In the excerpt from An Introduction to Cybercultures and New Media, by Pramod Nayar, the author discusses the affects of our modern day Internet culture and how it continuously expands and changes, positively and negatively, the world we live in. He offers up the idea that “cyberculture”, the electronic environment in which people interact, is the new “culture”. It goes without saying that technology, much less the Internet, plays a huge role in how we communicate and interact. While technology opens many doors, it closes them as well. Nayar’s work reminded me of a religion class that I took last year called “Hope and Prophetic Politics”. One of the main focuses of this class was how our culture is becoming an “I-It” society, an idea adapted from philosopher Martin Buber. The “I-It” concept supports the idea of product over people. This is a very scary, yet true fact that our world is facing. Nayar, a teacher of cultural studies himself, brings to light the irony behind this electronic environment we have created stating:
“It is also significant that any technology of corporal transcendence can only be built through rigorous labor by very material bodies” (9).
Although the material bodies take responsibility for building such high tech equipment, we are still putting in more effort and emphasis in and on technology. As much as cyberspace allows creativity to flourish, it also leaves too much room for factious nonsense. In regards to creating a false sense of identity and losing an authentic one, Nayar quips:
“The disconnect between representation and the body (still a primary source of identity in the “real” world) is, by definition, infinite in cyberspace. Cyberspace allows one to pick an identity, to masquerade, mimic, and transcend the bodily identities and interact with the world as somebody else”(14).
We have become so obsessive over what we have that we forget whom we have. As a community (if we can still call ourselves that) we have rooted our identity into something outside of our bodies. We have become totally inauthentic. I both enjoy and appreciate Nayar’s piece. While it may seem obvious that technology has taken off in more ways when we can imagine, we rarely stop to realize just how big of a role it plays in our lives.
The dishonesty and abuse of technology frustrates me and makes me question our society as a whole. Are we really going to let technology take the place of our friends? Are we becoming, or are we already, an “I-It” society? Because if that’s the case, we shouldn’t be surprised if we one day come across a human enjoying a cup of coffee with a robot.
My take-away message from Nayar is this: we cannot let cyberspace define our culture. We must find ways to relate back to the authentic and true identities we once had and re-create the interpersonal relationships we once formed.
I liked your analysis of Nayar’s piece. While I do think we are a little too obsessed with our technology, we have to remember that “technology” itself doesn’t just include computers or smart phones. Stoves, hair dryers, matches — these are all “technological” inventions. The only difference is that we don’t let these forms of technology govern our lives. If we can prevent non-digital technology from taking over the way we live, then I still have faith enough in people to believe that we aren’t going to turn into a Blade Runner society. I guess you never really know — but at least if more people, like you, don’t want robots to take the place of your friends, then it probably wont happen, cause no one would spend money developing and creating a product that the general public wouldn’t want.
Your response really gets me thinking. & in a sense I totally agree with what you are saying. However, the cybercultures that do exist are not only negative. I understand that you feel it is taking over everything (which it kind of is), but this is just our society progressing. & it is not going to stop. What we can try & do is regulate and make boundaries — so that this digital divide is not as widespread. We need to make sure that we do not get so consumed with this virtual life and continue to build our material world/dimension. Its all about finding that balance 🙂
I like your approach here of bringing in a related idea from another class and trying to connect it to specific passages from the reading, but I think your connections could be clearer. You also need a bit more summary of the reading and more detail about Nayar’s background. You should link to the reading.