#teacherquestions

[speakupinstitute]

When the teacher asks if you've accomplished anything today and you're just trying to remember where you left your motivation. 😅

[writingwithtechnology]

What makes you human...

...and are we past that? 

In a time of technology with a hyper-emphasis on entertainment, how many of our students have asked themselves this question? Is it the way we talk, walk, or dress? Before, teenage years used to be about awkward phases and testing out new looks- trying to find the version of themselves that fit best. But this generation seems to have that all figured out with its excess of how-to videos and fashion gurus, telling and selling to them what is their best self. 

But what really makes you, you? 

In N. Katherine Hayles, How We Became Posthuman, she goes through the history and progression of cybernetics and how the idea of the “Posthuman” evolved. But before delving into that line of idea, it is important to be able to identify and conceptualize what one may call ‘the self’ and what exactly separates us and titles as human beings before we can begin to transgress upon the post-human.

Many believe that what makes us human is our mind or consciousness. Hayles draws from this concept when she challenges the idea of removing the mind from the body. If it is possible to transfer the consciousness to an entirely different medium, than what truly separates us from the non-human... or the post-? 

As technology progresses and we become increasingly involved with it, where do we draw the line, and how do we continue to define ourselves? Definition of ourselves remains a rite of passage throughout our (human’s) lives, especially as children and teens. Our literature, entertainment, and philosophy demonstrate it time and time again. As we have progressed, it remained a steady archetype of humanity. Understanding and accepting the evolution of this event as humanity and technology progress further into the unknown can provide insight on ourselves and others.

Many believe that man can be identified singularly, as a separation from the world. A type of ‘me against the rest of the world’ attitude. In fact, most conflict in literature can be (maybe controversially) defined as archetypes of conflicts against oneself; man v self; man v nature; man v man; man v supernatural. What happens when technology begs a bigger role in our lives? Or when our image of ‘man’ and ‘self’ shifts? How will this effect our literature, our philosophy and our selves? 

Challenge your students perceptions of who they are and what makes us human. Question them about the repercussions of an evolution of self to open their minds to what could be and what is posthuman.

~wayupin-thesky