#technological identity

[chid250c]

iLog #8: Technological Identity

When thinking about technological identity through the lens of what we have been discussing is class the biggest thing that stands out to me is the rate at which we are including new technologies to what is normal. What I mean by this is, for example, eye wear, a technology that is now considered 'normal' and in fact enhances many peoples life. The rate that this inclusion of technology is what is increasing everyday. The iPhone is something that people would definitely claim to, "not be able to live with out". Technological identity really is a process, a continuing inclusion of technologies into everyday life, that is rapidly increasing its rate.

-Nate Vail

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Nick's iLog #8: What Does a Technological Identity Look Like?"

I found this picture under the caption "abstract ecosystem", and think that it represents several aspects of my conceptualization of technological identity pretty well. I think that one very important aspect of the term is the game of give and take that it entails-a "technological identity" (I suppose like any identity) must be in relation to other technological identities in order to be made sense of and given meaning. The massive number of identities in cyberspace, as well as those in the "real world" that are heavily integrated with technology, are all involved in very complex interactions with one another, interactions shaped through the lens of not only "human" interaction but also technological interactions. These interactions are like an ecosystem, different identities rely on one another in order to be maintained just as the different components of an ecosystem must be balanced with one another. At the same time, however, technology has warped our already weak understanding of what identity is and does in the context of other identities. We do not know what the mediation of identity by cyberspace technologies, or even by technologies as simple as language (not that identity can necessarily exist without these identities) entails, and thus, the ecosystem of technological identities is abstract-it cannot be conceptualized in a "normal" manner.

[chid250c]

Ted Lee's iLog #8 -- Technological Identity

I decided to use a picture of the Pokemon Ditto as an example of technological identity. Ditto has an ability that allows it to transform into any other Pokemon, just like how technological identity, especially in the realms of cyberspace and posthumanism, allow people to adapt their identities and mold them into something they want to be. However, this transformation is rarely ever perfect, and when people attempt to transform, they are often still followed by the "baggage" that can come with still being rooted in the physical body or the preconceived notions that society places on the new identity. For example, on the Internet, I can say I am and perform as a woman, but that doesn't mean I am necessarily going to have a great time as a woman on the Internet. Ditto also inherits the strengths and weaknesses of the Pokemon it replicates, for better or worse.

When a Ditto transforms, it's not an exact replica. There are still discrepancies related to the original Ditto's "Ditto-ness," and the transformation is never permanent. Likewise, technological identities allow us to transform between multiple identities, but they never seem to be "perfect" (just like how there is no "perfect" man, woman, American, etc. in existence) and constantly shift.

It may seem somewhat childish to compare technological identity to a Pokemon, but even Ditto's ability to shift into other Pokemon seem to unsettle fans of the series -- whether in video game, manga, or TV show form. There seems to many fans something inherently strange or bizarre about Ditto that disturbs them, which is interesting, considering it's a fictional creature. Ditto problematizes the idea of a consistent, rooted identity and brings up the idea that one could possibly "deceive" another by shifting identities, an anxiety that modern technological identities create in societies today.

[chid250c]

Patrick's ILog #8

For this week's ilog I chose this picture of a plant in garden soil to represent what I believe to be technological identity. One of the main questions that we have been dealing with all quarter is "How can an identity be fixed and yet also be able to be changed over time?" I think that the visual representation of a plant helps us to answer this question for several reasons. First, when looking at the plant as it is in the picture we can obtain information about it such as height, color, and any other characteristics of its appearance. This is similar to identity because at any given moment we are performing and putting into the world a picture of who we are through the clothes that we wear, profile pictures we choose for our online identities or any other of the infinitely many ways we put ourselves out there for the world to see. Second, when looking at the plant in the picture, we know that the plant did not just appear out of thin air. We know that it needed time, fertile soil, water and sunlight to grow and that given the right conditions, the plant will continue to grow into the future. This same aspect of growth or change over time can be related to identity. Over time we grow physically, and emotionally, but also in the ways in which we choose to project ourselves. One day we could be purchase and wear a new outfit that fits in with the current trends of fashion, or we could "scrub" around in sweat pants and a hoodie. Similarly, online we could choose to project our online identities as of the opposite sex, from another country, or even a different gender (as we did for previous iLog's this quarter). Finally, the fact that the plant image is digital and being placed on a social media website on the web has something to say about the role in which our technological identities need the internet as a sort of "soil" for our technological growth. 

[chid250c]

Mikey P.'s iLog #8: What does a Technological Identity look like? To me, a Technological Identity, much like an Avatar, is an extension of oneself that one puts out into Cyberspace to act as a representation of themselves. The picture I've chosen to use is a simple one showing 'astral projection', which is an act that is believed to allow a person to send themselves away from their own body. I believe this represents the idea of Technological Identity fairly accurately. Technological Identity is a representation of oneself in the medium of Cyberspace, or in any medium that is mediated by technology (hence the name). In many cases, people can choose to represent themselves differently than they are in the physical world, this is true. However, like the image I've chosen, although the new Identity (Avatar) is not the physical body, many similarities can be seen between the two forms. I believe that the way people choose to represent themselves in nonphysical mediums (cyberspace), even with the potential for endless creativity and change, ties directly back to those people and who they are in the physical medium (real life). Technological Identity is the part of ourselves that we choose to express in Cyberspace, whether it be a part of ourselves that we do/do not express in Real Life, and for whatever reason that we do/do not express it.

[chid250c]

Caroline's iLog 8: What Does a Technological Identity Look Like?

What does a technological identity look like?  In the case of SHODAN, the AI antagonist of the game System Shock, it looks like a body, particularly a gendered one.  System Shock recalls elements of Neuromancer, such as the main character being hired to hack into cyberspace and an AI gone wrong, but unlike Wintermute of Neuromancer, SHODAN identifies as female, and even has a feminine-looking physical form.  These features seem to be appealing, even seductive, to some of its players, which is problematic for obvious reasons, namely that SHODAN is not human, but an artificial intelligence.  They can’t be blamed—SHODAN seems to be designed with this effect in mind.  System Shock players’ fascination with SHODAN demonstrates just how bodied—and gendered—the character is, which brings into question the involvement of the body in identity formation, particularly technological identity, which is frequently thought to challenge the body’s parameters.  Judith Butler in Gender Trouble suggested that identity requires assignment of gender to a subject in order to make it coherent.  When we encounter characters who lack signifiers of gender, such as Wintermute, we set them as male, which is the “default”, while SHODAN needs to be bodied, and attractive, in order to achieve female status.  In short, even an identity as technological as a sentient computer program can’t escape the body.

[chid250c]

Bryan's iLog #8: What Does a Technological Identity Look Like?

I chose an image of a fictional brain implant, because it represents, in my opinion, one of the deepest forms of technology interacting with our bodies. The technological identity represents an integration of technology into our lives so seamless that its use seems commonsensical. The most recent example of a technology that fits into this category is the smart phone. Where people have such a connection to all the technology present in the phone they feel lost without it. There is only room for the relationship between technology and our technological identity as human to expand exponentially. The technological identity will pioneer the path to changing many of the topics we discussed in class this quarter such as gender, sex, cyberspace, human, transhuman, and posthuman. The understandings of all of these keywords will be radically different fifty years from now. The image I posted may not even look odd fifty to one hundred years from now. It may just simply be seen as a picture of a person someone who is encompassed by the new meaning of the human identity.