Monday, April 28, 2008

Donna Haraway


Should we embrace cyborgosity or not?  I think Donna Haraway has some good points about our culture--even down to our very shoewear, we're told we can be better, faster, more athletic than before.  I mean, I don't even play sports, but for some reason I feel compelled to buy fifty dollar New Balances when I could get something to wear on my feet for much less.  Why would I need running shoes when I don't run?  I don't know, they're just fashionable, I guess.

And the idea of pharmaceutical cyborgosity is intriguing as well--it doesn't just stop at steroids and famous athletes, almost everything we eat is pumped full of growth hormone.  It's almost impossible to get away from technology in America--unless vegetables are grown organically, they too are artificially augmented.  

I wonder, though, how she can actually view all this as positive.  There's just something repulsive I always associate with food pumped full of growth hormone, or at least being made aware that what I'm eating is mainly technology.  Sure, it helps feed more people, but I don't think technology can always move us in the right direction.  As Heidi mentioned in her last blog post, I think a combination is required between the thinking of Albert Borgmann and Donna Haraway.  Technology can help us live in certain ways, but even down to the food we eat, the medicine we need to take to fall asleep?  A balance is required.

No comments: