The Absolute Otherness of Authentic Human Identity as a Ghost in a Machine
The Otherness of the Human Soul in a Cyborg Body, Heterocognition and Qualia
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14272621Abstract
Descartes' philosophical arguments about the dual nature of the human mind and body were modified by Ryle to suggest that the authentic human soul is a ghost in the machine. Authentic human intelligence and mind have been targeted for invasion by neurotechnological innovations such as HET (Human Enhancement Technologies) and NBIC (Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Sciences). The study focuses on the vulnerability of individual human consciousness as it converges with the artificial collective consciousness and aims to discuss the otherness of humans and their futile attempts to escape the hive mind as artificial consciousness. The ghost of human memory and authentic identity is now forced to cooperate with the collective consciousness as a machine. As Artificial Intelligence or Artificial Consciousness surpasses the capacity of normal human intelligence, staying outside of these algorithmic innovations and high AI technologies is challenging as new types of 'others' emerge and seek their points of escape and resistance. Therefore, the normal search for solitude and privacy has a different orientation and nature than the technological invasion. This otherness is the absolute otherness of the human being in the face of the challenges of the hive mind, the latest version of artificial intelligence, artificial consciousness, and big data. The study gives some examples of escape practices from a dystopian science fiction film, Ghost in the Shell, where the authentic human soul and identity are trapped in the shell of a cyborg body, and this transhumanist loneliness and otherness is explored through theoretical arguments.
Keywords:
absolute otherness, augmented intelligence, artificial consciousness, algorithmic surveillance, hive mind, human enhancement technologies, transhumanistic solitudeDownloads
Metrics
References
Anderson C. The end of theory: the data deluge makes the scientific method obsolete. WIRED. 2008; June 23.
Babich B. Günther Anders’ Philosophy of Technology. Bloomsbury Publishing Plc; 2021.
Clarke R. Asimov’s Laws of Robotics: Implications for Information Technology. In: Routledge eBooks; 2020:33-41.
CNET. Elon Musk’s Neuralink event: Everything revealed in 10 minutes [Video]. YouTube; 2022 December 1.
Chowdhury A, Ramadas R. Cybernetic Hive Minds: A review. AI (Basel). 2022;3(2):465-492.
Curry MR. The Digital Individual and the Private Realm. Ann Assoc Am George. 1997;87(4):681-699.
Cooper S. Beyond Enframing: Heidegger and the question concerning technology. In: Technoculture and Critical Theory. New York: Routledge; 2002:18-43.
Deleuze G, Guattari F. Anti-Oedipus. London: Continuum; 2004.
Descartes R. Felsefenin İlkeleri. Ankara: MEB Yayınları; 1967.
de Cremer D. AI should augment human intelligence, not replace it. Harv Bus Rev. 2021.
de Vos J. On the Digitalization of (Inter)Subjectivity - A Conversation with Jan de Vos [Podcast]. Black Brick Podcast. 2022 April 3.
Dobson JE, Fisher PF. The Panopticon’s Changing Geography. George Rev. 2007;97(3):307-323.
Foshay R. The digital nexus: identity, agency, and political engagement. Athabasca University Press; 2016b.
Foucault M, Miskowiec J. Of other spaces. Diacritics. 1986;16(1):22.
Gordon WT. McLuhan: A guide for the Perplexed. London: A&C Black; 2010.
Han B. The burnout society. Stanford Briefs; 2015.
Hansen L, Nissenbaum H. Digital disaster, cyber security, and the Copenhagen School.
Hai-Jew S. Introduction. In: Electronic hive minds on social media: Emerging Research and Opportunities. Kansas State University, IGI Global; 2019:1-15.
Heidegger M. Varlık ve Zaman. İstanbul: Alfa Yayınları; 2022.
Herman ES, Chomsky N. Manufacturing consent: The Political Economy of the Mass Media. Random House; 2010.
Hornbuckle CA, Smith JS, Smith WS. Posthumanism and Phenomenology: The Focus on the Modern Condition of Boredom, Solitude, Loneliness, and Isolation. Springer; 2022.
Gille B. The History of Techniques. Vol. 2: Techniques and Sciences; 1986.
Gurtner D. Neuralink and Beyond: Challenges of creating an Enhanced human. In: FOLIA - Fribourg Open Library and Archive; 2021.
Jones G. Hive mind: How Your Nation’s IQ Matters So Much More Than Your Own. Stanford University Press; 2015.
Jagodič M, Šinkovec L. Involvement of Artificial Intelligence in Modern Society. Int J Manag Knowl Learn. 2021; 10:267-273.
Kim Y. Human consciousness and prosthetic temporality: On the way to new technological humanities. New Techno Humanities. 2022;2(1):41-46.
Levinas E. To the Other: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Emmanuel Levinas. Purdue University Press; 1993.
Pisarchik AN, Maksimenko VA, Hramov AE. From Novel Technology to Novel Applications: Comment on “An Integrated Brain-Machine Interface Platform with Thousands of Channels” by Elon Musk and Neuralink. J Med Internet Res. 2019;21(10).
Kurzweil R. Get Ready for Hybrid Thinking [Video]. TED; 2014.
Logan RK. Understanding new media: Extending Marshall McLuhan.
Lyon D. The Culture of Surveillance: Watching as a Way of Life. Polity Press; 2018.
Martinek R, Gorzelanczyk EJ. Summary of over Fifty Years with Brain-Computer Interfaces—A Review. Brain Sci. 2021;11(1):43.
Maynard AD, Scragg M. The Ethical and Responsible Development and Application of Advanced Brain Machine Interfaces. J Med Internet Res. 2019;21(10).
Musk E. An integrated Brain-Machine interface platform with thousands of channels. J Med Internet Res. 2019;21(10).
Komel M. The Ghost Outside its Shell: Revisiting the Philosophy of Ghost in the Shell. Teorija in Praksa. 2016;53(4):920-928.
Nagel T. What Is It Like to Be a Bat?
Nascimento G. The Esoteric Meaning Behind the Movie ‘Ghost in the Shell’. A New Kind of Human; 2017.
Reading A. Identity, memory, and cosmopolitanism: The otherness of the past and a right to memory? Eur J Cult Stud. 2011;14(4):379-394.
Rouvroy A, Berns T. Algorithmic governmentality and prospects of emancipation: Disparateness as a precondition for individuation through relationships? Réseaux. 2013; 177:163-196.
Sanders R. Ghost in the Shell. Netflix; 2017.
Scherer R, Rao R. Non-Manual Control Devices: Direct Brain-Computer Interaction. In: Handbook of Research on Personal Autonomy Technologies and Disability Informatics. 2011:18.
Stiegler B. Technics and Time, 1: The Fault of Epimetheus (Meridian: Crossing Aesthetics). Stanford: Stanford University Press; 1998.
Stiegler B. The Neganthropocene. London: Open Humanities Press; 2018.
Slusser G, Shippey T, eds. Fiction Two Thousand: Cyberpunk & the Future of Narrative. Athens: University of Georgia Press; 1992.
SuperDataScience. Universal Principles of Intelligence (Across Humans and Machines), with Prof. Blake Richards [Podcast]. SuperDataScience; 2023 November 7.
Şan E. Problems of Bernard Stiegler’s Philosophy of Technology: Algorithmic Governmentality and Cognitive Proletarianization. Viraverita. 2022; 15:105-135.
Husserl E. Ideas for a pure phenomenology and phenomenological philosophy: First Book: General Introduction to Pure Phenomenology. Hackett Publishing; 2014.
Şan E. Felsefe Seminerleri - Ontolojik fark [Video]. Akbank Sanat; 2020 September 30.
Tononi G. Consciousness as integrated information: a provisional manifesto. Biol Bull. 2008;215(3):216-242.
Durkheim É. The Division of Labor in Society. Free Press; 1893.
Ulnicane I, Erkkilä T. Politics and policy of Artificial Intelligence. Rev Policy Res. 2023;40(5):612-625.
van der Aalst WMP, Pesic M, Schonenberg H. Declarative workflows: Balancing between flexibility and support. Comput Sci Res Dev. 2009; 23:99-113.
Webrazzi. Kovan zihin nedir? İnsanlık böyle bir yapıya geçebilir mi? Webrazzi; 2021 March 1.
WELT Documentary. ELON MUSK: "Birthrate might be the biggest threat to the future of human civilization” [Video]. YouTube; 2022 April 15.
Wolf M. Tales of literacy for the 21st century: The Literary Agenda. Oxford University Press; 2016.
Zecher JL. Acedia: the lost name for the emotion we’re all feeling right now. The Conversation; 2020.
Zimmerman ME. Heidegger’s Confrontation with Modernity: Technology, Politics, and Art. Stanford University Press; 1990.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2024 Feride Zeynep Güder
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Authors continue to hold copyright with no restrictions.
