Defying the Gods and the Odds: On Being a Cyborg

Abstract

Humanity's fascination for achieving something beyond what is given by an Almighty divinity can be found in many episodes since ancient times. Our quest for creation, extension, and controlling different forms of life, such as gods do, has been semiotically echoed through religions, myths, SCI-FI productions, and, of course, science. From the magical creation of Homunculi to the Altered Carbon dystopian setting, several issues arise from this complex relationship, perhaps mainly because of the rebellious act of benevolence committed by Prometheus, the fire (technology)-bringer. Although prior studies investigated technology consumption from different perspectives, they mostly employed a Heideggerian approach to them and, thus, viewed the technological device as only a tool. Given the consumption of insideable technologies, the way that we have been experiencing the dissolving boundaries between humans and machines, and the emerging changes in the human ontological status, the ensuing consequences, remain overlooked. To explore this singular phenomenon, based on abductive reasoning, I developed my theorization on the Interactive Self, mostly based on Sartre's latter existential-phenomenology approach. To do so, I had a prolonged and intensive immersion in the biohacking context, specifically grinding (cyborgs), that began in 2017 with a combination of netnography, ethnography, phenomenological interviews, and autoethnography. To analyze the large collected dataset, I followed the French Semiotics postulates, especially taking into account the existentialphenomenological turn in the Parisian School of Semiotics. As a result of this inquiry, my theoretical claim is that the Interactive Self is sustained by the process of the externalization of the internal and the internalization of the external in dialectical and perpetual dynamics. To sustain this argument and answer my research questions, I present this novel concept in two ways: First, I describe the conceptual components for the ontological condition of being a cyborg by means of NFC microchip consumption. Subsequently, I promote an articulation of Sartre's modes of existence within the aspect of volitional cyborgization, which places PUC-Rio -Certificação Digital Nº 1711876/CA humanity one step closer in its ancient and ongoing dream of performing god-like miracles. In considering technology not as a mere tool to an end, as Heidegger would, I argue that it is a living, magical, and vibrant matter that has the power to change our ontological condition as human beings. In doing so, my research contributes to discussions on technology consumption, identity projects, and, tangentially, bioethics in consumer research within the context of Transhumanism.