How We Became Posthuman - 74th Edition by N Katherine Hayles (Paperback)
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About this item
Highlights
- In this age of DNA computers and artificial intelligence, information is becoming disembodied even as the "bodies" that once carried it vanish into virtuality.
- Author(s): N Katherine Hayles
- 364 Pages
- Science, Philosophy & Social Aspects
Description
Book Synopsis
In this age of DNA computers and artificial intelligence, information is becoming disembodied even as the "bodies" that once carried it vanish into virtuality. While some marvel at these changes, envisioning consciousness downloaded into a computer or humans "beamed" Star Trek-style, others view them with horror, seeing monsters brooding in the machines. In How We Became Posthuman, N. Katherine Hayles separates hype from fact, investigating the fate of embodiment in an information age. Hayles relates three interwoven stories: how information lost its body, that is, how it came to be conceptualized as an entity separate from the material forms that carry it; the cultural and technological construction of the cyborg; and the dismantling of the liberal humanist "subject" in cybernetic discourse, along with the emergence of the "posthuman." Ranging widely across the history of technology, cultural studies, and literary criticism, Hayles shows what had to be erased, forgotten, and elided to conceive of information as a disembodied entity. Thus she moves from the post-World War II Macy Conferences on cybernetics to the 1952 novel Limbo by cybernetics aficionado Bernard Wolfe; from the concept of self-making to Philip K. Dick's literary explorations of hallucination and reality; and from artificial life to postmodern novels exploring the implications of seeing humans as cybernetic systems. Although becoming posthuman can be nightmarish, Hayles shows how it can also be liberating. From the birth of cybernetics to artificial life, How We Became Posthuman provides an indispensable account of how we arrived in our virtual age, and of where we might go from here.Dimensions (Overall): 8.97 Inches (H) x 6.01 Inches (W) x .91 Inches (D)
Weight: 1.09 Pounds
Suggested Age: 22 Years and Up
Number of Pages: 364
Genre: Science
Sub-Genre: Philosophy & Social Aspects
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Format: Paperback
Author: N Katherine Hayles
Language: English
Street Date: February 15, 1999
TCIN: 1006089914
UPC: 9780226321462
Item Number (DPCI): 247-13-4986
Origin: Made in the USA or Imported
Shipping details
Estimated ship dimensions: 0.91 inches length x 6.01 inches width x 8.97 inches height
Estimated ship weight: 1.09 pounds
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