The Undervalued Body

When society speaks of cyborgs and rhetoric, or cyborgrhetoric, the conversation is based upon two concepts, the prosthetic body and language, which is created of the mind. As Hayles states, information cannot exist apart from its embodiment (49). Ironically, society’s discourse of the topic is surrounded by the Hollywood perspective of the cyborg-being. This causes a focus upon the technological side of the conversation where inevitably humankind will destroy itself. As a result the discourse of the conversation has taken focus on the mind, while devaluing the body. In order to understand why this happens, an exploration of mind and body need to take place.

When talking of the mind, one must ask what is cyborgrhetoric? In short, it is language, but really it is a combination of Aristotelian persuasiveness and Burkean identification. However, language cannot exist unless it has a body to inhabit. The body also gives it its identity, may it be human or machine.

Then why is the body devalued? To understand this one must understand the conscious involuntary and the unconscious voluntary. The conscious involuntary refers to the components of brain operation over the body, which occur automatically and one is aware that such functions are occurring; such as breathing, or heartbeat. The unconscious voluntary is acts, such as reaching for a cup. One voluntarily reaches for the cup, but they are unconscious of brain activity, which says reach for the cup. This realm is the odd space, where if someone smiles, an individual may return the smile. In a sense this is not language, for it is neither persuasive nor presents identity. In short, while this gets as close to engaging the body into language, it falls short; hence, in the overall conversation of cyborgrhetoric the body is undervalued, and really seen as a servant of the mind. It may be fair to say that true engagement of body and language may never be a reachable action.

Due to the body’s servitude another question is raised. Is language the cyborg of which is spoken, or is it a parasite in nature, and seeking to destroy humankind? When society speaks of cyborgs, the conversation centers on humans and technology; however, each acts with language on their own; hence, language is a cyborg. However, when we look at language as the entity that brings human and machine together to develop a new identity, then language is actually a parasitic host looking to carry out Hollywood’s vision of Humankinds end.