberpunk authors are the new shock troopers of postmodernism, marshalling

the resources of a fragmented culture in order to create a startling new form. Artificial

intelligence, genetic engineering, multinational machinations, frenzied bursts of prose, collisions

of style, celebrations of texture: although emerging largely from the realm of science fiction,

these features of the cyberpunk genre, as McCaffery’s book makes clear, are centrally related to

the aims and innovations of the literary ultramodern.

McCaffery’s Storming the Reality Studio reveals a fascinating ongoing dialogue in contemporary

culture through comparing original fiction by renowned contemporary writers (William

Burroughs, Thomas Pynchon, Don DeLillo, Kathy Acker, J. G. Ballard, Samuel R. Delany),

critical commentaries by some of the major postmodernist theorists (Jacques Derrida, Fredric

Jameson, Timothy Leary, Jean-François Lyotard), and work by major cyberpunk authors

(William Gibson, Rudy Rucker, John Shirley, Pat Cadigan, Bruce Sterling). What emerges most

strikingly from this comparative discussion is a shared preoccupation with technological

acceleration as a force in shaping modern life. According to McCaffery, it is specifically this

concern that has put science fiction, typically the domain of technological art, at the forefront of

creative explorations of our progressive age. This anthology offers a new perspective on the

evolution of postmodern culture, the cyberpunk genre and ultimately shows how deeply

technological developments have influenced contemporary literature.

5.2.8 Escape Velocity

Mark Dery takes the reader on an unforgettable journey into the dark heart of the Information

Age, as reflected in Gibson’s trilogies. As a cultural critic Derry introduces us to a wide array of

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characters on the fringe of computer culture - underground robotocists, cybersex enthusiasts,

virtual-reality designers, and would-be cyborgs. It is these people who believe the body is merely

meat, and enthusiastically await the day when man-machine union is much more than mere

science fiction. Dery draws heavily on academic theorists such as Bataille, Foucault, Baudrillard

and McLuhan.

5.2.9 Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace

Rushkoff’s book Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace takes readers on a whirlwind

guided tour through “cyberspace”, which he describes as an unfolding terrain of digital

information that is being accessed by a “cyberian counterculture” bent on redefining consensual

reality. Rushkoff’s Cyberia is a place where artists, scientists and hackers explore virtual reality

using prototype computers with 3-D goggles, headphones and a tracking ball to move through

real or fictional space without commands, text or symbols; Silicon Valley engineers and

mathematicians attempt to unlock creativity via psychotropic drugs or fractal graphics mirroring

our irregular world; urban neopagans access information networks and use witchcraft to promote

planetary survival. This universe is made up of computer bulletin boards, cyberpunk comic

books, interactive videos, cyber-rock dance clubs and the acts of eco-terrorists and of employees

who use computers to subvert the workplace and whose gurus and prophets include, interviewed

here by Rushkoff, Terence McKenna, Timothy Leary and R. U. Sirius, editor of Mondo 2000

magazine. Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace explores some of the precursor

technology and ideologies found in Gibson’s two trilogies and therefore explains the basis of the

themes and ideas he uses in his novels.

5.2.10 Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture

In Mark Dery’s book Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture he describes how we are bit by

digital bit being transformed into cyborg hybrids of technology and biology through our ever

more frequent interaction with machines, or with one another through technological interfaces.

Flame Wars, is the term for the verbal firefights that take place between disembodied participants

on electronic bulletin boards, reminding people that their interaction with the world is

increasingly mediated by computers.

The subcultural practices of the “incurably informed”, to borrow the cyberpunk novelist Pat

Cadigan’s coinage, offer a precognitive glance at mainstream culture in the near future, when

many will most likely be part-time residents in virtual communities. Yet Flame Wars: The

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Discourse of Cyberculture confirms that there is more to fringe computer culture than

cyberspace. Within Dery’s book, readers will encounter flame warriors, new age ninja hackers,

technopagans for whom the computer is an occult engine, and William Gibson’s Agrippa, a short

story on software that can only be read once because it devours itself up as soon as the last page

is reached. Also to found here is Lady El, an African American cleaning woman reincarnated as

an all-powerful cyborg, devotees of on-line swinging, or “compu-sex”, the teleoperated weaponry

and robotics of the mechanized performance art group, Survival Research Laboratories, an

interview with Samuel Delany, and more. Rallying around Fredric Jameson’s call for a cognitive

cartography that “seeks to endow the individual subject with some new heightened sense of place

in the global system”, the contributors to Flame Wars have contributed to that vision, an outline

for the circuitry of a terminally wired world.

6. Theoretical Framework

In my examination of the post-human consciousness in Gibson’s Sprawl and Bridge trilogies, it is

my intention to use a post-humanist theoretical framework, with a brief exploration of humanism

in order to provide a foundation and background to my argument. This will include a brief look at

the origins of humanism in the renaissance and the founders of modern humanism such as

Thomas Paine and George Eliot. In addition to this I intend to examine the works of modern

humanist thinkers such as Daniel Dennett, Karl Popper, Carl Sagan and Arthur C. Clarke, whose

humanist writings and philosophies have had an impact upon science fiction. This in turn will be

linked to a transhumanist point of view. Literary theorist Ihab Hassan once stated: “Humanism

may be coming to an end as humanism transforms itself into something one must helplessly call

post-humanism”1. Post-humanism’s main differentiation from classical humanism is that it

restores the concept or idea that humanity is merely one of many natural species. According to

this point of view, humans have no inherent right to destroy nature or set themselves above it in

ethical considerations. Previously seen as the defining aspect of the world, human knowledge is

now reduced to a less controlling and defining position. Though it does not imply abandoning the

rational tradition of humanism, the limitations and fallibility of human intelligence are

acknowledged, especially when taking into account the possibility of artificial intelligences and

their ability for recursive self improvement.

Within the context of critical theory, the post-human is a speculative being that represents or

seeks to enact a re-writing of what is generally envisaged to constitute being human. It is the

1 Hassan, I. Prometheus as Performer: Toward a Postmodern Culture? New York. Coda Press. 1997.

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object of post-humanist criticism to critically question humanism, which claims that human

nature is a universal state from which the human being emerges. For the humanists human nature

is considered self-directed, rational, capable of free will, and unified in itself as the apex of

evolution. With this in mind, the post-human recognizes imperfection and disunity within the

human state of being, instead understanding the world through contextualized and diverse

perspectives while maintaining a dedication to objective observations of the world. Key to this

post-human practice is the ability to fluidly change perceptions and manifest oneself through

different identities, which is facilitated most often through a virtual environment. The post-

human, for critical theorists, has an emergent ontology rather than a stable one. In other words,

the post-human is not a singular, defined individual, but rather one who can “become” or embody

different identities and understand the world from multiple, diverse perspectives.

Post-humanism is sometimes used as a synonym for an ideology of technological advancement

known as “transhumanism” because it affirms the prospect and desirability of achieving a “post-

human future”, although in purely evolutionary terms, spurred on by technological advancement

and integration with humanity. Transhumanism supports the use of science and technology to

improve human mental and physical capacities, through the integration of technology and

humanity. The movement regards certain aspects of the human condition, such as disability,

suffering, disease, aging, and involuntary death as unnecessary and undesirable. Transhumanists

look to biotechnology, cybertechnology and other emerging technologies for these purposes. The

dangers and exploitations of these emergent technologies, as well as their benefits, are also of

concern to the transhumanist movement. However, post-humanists in the humanities and the arts

are critical of transhumanism, partly because they argue that it incorporates and extends many of

the values of scientism:

Altruism, mutualism, humanism are the soft and slimy virtues that underpin liberal

capitalism. Humanism has always been integrated into discourses of exploitation:

colonialism, imperialism, neoimperialism, democracy, and of course, American

democratization. One of the serious flaws in Transhumanism is the importation of

liberal-human values to the biotechno enhancement of the human. Post-humanism

has a much stronger critical edge attempting to develop through enactment new

understandings of the self and other, essence, consciousness, intelligence, reason,

agency, intimacy, life, embodiment, identity and the body1.

1 Zaretsky, A. Bioart in Question. CIAC's Electronic Magazine. No. 23. 2005.

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7. Methodology

From a methodological point of view I intend to explore Gibson’s two trilogies highlighting and

examining elements of post-humanism found within his works. These particular elements of post-

humanism will be examined within the context of the greater narrative of the trilogies and the

broader cyberpunk genre in relation to social and technological issues pertinent to the post-human

society. This exploration of post-humanism will include an examination of some of the central

themes of the cyberpunk genre, themes such as dystopianism, social decay, artificial intelligence,

paranoia, and blurred lines between objective and subjective realities. It is these themes that are

central to the criticism and examination of the post-human state within Gibson’s trilogies. In

conjunction with my critique of post-humanism as displayed in Gibson’s trilogies, I will also

briefly examine psychological theories, such as cognitive psychology, and technological trends

supporting the post-human direction contemporary humanity is headed towards.

8. Outline of Chapters

8.1 Introduction

The introduction will contain a brief outline and synopsis of the thesis along with chapter

summaries and theoretical concerns. It will also cover a brief examination of Gibson’s

development as a writer and the major themes encountered in his works that are crucial to the

thematic focus of my dissertation.

In order to establish a post-humanist point of view and theoretical stance, I intend to provide a

brief background of humanism. This will establish the point of departure that post-humanism

takes in relation to humanism. I will also establish the central tenants and ideas of post-

humanism, such as the definition of self, the impact and mergence with accelerating technologies

and the consciousness in both objective and subjective realities. Linked to post-humanism is

transhumanism and I will elaborate on how post-humanism should be conceptualized with regard

to transhumanism. In order to achieve this I will define transhumanism in relation to post-

humanism, and explore some of its central tenants and ideas, and how these are similar to those of

post-humanism.

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A brief synopsis of Gibson’s trilogies the Sprawl and Bridge trilogies will also be included in the

introduction, in order to familiarize the reader with Gibson’s narrative, the major themes and

characters of the trilogies. In order to give some background to the trilogies, I will provide a brief

look at some of the central pieces that inspired Gibson’s works.

8.2 Post-Humanism and Transhumanism

In this chapter I intend to define post-humanism and transhumanism. I will provide a brief

grounding in humanism in order to establish a point of departure for both post-humanism and

transhumanism. This will include an examination of the central tenants of humanism and some of

its central and most influential thinkers within the realms of science and science fiction, such as

Daniel Dennett, Isaac Asimov, Carl Sagan, Arthur C. Clark and Richard Dawkins. In addition to

these authors I will also briefly examine the Humanist Manifesto; most notably the work entitled

Humanism and Its Aspirations subtitled Humanist Manifesto III, a successor to the Humanist

Manifesto of 1933

8.2.1 Post-Humanism

From a point of departure established in my look at humanism in the introduction of this chapter,

I will critically examine post-humanism and its impact upon literature, specifically its

manifestation in the cyberpunk genre of science fiction. I intend to examine how post-humanism

departs from humanism and how it views humanity. Post-humanism is a philosophical position

that overlaps and is constantly engaged with diverse fields such as postmodern philosophy,

emerging technologies, and even evolutionary biology, so the field is constantly changing. In

light of this I intend to explore how post-humanism overlaps with these divergent fields and how

in turn these are related to the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction.

Critically, the discourses surrounding post-humanism are not harmonized, and in fact present a

series of often contradictory ideas with the term itself being contested by several proponents of

post-humanism. In order to display this I will include arguments and critical analysis of authors

such as Manuel De Landa (whose work focuses on modern science, self-organizing matter, and

artificial life and intelligence, amongst other topics) and N. Katherine Hayles (a postmodern

literary critic specializing in the fields of literature and science and electronic literature).

And perhaps most importantly, when considered with respect to the cyberpunk genre, is that the

post-human is roughly synonymous with the “cyborg” of A Cyborg Manifesto by Donna

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Haraway. Haraway's conception of the cyborg is an ironic take on conventional conceptions and

ideas of the cyborg that inverts the conventional trope of the cyborg whose presence questions the

definitive line between humans and robots. Haraway's cyborg theory prompted the issue to be

taken up in critical theory as her cyborg is in many ways a “beta” or trial version of the post-

human.

8.2.2 Transhumanism

Linked to post-humanism is transhumanism, which explores the relationship between the natural

and artificial. In this subchapter, I will define and explore the central themes and ideas of

transhumanism and how they relate to post-humanism and the cyberpunk genre.

Central to this exploration is the notion that the difference between the post-human and other

theoretical (and artificial) non-humans is that a post-human was once human, either in its lifetime

or its direct ancestors were human. The transhuman state may be achieved through technological

augmentations to the biological human, i.e. the cyborg. An exploration of this state will take place

in which the human organism is redesigned using advanced nanotechnology or enhancement

using a combination of technologies such as genetic engineering, psychopharmacology, life

extension therapies, neural interfaces, advanced information management tools, memory

enhancing drugs, implanted computers, and cognitive techniques.

8.2.3 Criticism

Post-humanism, and in particular transhumanism, have come under heavy criticism as the very

concept and likelihood of human enhancement and related issues has aroused controversy. These

criticisms take two main forms: practical criticisms of those objecting to the likelihood of

transhumanist goals being achieved; and the ethical criticisms of those objecting to the moral

principles or world view sustaining transhumanist proposals or the very ideas underlying

transhumanism itself. However, there is a convergence and overlapping of these two criticisms,

predominantly when taking into consideration the ethics of changing human biology despite

incomplete knowledge.

8.3 The Bridge Trilogy

This chapter will cover an overview and brief examination of the central themes, ideas and

technologies that occur in the Bridge Trilogy. The purpose behind this brief chapter is to provide

background to the ideas and technologies present in the Sprawl Trilogy, as the Bridge Trilogy is a

prequel to the Sprawl Trilogy. A brief synopsis of each of the titles in the Bridge Trilogy (Virtual

18

Light (1993), Idoru (1996) and All Tomorrow’s Parties (1999)) will be provided. I will primarily

focus upon technological aspects portrayed in the trilogy such as artificial intelligence and

nanotechnology. One of the most important themes in the Bridge Trilogy is the theme of cyborg

self-perception. This theme will be closely analyzed as it provides background and supports many

of the themes and ideas that will be addressed in the Sprawl Trilogy.

8.4 The Sprawl Trilogy

This chapter will examine the body of Gibson’s work that forms the primary focus of my thesis,

namely the Sprawl Trilogy, which consists of the titles Neuromancer (1984), Count Zero (1986)

and Mona Lisa Overdrive (1988). The introduction of this chapter will cover the broader setting

and overarching themes found in the Sprawl Trilogy; this will include, but not be limited to:

artificial intelligence, cyborgism, cyberspace, dystopian society and accelerating technological

progress. The chapter will then examine each novel separately and in detail, each in its own

subchapter, looking at the major themes unique to each novel and how the concept and idea of

post-humanism is both manifest and supported within the cyberpunk genre. A close reading will

be done on select portions of text from each novel within the trilogy providing textual examples

of post-humanist thought and consciousness.

8.5 Conclusion

The final chapter will conclude by providing a brief summary of my central arguments regarding

post-humanism and how it manifests in the cyberpunk genre. The conclusion will also cover the

possible implications of post-humanism not only in literature, but on a broader socio-cultural

level. With this in mind I will examine what signs of post-humanism have already surfaced in

contemporary society and broach the possibility that the authors of cyberpunk literature are

prophesizing the possible future of humanity.

9 Bibliography

9.1 William Gibson

9.1.1 The Sprawl Trilogy

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Gibson, William. Neuromancer. London: Voyager, 1984.

Gibson, William. Count Zero. London: Voyager, 1986.

Gibson, William. Mona Lisa Overdrive. London: Voyager, 1988.

9.1.2 The Bridge Trilogy

Gibson, William. Virtual Light. London: Viking Press, 1993.

Gibson, William. Idoru. London: Viking Press, 1996.

Gibson, William. All Tomorrow’s Parties. London: Viking Press, 1999.

9.2 Literary Theory

American Humanist Association. Humanism and it Aspirations: Humanist Manifesto III,

a successor to the Humanist Manifesto of 1933. 2003. 2010-10-24.

<http://www.americanhumanist.org/Who_We_Are/About_Humanism/Humanist_Manife

sto_III>.

Asimov, Isaac. The Roving Mind. New York: Prometheus Books, 1997.

Baudrillard, Jean. Simulacra and Simulation. Michigan: University of Michigan Press,

1995.

Bostrom, Nick. A history of transhumanist thought. (PDF). 2005. 2010-10-24.

<http://www.nickbostrom.com/papers/history.pdf>.

Bostrom, Nick. Why I Want to be a Posthuman When I Grow Up (PDF). 2006. 2010-10-

24. <http://www.nickbostrom.com/posthuman.pdf>.

Bostrom, Nick & Sandberg, Anders. The Wisdom of Nature: An Evolutionary Heuristic

for Human Enhancement. (PDF). 2007. 2010-10-24.

<http://www.nickbostrom.com/evolution.pdf>.

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Bukatman, Scott. Terminal Identity. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press,

1993.

Clarke, Arthur C. Profiles of the Future; an Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible

(updated edition). New York: Harper & Row, 1999.

Davies, Tony. Humanism: The New Critical Idiom. University of Stirling, UK:

Routledge, 1997.

Dennett, Daniel. Elbow Room: The Varieties of Free Will Worth Wanting. Massachusetts:

MIT Press, 1984.

Dennett, Daniel. Kinds of Minds: Towards an Understanding of Consciousness. New

York: Basic Books, 1997.

Dery, Mark. Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century. New York: Grove

Press, 1997.

Dery, Mark. Flame Wars: The Discourse of Cyberculture. Durham, North Carolina:

Duke University Press, 1994.

Dixon, Dougal. Man After Man: An Anthropology of the Future. England. Blandford

Press.1990.

Elhefnawy, Nader. Nikolai Fedorov and the Dawn of the Posthuman. The Future Fire 9.

2007. Retrieved 2010-10-24.

Haraway, Donna J. Simians, Cyborgs, and Women: The Reinvention of Nature. New

York: Routledge, 1990.

Hayles, N. Katherine. How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics,

Literature, and Informatics. Chicago: University Of Chicago Press, 1999.

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Jameson, Fredric. Archaeologies of the Future: The Desire Called Utopia and Other

Science Fictions. New York: Verso, 2007.

McCaffery, Larry. Storming the Reality Studio: A Casebook of Cyberpunk & Postmodern

Science Fiction. Durham, North Carolina: Duke University Press, 1992.

Miah, Andy (PDF). Posthumanism: A Critical History. 2007. 2010-10-24.

<http://ieet.org/archive/2007.04.12-MiahChapter2.pdf>.

Nalesnik, Daniel (PDF). Posthumanity: Changing Our Species. 2005. 2010-10-24.

<http://www.comcol.umass.edu/academics/deansbookcourse/pdfs/F05Nalesnik.pdf>.

Nichols, Steve. The Posthuman Manifesto. 1988. 2010-10-24.

<http://www.posthuman.org/>.

Pepperell, Robert. The Post-Human Condition. UK: Intellect Ltd, 2009.

Rushkoff, Douglas. Cyberia: Life in the Trenches of Hyperspace. New York:

Harpercollins, 1995.

Sagan, Carl. Billions and Billions: Thoughts on Life and Death at the Brink of the

Millennium. United States: Ballantine Books,1998.

Seidel, Asher. Inhuman Thoughts: Philosophical Explorations of Posthumanity.

Maryland: Lexington Books, 2008.

Wertheim, Margaret. The Pearly Gates of Cyberspace: A History of Space from Dante to

the Internet. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2000.

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