{"product_id":"how-we-became-posthuman-virtual-bodies-in-cybernetics-literature-and-informatics-paperback","title":"How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eN. Katherine Hayles\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn this age of DNA computers and artificial intelligence, information is becoming disembodied even as the \"bodies\" that once carried it vanish into virtuality. While some marvel at these changes, envisioning consciousness downloaded into a computer or humans \"beamed\" \u003ci\u003eStar Trek\u003c\/i\u003e-style, others view them with horror, seeing monsters brooding in the machines. In \u003ci\u003eHow We Became Posthuman, \u003c\/i\u003e N. Katherine Hayles separates hype from fact, investigating the fate of embodiment in an information age. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Hayles relates three interwoven stories: how information lost its body, that is, how it came to be conceptualized as an entity separate from the material forms that carry it; the cultural and technological construction of the cyborg; and the dismantling of the liberal humanist \"subject\" in cybernetic discourse, along with the emergence of the \"posthuman.\" \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Ranging widely across the history of technology, cultural studies, and literary criticism, Hayles shows what had to be erased, forgotten, and elided to conceive of information as a disembodied entity. Thus she moves from the post-World War II Macy Conferences on cybernetics to the 1952 novel \u003ci\u003eLimbo\u003c\/i\u003e by cybernetics aficionado Bernard Wolfe; from the concept of self-making to Philip K. Dick's literary explorations of hallucination and reality; and from artificial life to postmodern novels exploring the implications of seeing humans as cybernetic systems. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Although becoming posthuman can be nightmarish, Hayles shows how it can also be liberating. From the birth of cybernetics to artificial life, \u003ci\u003eHow We Became Posthuman\u003c\/i\u003e provides an indispensable account of how we arrived in our virtual age, and of where we might go from here.\u003cbr\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 364\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.91 x 8.97 x 6.01 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e February 15, 1999\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53335266263405,"sku":"9780226321462","price":36.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1001\/0823\/9213\/files\/RjVla0tMdFpDOE9RSjdVSnV3UktRUT09.webp?v=1778894008","url":"https:\/\/cleanfreaklab.myshopify.com\/products\/how-we-became-posthuman-virtual-bodies-in-cybernetics-literature-and-informatics-paperback","provider":"Clean Freak Lab","version":"1.0","type":"link"}