Woohoo for Fiction!

 “A cyborg is a cybernetic organism, a hybrid of machine and organism, a creature of social reality as well as a creature of fiction.” (2190)

If we take out the first part of that definition, “a hybrid of machine and organism”, we are left with the latter stating that a cyborg is a hybrid of social reality and fiction; Or, in other words, fantasy. Humans are always wondering what comes after our lives are over, after death. But, what about the select few people within society who believe in something else; something not entirely human, but not entirely farfetched either. As you probably figured from my picture, I’m referring to wizards and witches. Witches and wizards are human, but not only so. They are a combination of humanity and fantasy. Donna Haraway states that cyborgs are creatures of social reality (humans) and fiction (fantasy).

            “By the late twentieth century, our time, a mythic time, we are all chimeras, theorized as fabricated hybrids of machine and organism; in short, we are cyborgs. The cyborg is a condensed image of both imagination and material reality”. (2191) 

Vampires: A race of creatures that are neither dead nor undead. They are humans, physically dead to the world for their hearts do not beat, allowing the blood to pump within their body giving them the sustenance they need. Therefore, they feast on the blood of those who are “alive”, who’s hearts beat and circulate their blood and plasma, keeping them warm and awake to the world.

            I’m taking the completely fictional side with this theory because I think it’s pretty cool and interesting. No one knows what happens after death, and not everyone believes in a life after death surrounded by pearly gates and clouds. But what is there to stop us from believing in these fictional creatures? Do they not fulfill, in part, the very definitions of “cyborgs”? Are they not hybrids of imagination and material reality? Of social reality and fiction?

            Alright, so about this one: Iron Man. Again, completely fictional, yet he completely fulfills the entire definition of cyborg. He is human, with an electronic heart designed specifically to keep him alive and his heart beating. This being said, we can relate this to humanities continuing advancement with its dependence on technology; the next big breakthrough. Humans are so obsessed with getting the latest android phone, iPad, touch screen (insert object here). Tony Stark, a scientist and a genius, finds a way to create the next big thing in our world. Haraway’s definition fits like a perfect puzzle piece in our world’s struggle to connect ourselves with technology and how we are becoming the cyborgs.

            

Word Count: 443
Works Cited
Haraway, Donna. "A Manifesto for Cyborgs"  The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism. W.W. Norton & Company; Second Edition. New York, 2001. Pages 2190 - 2220. Print