Author: Elaina R.

The future of technology in media and writing such as Blade Runner and Neuromancer has shown that powerful corporations and companies that disregard morality and focus on technology may be in our future. As we look into fields and technology such as Artificial wombs or Clone technology, how much could we trust the companies who create and use this technology on humans? In the 2nd prompt provided, I support that with technology being made and started by these companies, we may lose out on our freedom and identity in order to use this technology. If we were able to use clone technology in the future in order to maybe replace one’s limb or for possible other uses, doesn’t it sound immoral in the sense that there’s another one of a person out there being harvested along with what happens to the clone after? Would the person getting the procedure have to sign a binding contract such as an NDA or would there be more included in a contract such as that? In that I believe that many corporations would not only make this technology expensive but also private so that they can make as much money as they can along with making it so that they can monopolize a product that many would want to take part in. In Blade Runner, we see that the technology that Tyrell made with the Replicants was only made by his company which shows how he monopolized the market regardless of how moral or immoral his work was at the end of the day. Although much of his work wasn’t moral, many people bought into it because they say more benefits rather than losses and they allowed certain freedoms go but in that, some identity was lost because people iddn’t have to do as much as they needed to anymore because they had replicants to do it for them which showed how far it can go.

quick references:

clone tech : Nabavizadeh SL, Mehrabani D, Vahedi Z, Manafi F. Cloning: A Review on Bioethics, Legal, Jurisprudence and Regenerative Issues in Iran. World J Plast Surg. 2016 Sep;5(3):213-225. PMID: 27853684; PMCID: PMC5109382.

artificial wombs: Romanis EC. Artificial womb technology and clinical translation: Innovative treatment or medical research? Bioethics. 2020 May;34(4):392-402. doi: 10.1111/bioe.12701. Epub 2019 Nov 29. PMID: 31782820; PMCID: PMC7216961.

In Haraway’s “Cyborg Manifesto”, many of the concepts that are major issues and factors today are not as important and even transcended. When thinking about gender and biology, the idea of a cyborg goes past those forms and surpasses gender as a whole. Things like race and species become blurred and identity becomes a fluid concept. In that way, Haraway uses Cyborgization as a way to overlook these categories and to focus on technology and the changes that the world would experience rather than staying conformed to gender, sexuality, and etc.

In Monae’s album “Dirty Computer”, Monae also explores what Haraway does in her manifesto but in the way that those who do not conform to the norm are abnormal such as if a device was malfunctioning and needs to be corrected. Many of the songs on her album challenge the norms that we are stuck in due to things such as sexuality, gender expression and more not fitting within those context. It also focuses on identity and how complex one is rather than just being there biological gender and race but also the implications that that has within the system.

Overall, both works share a similar passion in the way that they both want to defy the standards set within the context that we are held in today. As a cyborg, things like gender and race are not the focus and there’s more than just what categories one fits in. Then also that being different that what is normal to people is not a crime and that expressing oneself and being different is okay rather than being seen as in the wrong. In both works, both Haraway and Monae envision a world where people can transcend being held back and to truly be free to be without borders and boundaries.