Tuesday, February 18, 2003

Do cyborgs have a sense of irony?

The Post-Cyborg Path to Deconism | Ctheory

Cyborg Mann has published an article in the cyberjournal edited by Arthur and Marilouise Kroker.

Cyborg Mann's graphic:
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</snip>

Roughly translates into English as:
Derrida started this whole mess.
Money is the root of all evil.
Don't send me unsolicited email, you crazy kids.

I must confess I'm a little curious about the language used in this article: "simulacra"; "Situationist"; "jamming"; "Brechtian"; "monoculture"; "corporate-owned"; "Baudrillard"; "the flesh of the machine"; "agent provocateur"; in addition to pseudo-clever wordplay such as "Today we train for war by falling comatose to commonsense" or "provacateurrorists". Are these postmodernist phrasings scattered refrain-like throughout this article the manifestations of human-like playfulness, or are they rather the mockingbird-like calls of cyborg mimicry, as in a parrot saying "I love you?" Right now I'm uncertain: clearly more study and observation are required. Possibly postmodernists and cyberculture fetishists should keep a safe distance since this characteristic may actually be a form of aggressive mimicry, a deceptive coloration that lulls unsuspecting prey into complacency.

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