Cyborg-Identity

The thesis statement of the paper is â€Å"the ability of the human beings to change identities in a technology-dominated world has blurred the boundaries between original identity and the digital identity†. This topic is very important from the perspective of human computer interaction and computer science today. The humans are not only able to create multiple identities on the internet, but they are also able to interact with others being in a transmutable identity. This paper will explain how these boundaries have been blurred and what joys of artifice can a person enjoy through making multiple identities on the internet.With the introduction of social networking systems in the past few years, the Cyborg identity is becoming more of a reality than a myth. The line between being the person himself and adopting another identity is getting blurred with the introduction of new technologies. Cyborg: a Metaphor? With the combination of hardware, software and internet, the cyborg identity can be identified as one of the most visible figures of the cybernetic age. Cyborg is a biological being with another identity or a kinetic state that can be adopted easily when switching between environments.This could only be achieved through technological augmentation. Although the kinetic state of a cyborg identity is not real and can be referred to as virtual reality, but it allows one to escape from the physical constraints and confinement of the body and recreate a new digital identity through the use of graphics, three-dimensional technology, internet, hardware and a combination of software. The use of these devices and concepts has not only allowed the humans to create their cyborg identities, but also to experience new worlds and environments through that identity.With the global adoption of the World Wide Web, the cyborg identity has evolved strategically in our imaginations as a metaphor of the 21st Century. According to Kevin Warwick, humans have now become cyb orgs through conducting a series of ground breaking experiments and innovations. Kevin Warwick, who is a professor of robotics and cybernetics, believes that the humans have got the power to change their identity in the virtual world where time and place does not matter (Stephen).Transforming into another identity can cost nothing to the humans. They just need to register on the virtual worlds on the internet, design their new identity and just start interacting with the environment. This ease of identity transformation could have never perceived in the past. However, cyborg can now never be used as a metaphor as cyborgs now exist (Nishant). The Ease of Transforming It was never thought that humans could be identified as cyborgs and it was not even imagined that becoming a cyborg would be so easy and free of cost.For a cyborg experience, a person just has to connect to the internet, register himself on the website, create an avatar and then the human is ready to experience a digital body and physique. Most of the websites do not even require any payment to register the users while the others which are more secure require as little payment as US$ 5. To design the identity and the physical look of the cyborg in the virtual world, a number of software are available which are very easy to use. Transforming the identity is now a requirement for the business professionals as well as the youngsters who want to socialize in their social circle.A person is required to switch to his digital identity when making payments online and when getting involved in the digital transaction on the internet. Cyborg is now a mechanism that is crucial for the survival of urban human beings (Nishant). A person is not required to take classes or lessons for creating a digital identity in the 21st Century, nor are billions of dollars required to get transformed. Switching identity to and fro the digital world and the real world is much easier and cheaper than it was though in the past.Te chnological breakthroughs have allowed this ease of switching to the digital identity. The capabilities and the abilities that are learnt by the cyborg in one of the identities can be used in other identity efficiently and effectively in today’s world. These aspects of the digital identity are blurring the boundaries between the self being and the different digital identities. Artifice through Graphics In social networking websites and virtual worlds, the use of virtual bodies and digital identities are getting more and more common.According to the academics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the humans are just a year away from being able to download their consciousness into the computers (Land). The humans have the power to design different bodies, control them and change them whenever they want through the use of graphic software. The digital appearance of the humans might not be the same as the real appearance. This is why a person is said to be creating a differen t identity through the use of internet. The new identity over the internet is an artificial identity which may not resemble the real identity of a person.The personal attributes such as the name, weight, skin color, hair color, eyes, nose and built might be differently represented over the internet. The Boundaries between Fact and Fiction The humans have the power to intermingle fact and fiction as they have got the power to generate new identities and transform to a form of machine. The interaction with other digital humans over the internet might just be based on lies and the identity may be based on fiction. Different cultures and the aspects of nature that do not even exist in reality can be designed in the virtual worlds.The boundaries between fact and fiction have also blurred with the advent of digital identities. Human and computer interaction has been increased at a rate that was never imagined. Instead of interacting with the real world, an urban person spends most of the time on computers and internet in the virtual worlds. With the boundaries between fact and fiction diminishing over the internet, the new generation might not even be aware of the real world as all the interactions are taking place in the virtual world.With redefinition of the sense of one’s own body in a world changed by culture and technology, the humans are more likely to experience fiction than facts. The humans might like to live in the world of fantasy than in the real world. According to Nishant, this may make us the things that we have created (Nishant). An example is that a person who is gay might fulfill his fantasies on the internet through creating a digital identity and interacting with other men. In real life the person might be very scared of the society and afraid of others to fulfill his fantasies (Dennis). DehumanizingWith the help of social networking websites such as Facebook. com Web 2. 0 applications like activeworlds. com and secondlife. com, the person is able to create a different identity which is unreal. These websites and application are forcing the humans to dehumanize and get involved in computer devices and software most of the time (Land). While the person is switched to the digital identity, he feels that he is living in a cyborg dream. Everything is unreal and still feels real. Most of the interaction today in the youngsters is done on social community websites such as Facebook.com and myspace. com. Profiles are the identifiers of these humans which contain the physical attribute and pictorial attributes. These profiles can be unreal as well as there are no checks done to prevent unrealism. The attributes such as name, gender and age can be misrepresented on the internet to consumer unfair advantage over the other (Liff). The advances in technology and the movement towards cybernetic humans have forced us to ignore many issues that will be faced by the computer experts in the future. ConclusionIt has been revealed in th e discussion that the ability of the human beings to change identities in a technology-dominated world has blurred the boundaries between original identity and the digital identity. A human is started is be identified through the digital identity and this identity now plays a crucial part in the life of a human. Works Cited Dennis, C. â€Å"Gay, Queer, and Cyborg: the performance of identity in a transglobal age. † Discourse: Studies in the Cultural Politics of Education 22. 3 (2001): 297-309. Grey, J. â€Å"Human-Computer Interaction in Life Drawing, a Fine Artist’s Perspective.† Proceedings of the Sixth International Conference on Information Visualisation (IV’02). The Computer Society, 2002. Land, C. â€Å"Book Review : How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics. † Information Technology & People 14. 1 (2001): 350. Liff, S. â€Å"Book Review : Virtual Gender: Technology, Consumption and Identity. † Information Technology & People 16. 4 (2003): 484-486. Nishant, S. â€Å"Material cyborgs; asserted boundaries. † European Journal of English Studies 12. 2 (2008): 211-225. Stephen, K. I, Cyborg. University of Illinois Press, 2004.