“Prologue: Computing Kin.” My Mother was a Computer

In Katherine Hayles Prologue: Computing Kin, from her book 'My Mother Was A Computer', she discusses the changes that happened in society with the development of computers and technology.  For the purposes of her article she looks at the different interpretations of the title, ‘My Mother Was A Computer’, from the time of World War II to the end twentieth century.  Through this time period there was a shift from manual calculations performed by humans to one where computational machines performed these tasks.  The statement as explained by Katherine Hayles, stands, “as a synecdoche for the panoply of issues raised by the relation of Homo Sapiens to Robo Sapiens, humans to intelligent machines” (Hayles).  She explains that there are post human ideas like, humans uploading there consciousness into computers, which are influencing the loss of parts of the corporeal embodiment that defines human limitation; but she does not agree with this notion. In her version of the post human she acknowledges the importance of embodiment and the ways in which it enhances both human and nonhuman life. (Hayles)  Hayles has observed the penetration of computational technologies into the developed countries of the world that has created a global mediated network, which is based on developing and integrating economic, manufacturing, transportation, and communication technologies.  With this change, tensions begin to develop between the different post human versions that are based on this evolution of machines and technology.

Through her argument she compares the liberal human tradition with post human to show how as technology evolves the post humans versions that emerge are re-inscribing aspects of liberal tradition, as this associated self with mind and the body as a container in which the mind operates (Hayles).  With further technological development the contrast between embodiment and disembodiment become more complex and have varied formations. (Hayles)  Under the contemporary conditions that exist there is a nuanced analysis that requires materiality to be repositioned from a physicality notion to one where the material basis of subjectivities and hybrid text can be re-envisioned (Hayles).  The materiality created through the interactions of physical characteristics and signifying strategies marks a convergence between the human intention and physical reality that exists.  Materiality relates to the Computational Universe described by Hayles, in which the universe is created through computational processes which define all aspects of physical reality that are produced and reproduced on a variety of levels, systems, and complex behaviors (Hayles).  For her purposes, the Universal Computer that is displacing Mother Nature is visualized in technology development as the ‘Motherboard’ of human beings.  Hayles describes this Computational Universe to enable insight into aspects of reality but also notes the obscurity that is created within certain features of reality.  This friction created through technological development, allows a synergetic cooperation between traditional and computational perspectives (Hayles).  Through her work she also is interested in the complex dynamics of this Computational Universe and how this world alongside technical and artistic practices, leads to a diversification of the meanings of computation. The three that Hayles discusses are technology, ontology, and cultural icons. 

Hayles also reviews how reading functions have been altered through the development of computational devices.  Computers do this by looking at the concept of reading, as a hallucination. Within contemporary society there has been a displacement of reading with the development of features like instant messaging, chat rooms, video games, email, and Web Surfing.  The traditional mother’s voice, that was the aspect that aided in the learning of words for adolescence, is now being supplanted by a variety of other stimuli, like visual, audio, kinesthetic and haptic cues transmitted through computers (Hayles).  With the development of the computational Universe, an individual’s subjectivities are now being extended within electronic environments like the internet through clicks, beeps and tones. Through her analysis she interrogates the effects of these interactions on the subjectivities and reading practices to show how print and electronic texts measure in relation to computational practices of contemporary society (Hayles). 

Now in regards to the kinship implications to understand the title of the article, she looks at how it creates both an understanding and misunderstanding of certain anthropomorphic projections, as they create an imaginary cultural view in which individuals are autonomous creatures with human life subjectivities (Hayles).  On the other side of this, there is the idea the humans can be seen as computer programs themselves and therefore looking at the hybrid subjectivities which may be created in the computational universe, provides insight to these relationships.  When Hayles looks at the aspect of literature and she determines that it is self-evident, she examines this in two different ways.  The first as an inclusion of literature, as its marginal position within culture increases and how it competes and co-operates with cultural aspects (Hayles). The second way pertains to an invitation to rethink the role of literature in the creation of contemporary culture imagery (Hayles). And to do this she looks at three broad categories, which are mathematic equations, simulation and discursive explanations.  And through these she determines that there are complex behaviors that exist, as well as simulations that create an imaginary world which humans can either take or mistake for reality.

The difference between literary text and simulation, as describe by Hayles, is that simulation requires computation and that literature is narrative.  Narrative simulation through literature is older but relates to subjectivities that remain rooted to human society (Hayles).  In contrast, computers perform numerical calculations through algorithms contained numerical quantities to create visual simulations (Hayles).  As mention by Hayles, there are tensions that exist between simulation and narrative, one of which is the dialect between the human and inhuman worlds.  Hayles uses three dynamics, which include making, storing and transmitting information, to understand the bodies of subject and text and their interactions to understand the tensions that exist (Hayles).  Through her discussion she shows how irreducible and evolutionary the simulation and narrative complexes are within contemporary society. 

The prologue to her book My Mother Was a Computer: Digital Subjects and Literary text, I think this is a great way in helping to understand the evolution of information technology and what it represents today, but also provides insight to how the relationship between humans and computers has changed through this evolution.  The development of computers into the form that exists today can be viewed in two ways.  They can either be seen as an influential or detrimental development within contemporary society.  The fears and skepticisms that exist towards computers and machines developed from the current relationships and applications of technology within contemporary society, with an example being the integration of computer animated robots in assembly plants.  Katherine Hayles discusses this post humanism fear in the conclusion of her book, ‘How we Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics’ (Hayles).  With technologies becoming more influential within society and humans becoming more dependent of machines and computers in our everyday tasks, it is only understandable that these fears exist.  Continuing to view this evolution as negative will only continue to induce these fears, but with a positive outlook computers can be regarded as a tool in which to make our lives easier and efficient.  Over all, we should embrace the notion that “ it is a way to maximize human potential in the world” and “ ensure the long-range survival of humans and of the other life-forms, biological and artificial, with whom we share the planet” (Hayles). 

When we integrate the internet into this understanding, we see how the immaterial labour that now exists within the reality of the internet can influence a variety of factors within contemporary society. This is examined in an article by Cote and Pybus, which examines immaterial labour of the internet through social networking sites, specifically MySpace, and how this new form of interaction between human and nonhuman is changing society (Cote and Pybus).  Even though we may think of the internet as a computer simulation, I think it is representative of its own form of simulation which is only displayed through computers.  This is shown through the relationship created between digital computations and literary text modalities described by Hayles.  The internet and humans have formed a new simulated world which has increased with the development of both communication and information technology through the transmission of information.  “This transmutation of the Internet from elite tool and toy to everyday information and communication appliance points to its significance for e-citizenship” (Wellman).  Wellman’s approach of the internet creating the e-citizen through accessing a multitude of media sources to obtain desired information, perform daily tasks that were once physically executed and also participate and interact within this world is appropriate to describe the current integration of technology. The internet “is becoming a prime means by which a great many people in the developed world obtain information, transmit information, and discuss this information with others, one-on-one and in large and small groups.”(Wellman)  And with the development of more mobile access to the internet, it is creating and encouraging the internet and information technology like computers to become part of us. 

So through further expanding individual subjectivities online and the relationships between humans, communication technologies, and the internet, we can only accept this and use the development to improve humanity and the world with which we reside and minimize the focus on the negative.

Based on the evolutionary change of communication and information technology within contemporary society, tell me your views on this change?  Do you view this a more negative or positive change for humans?

CITATIONS

Coté, Mark and Jennifer Pybus. 'Learning to Immaterial Labour 2.0: MySpace and Social Networks.' Ephemera. 7.1 (2007). 88-106. (online; E-Journal).

Hayles, N. Katherine. “Conclusion: What Does it Mean to be Posthuman?” How we Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 1999. 283-291 and 322-323. (CanCopy Course Kit).

Hayles, N. Katherine. “Prologue: Computing Kin.” My Mother was a Computer: Digital

Subjects and Literary Texts. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2005. 1-7

And 245. (CanCopy Course Kit).

Wellman, Barry, Anabel Quan-Hasse, Jeffrey Boase, Wenhong Chen, Keith Hampton, Isabel Isla de Diaz, and Kakuko Miyata. ‘The Social Affordances of the Internet for Networked Individualism.’ JCMC. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, Apr. 2003. Web. <http://jcmc.indiana.edu/vol8/issue3/wellman.html>.

Heterotopia

     In Michael Foucault’s writing titled, Of Other Spaces, he explains the notion of Heterotopias in regards to space and time.  By examining the various ways in which heterotopias are described by Foucault, we can observe its relation of space and time in order to determine whether, what we call the internet, is a heterotopia.

     Foucault begins by showing the shift of how the idea of space has change through time.  In medieval time, space was consider to be hierarchic or as Foucault had stated, “it was this complete hierarchy, this opposition, this intersection of place this constituted what could very roughly be called medieval space: the space of emplacement.” (Foucault)  With the work of Galileo, the space of emplacement was opened up and considered as an extension of places not considered to be localized.  In contemporary capitalism, the relations of proximity between points or elements were used to describe this idea of which space takes “the form of relations among sites”. (Foucault) In order to map and understand space, it is important to look at oppositions in regards to space, and not so much the aspect of time.  He also examines how places have certain characteristics that cannot be exchanged between other sites shows that we live in spaces that are so called heterogeneous and are delineated through relations that are irreducible and not are superimposed. (Foucault)

     After examining the shift in how society has viewed space and time, Foucault goes on to describe Heterotopias by looking at six principles. The first principle he describes is basically that all societies constitute heterotopias and specifically he breaks this down into two categories. (Foucault)  The first is primitive societies which are considered heterotopias of crisis which are described as privileged or sacred or forbidden.  These heterotopias are disappearing in contemporary society, with only remnants of these we can be seen in places, like boarding schools, military and particularly do not have any geographical markers.  The second category is called a heterotopia of deviation, which entails the deviant behavior of individuals in relation to the norm. (Foucault)  The second principle described is a heterotopia that can change its function based on the changes that occur in society over time. (Asdam)  Heterotopias have specific functions which are related to the societies in which they encompass and a prime example of this would be a place such as a cemetery.  With time, the meaning and location of cemeteries has seen changes in its function within society.  Early on, cemetery where locations within the city near the church and there was a hierarchy of tombs within the cemetery.  Later on in time the cemeteries were moved out of cities or villages and this is due to shift in its meaning to one of illness. The third principle described is a heterotopia, that can be, at one and the same place, layers of multi-places that are incompatible. (Foucault) A few examples of this type of heterotopia are cinemas or gardens.  When you look at cinemas, individuals are in a room viewing projections on a two dimension screen which provides a view of a three dimensional spaces.  Gardens on the other hand are a kind of universal happy heterotopia.

     The fourth principle describe by Foucault, are places that can be linked to slices of time and open onto heterochronies.  Places such as museums and libraries provide a view of time that continues to grow and build upon itself which is representative of this heterotopia.  The knowledge provided in places like museums and libraries provide a history of humanity that goes back to the origin of specific time periods based on what is displayed or available within the site.  The fifth principle based its understanding on that “heterotopias always presuppose a system of opening and closing that both isolates them and makes them penetrable” (Foucault)  These types of heterotopias  are not open to everyone but there are certain criteria some must meet in order to have access.  This can be either compulsory actions in places like barracks or prisons, or in contrast someone would have to gain permission or make certain gestures. In the final principle described by Foucault, heterotopias have a function in relation to all space and places that remain.  If you think of a heterotopia of illusion, a space must be created based on all the ‘real’ spaces which are based on illusions. (Asdam)  There is also the heterotopia of compensation, in which the creation of a space that are perfect while there are other certain places that are messy or disjointed.  This relates to history of colonization of the Americas as this new found place seems perfect in relation to the society in which the travellers came.  Brothels and colonies represent these two extremes of heterotopias describe by Foucault in this last principle.  And if one were to think of a boat which is a space that floats but does not have a specific place, you can see how civilization without boats, there world we live in would be not what it is at this present time. (Foucault)

     I found this particular article interesting and intriguing.  The idea of heterotopias, as describe by Foucault are “places and spaces that function in non-hegemonic conditions” (Wikipedia) help to understand various aspects of the world in which we live and interact.  By using the characteristics of heterotopias you can analyze to understand the advances that are occurring within our society.  With the advancement of the internet a new form of spaces has been created that exists within our contemporary society. We can use Foucault’s notion of heterotopia to understand these new spaces that exist with the realm of the internet.  The internet is a virtual space that exists in an illusionary world created and the places that exist within this world are heterotopic in various ways.  The internet consists of a vast array of information that is accessible to those who have access to information technology that is capable of entering these new spaces.  The internet as a whole can be considered a heterotopia as it “cyberspace handily embraces notions of the other, limits access and presents contradictions of purpose, illusion, and the imagination and deviancy“(M/C Journal).  This view has been generated by publications and articles which have created the internet to be an ideal other world.  Not only as a whole, is the internet or cyberspace considered a heterotopia, but the spaces that exist within the internet can also be considered heterotopias.  Based on Foucault’s ideas of heterotopias, he is conceiving that  these places are “socially defined spaces that embrace material and immaterial, and yet are located outside of all other places -- even though it may be possible to indicate their position 'in reality'.(M/C Journal). If you take Foucault’s last principle, the idea of the boat or ship, it provides insight to how the internet and new information and communication technologies allow access to these spaces and places that exist in this new world when considering it a heterotopia.  The internet will always consisted of a vast array of subspaces and the changes it has undergone since its development have been intense. (Asdam)  The power struggle that it has endured through the development of the internet also shows how you can consider it a heterotrophic space.  The internet itself is not just one place or space but a montage of heterotrophic spaces, points of deviation and assault groups that are created within the structure of what we call the internet (Asdam). 

After looking at the principles and characteristics of heterotopias, I think you can consider the internet or cyberspace to be form of heterotopia but this is also dependent of what the internet consists and this is a vast array of heterotrophic spaces within.  It is an interest view and others may argue that the internet as a whole is not a heterotopia, but after reviewing Foucault’s view and other sources, I have to say this notion of heterotopia implies to what we now call the internet and all that reside within.

Based on Foucault’s notion of heterotopia and the principles in which it entails do you consider the internet as a whole to be heterotrophic?  Why?

CITATIONS

Asham, Knut. "Heterotopia: Art, Pornography, and Cemetaries." The Work of Knut Asham. Dec. 1995. Web. 08 Mar. 2011. <http://www.knutasdam.net/index.php>.

Foucault, Michel. "Michel Foucault, Of Other Spaces (1967), Heterotopias." Michel Foucault, Info. Web. 07 Mar. 2011. <http://foucault.info/documents/heteroTopia/foucault.heteroTopia.en.html>..'

Sherman, Young. "Of Cyber Spaces: The Internet & Heterotopias." M/C: A Journal of Media and Culture 1.4 (1998). [your date of access] <http://www.uq.edu.au/mc/9811/hetero.php>.

Wikipedia. "Heterotopia (space)." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Web. 9 Mar. 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heterotopia_(space)>.

The World Wide Web of Surveillance

   Through the article, ‘The World Wide Web of Surveillance: The internet and off-world power-flows’, David Lyon uses explanatory frameworks to better understand the development of surveillance that has occurred with the development of the internet and information technologies.  In the examination of this cyberspace surveillance, with regards to existing surveillance systems he examines three aspects: employment monitoring, policing and security, and marketing. 

    To understand this new surveillance one must first be able to understand the surveillance systems that currently exist.  “Watching others' activities, as a means of monitoring and supervising them, is hardly a new practice” (Lyon).  Throughout history, surveillance has expanded and intensified as society thus resulting in change.   Its purpose of surveillance in ancient times was that, of taxation and military, to that of modern times in which the recording of births, deaths, and marriages began (Lyon).  In the twentieth century, it intensified to more detailed record keeping, which was required with the development of society, and by mid-twentieth century, was constitutive of modern organization (Lyon).  Now with the advancement of technology and the computerization of society there was a need for a new kind of surveillance. The term that best describes this type of surveillance is ‘cyberspace surveillance’.  

    To understand this type of surveillance, Lyon examines three main categories, the first of which is employment situations.  With the development of the internet and information technologies it is not surprising that employers need to monitor and supervise the use of this medium by employees. Lyon mentions various real world examples to demonstrate that there are people abusing the internet and information technologies in the work environment. Software is used to record and report the activities of the employees to ensure proper use of the network.  In the area of policing, the information acquired through surveillance is private and part is public (Lyon).   As for security, users of the internet can be assured that there is a certain level privacy but government agencies would still be able to monitor and listen in to an extent.  The largest of ‘cyberspace surveillance’ is the commercial surveillance of marketers.  The use of the internet provides a vast range of data and information collected to help profile internet users.  Various techniques, Internet Profiles (I/PRO), Cookies, mapping techniques (spiders) and data mining, are describe by Lyon to help shed light on the vast array of information that can be obtained (Lyon). 

    Lyon theorizes the surveillance of the web by viewing risk management, panoptism, and Foucault’s notion of biopower.  The categories described by Lyon to assess surveillance “all engage in data gathering procedures to try to pinpoint risks (or opportunities) and to predict outcomes”.  The two main concerns of surveillance outcomes are social participation and personhood. Through his analysis he determines that “personhood is therefore realized in participation” (Lyon).  When we think of surveillance, we can see that it is providing a way to maintain social inequality and division. With surveillance, however, comes a loss of communication control. With technological development and legality, control is somewhat given back to the individual.  When he looks a panoptism, there is a ‘new slant’ on surveillance that emerges, with the idea that this new form of surveillance is focused on risk prevention (Lyon).  Individual’s importance is overtaken by statistical correlation.  The more information gathered, allows for a more accurate evaluation of strategies to acquire the desired outcomes. When we look at risk management in relation to biopower, the idea of controlling and monitoring societies by using the profiles of human populations to predict outcomes develops. The simulation of surveillance is adding to the ‘hypercontrol’ of societies that are within communication and information technology networks (Lyon).  The ability to see everything is desired in order to be able to control and anticipate outcomes.  With the advance of the internet the ability to acquire desired information is being more realizable.

    Through this Lyon has provided insight to the ever expand surveillance of societies.  With the development of the internet, the abilities of surveillance have grown and will continue to grow with the expansion of the internet and development of information technologies.  The biggest debate related to cyber surveillance is in regards of privacy issues, of what information is to be protected and which is to be available.  I think Lyon has given an understanding of the way surveillance is crucial in all aspects of society as a means of control. The internet has provided a vast array of information and abilities that is now available to anyone and everyone who are ‘connected’.  The development of the internet has required a means of control and the ability to monitor its use to prevent any risk or threat.  

    Where to draw the line of what information is available for surveillance is a question that cannot be easily answered.  Lyon has provided insight to the capacity of surveillance on society.  We see now with examples like Egypt, the power of the communication technology and its user’s (Elgan).  But will restricting access provide the desired outcomes, maybe so, but the internet is a tool that is to be utilized and allow the communication of information with certain restrictions.  To restrict the access due to the concern that it is adding the intensification of protests is not an appropriate solution as the internet has provided a means for individuals to report their social and cultural views, as can be perceived through the work of Cote and Pybus. They describe the advance of biopower in relation to the advance of social networking; to communicate ones social and cultural views with the development of information technology and communication devices (Cote and Pybus).  The protests themselves would still occur within the country; the internet has provided a means of communicating social and cultural issues on larger scale.  Even in the US, there are talks about a new security system called Einstein 2.0 which is to be used to monitor and interpret the data of malicious activity of government networks, as there has been an issue with government information being observed and government agencies being cyber attacked (Marsan).  Sure surveillance is essential with the development of the internet and it will continue to grow with the advancement of both the internet and information and communication technology.  But like Lyon mentioned, the’ happy medium’ is difficult to acquire as the social participation and personhood cannot always be viewed codependently making surveillance difficult to understand and control (Lyon). People want to access whatever information they desire but do not always want information about them to be accessed, whether this be personal or related to the information that they are viewing.  But in order to maintain order of the internet and its use there is a need for surveillance but at what level is that factor that is hard to distinguish. “Events in Egypt have demonstrated that the human race has evolved some Internet protocols of our own” (Elgan).  And through this we can learn that people will find a way in the event that control and surveillance are implemented to limit their informational and technological capacity.

    Do you think that is right to do what Egypt did and just pull the plug? Or do you think that we can just limit the access and restrict certain aspects while still maintaining this new global network at has come to be part of our contemporary society?

REFERENCES

Coté, Mark and Jennifer Pybus. 'Learning to Immaterial Labour 2.0: MySpace and Social Networks.' Ephemera. 7.1 (2007). 88-106. (online; E-Journal). 

Elgan, Micheal. ‘Why there's no such thing as an 'Internet kill switch' Egypt showed that you can't stop the Internet. Why? Because it's made out of people.’ 2011. Computer World. http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/print/920828/Why_there_s_no_such_thing_as_an_Internet_kill_switch_?taxonomyName=Internet&taxonomyId=167

Lyon, David. ‘The World Wide Web of Surveillance: The Internet and off-world power- flows.’ Information, Communication & Society. 1.1 (Spring 1998). 91-105. (online; E- Journal). 

Marsan, Carolyn Duffy. ‘Einstein 2: U.S. government's 'enlightening' new cybersecurity weapon.’ 2011. Network World Inc. http://www.networkworld.com/news/2010/021110-cybersecurity-einstein-2.html

Immaterial Labour

     Through this article Coté and Pybus’s are analyzing a new form of labour viewed with the advancement of the internet. When defining immaterial labour such as Lazzarato did, there are two ways in which to do so.  The change of the ‘information content’ of the commodity which states the “changes taking place in workers’ labour processes in big companies in the industrial and tertiary sectors, where the skills involved in direct labour are increasingly skills involving cybernetics and computer control (and horizontal and vertical communication).” (Lazzarato)  But for the purposes of Coté and Pybus’s argument, the changes in ‘cultural content’ of the commodity which “involves a series of activities that are not normally recognized as ‘work’, -- in other words, the kinds of activities involved in defining and fixing cultural and artistic standards, fashions, tastes, consumer norms, and more strategically, public opinion. The idea that immaterial labour directly produces the capital relation,--something that material labour hiddenly did--changes the phenomenology of capital.” (Lazzarato).  So based on this, immaterial workers are primarily producers of subjectivity.   They do this by examining Foucault’s notions of power, how the users are learning to immaterial labour with the development of sites like MySpace for benefit or value, and they explore the political economic shifts that are occurring with the development of such sites as MySpace. 
 

    With sites like MySpace, a new labour force, producing immaterial information and knowledge in relation to cultural and social influences, has emerged.  Individuals are able to produce material in areas of interest, in relation to cultural and social trends and tastes, to attract consumers and therefore build upon new relationships and communities.  There are benefits not only to the users, but to other producers like corporations.  The vast amount of knowledge in regards to current trends and tastes of users displayed on their site, these corporations have a so call goldmine of consumer information that can then be used to develop new target markets.  Through these sites the users are creating for themselves a ‘digital body’ that displays their cultural and social trends and tastes, which they then network within the site to build a community around these specified interests.
 

    Coté and Pybus’s explored the shifts that have occurred in order to better understand this idea of immaterial labour 2.0.  By using idea of biopower/biopolitics, in relation to both Foucault’s and Hardt’s view, we see that this is a more reasonable way to evaluate and analyze this new form of labour as, the user is using their life and body or ‘digital body’ to impact, influence, and allure other online users.  But we cannot ignore the latter ideas of power, sovereign power, but more so disciplinary power, which are still part of this new online world.  They also look at how with the development of the internet, users are learning to immaterial labour with continuous use of sites like MySpace.  This is beneficial to the user as they are learning to promote themselves in a way to produce a profit or value.  Also, Coté and Pybus’s explore the political economic shifts that are occurring with the development of such sites as MySpace. 
 

    The main issue that is influential in this article is the idea of the subjectivity produced through immaterial labour.  To define subjectivity, it “refers to the subject and his or her perspective, feelings, beliefs, and desires” (Solomon).  The subjectivity created through immaterial labour as describe through this particular article is that users of social networks like MySpace can use the subjectivity produced to develop a network of relationships and communities. It is also important to look at how this capitalism is more apparent in our lives not only with the exchange of information and knowledge but more so the influential aspects created through immaterial labour of our relationships and personal identities. “Affective commodities (i.e. our social-networked subjectivities) are not destroyed by consumption but they are intensified, enlarged and diffused and constantly re-aggregated.  It is this final point—the dynamic, affective, networked relays—which necessitates the suffix 2.0” of immaterial labour” (Coté).  This helps to show in influential power of one’s subjectivity as the more these subjectivities are consumed the more substantial the effect of one’s relationships and personal identities become.  By looking at the affect, we can see that individuals are now becoming a tool of labour to produce and create wealth. A quote from Coté ‘Immaterial Labour 2.0: Fleshy, Affective, Embodied Technology’, helps to understand the idea of the individual becoming a tool of labour. “[I]f labor and the tool of labor are embodied in the brain, then the tool of labor, the brain, becomes the thing that today has the highest productive capacity to create wealth. But at the same time humans are "whole," the brain is part of the body, the tool is embodied not only in the brain but also in all the organs of sensation, in the entire set of "animal spirits" that animate the life of a person” (Coté).  So not only are the subjectivities that of a conscious relay of information and thoughts but also of one’s sensual experiences that influence these thoughts that are then articulated through an individual’s immaterial labour. 
 

    I think the article provides great insight to this new notion of immaterial labour which is not only intriguing but can also be confusing.  I personally have been intrigued by this notion and am curious to see where this immaterial labour created through social networking can go.  With our affective subjectivities only being intensified and enlarged with the expansion of network and development of social networking capabilities, you can only in vision more growth. Immaterial labour has become integral of contemporary capitalism that individuals now have more vast opportunities. The opportunities that can arise through this new form of labour are also intriguing as one can produce and market their subjectivities not only to profit culturally or emotionally, but also economically.  To think that one’s thoughts, opinions, values, etc., have much more value, that users will continue to pursue to continually expand and develop there subjectivities to maximize profits and values that they desire.  But when you think of how one creates subjectivity it is a sense the exploitation of another’s immaterial labour, you have to understand that exploitation and capitalistic control still exist. (Negri and Hardt) With the impacts of this new form of labour on society being so influential to the way individuals live their day to day lives we can only assume that in the future we will continue to harness this cultural economy and exploit its potential with the help and development of social networking and information technologies.
 

    What's wrong in saying that our subjectivity is determined by something, if we have discovered that, ultimately, this something was created by our subjectivity itself? (Negri and Hardt)

Resources

Coté, Mark , ‘Immaterial Labour 2.0: Fleshy, Affective, Embodied Technology’ http://www.slideshare.net/MarkCote/immaterial-labour-20-fleshy-affective-embodied-technology

Coté, Mark and Jennifer Pybus. 'Learning to Immaterial Labour 2.0: MySpace and Social Networks.' Ephemera. 7.1 (2007). 88-106. (online; E-Journal).

Lazzarato. http://www.generation-online.org/c/cimmateriallabour.htm

Negri and Hardt. Immaterial labour and subjectivity.  Libcom.org. (2006).  http://libcom.org/library/aufheben/aufheben-14-2006/keep-on-smiling-questions-on-immaterial-labour

Solomon, Robert C. ‘Subjectivity,’ Oxford Companion to Philosophy (Oxford University Press, 2005), p.900.

Hello Everyone

My name is Joel Jacob and I have created this blog as a requirement for the Philosophy and the Internet course I am taking at Lakehead University.  This is where you will find my critical responses to articles that we will be discussing through the semester, along with any other information that I find interesting on the topic.  I would like to thank you for viewing my blog and hope you return in the future to read more.