Reading Digital Media response

Hello my fellow bloggers,

While I have spent a great deal of my research building around more technically oriented elements, there is definitely a need for stepping back and absorbing some theory. One consistent element of my ongoing research is how fuzzy the line is between tangible "reality" and our sensory translation of what is real. The deeper we delve into the cognitive processes shaping our body in space and what truly is primarily an illusory body schema of where our limbs should be in relation to eachother. We quickly incorporate even a mechanical version of our limbs into our cognitive image of our body very quickly when using this prosthetic device for certain tasks. When we use this extension as a tool such a shovel or broom extending our bodies natural reach, our brain shifts our perception of the tool from being separate/foreign object to being part of our body.

Slavoj Zizek touches on this interesting relationship between flesh and machine with his discussion of the tool verses the machine. He describes the tool as being an extension of the body and the machine automatically imposing a rhythm on man. He discusses these mechanical observations while pondering where the computer falls into this tool-machine paradigm. The dialogue between man and computer creates an interesting relationship where this "non-thinking" device begins effecting the rhythm of the human operator through increasingly complex responses to human demands.

An example of man, machine, tool, and computer fusing together at a very high level is the "C-Leg" This prosthetic leg has a computer chip in the knee that analyzes a human's gate pattern and weighting to construct a sophisticated model of what this person needs to walk smoothly. It even recognizes a stumble or trip and in milliseconds adapts the leg's swing pattern to avert a fall. This team effort between man, computer, machine, and tool displays a significant blurring or the lines between flesh and machine. Neuroscience show us in countless studies that the human's brain is quickly forming new synaptic connections to incorporate this active integration of machine making the prosthetic a part of it's body schema. This person's reality has been skewed through this active physical dialogue.