What Does It Mean to be Human? - An Academic Analysis

The inherent superiority of the concept of humanism is troubling to persons who would rather consider the idea that humans are only a part of the world or even the universe. Admittedly, this is a very important part of the system, but not superior. This does not mean that there is not a place in the natural world for concepts like technology or the manipulation of the environment around society, but rather that humans need to be more aware of how these things affect the system as a whole, not focusing solely on the benefit for humans under the guise that we are somehow superior to the rest of the system.

Two novels, Don Delillo’s White Noise and J. M. Coetzee’s Disgraced, I found particularly thought-provoking, exploring humanism and how it can be perceived on many different levels. White Noise was particularly distressing as it was a very uncomfortable read. Delillo created a brilliant piece of literature that served the purpose for which it was written, which is exactly what made it so uncomfortable. This novel easily resonates with society and what it has become; cloudy, fuzzy, distracted. Things and events in the novel that should have been really impactful and life changing, such as the Toxic Airborne Event felt almost routine. It was this way because of how much people were distracted by the technology and ‘stuff’ that surrounded them. The event was discussed in much the same manner as a really provocative movie or gossip. Everything was constantly being distracted, removed, creating the entire story and events to just become blurry, like everything is enveloped in White Noise. In particular, the television in this novel creates this sort of lens through which society sees everything and creates a sense of removal from the real world. An example of this is the scene in chapter 20 when Babette appears on the television screen and the entire family, particularly Jack and Wilder, are taken by surprise and disturbed by the image of Babette on the screen, as though the two worlds can not possibly merge.

This somewhat dystopian psychology that Delillo creates is one of many possible byproducts of the concepts that are discussed in the article You Are Cyborg. Humans are entirely dependent on technology in some way, which is not necessarily a bad thing, actually the reason for this is the potential for benefit to society. Haraway compares the idea of natural and cyborg to an olympic athlete stating that the olympian is no longer just a human but rather "the interaction of medicine, diet, training practices, clothing and equipment manufacture, visualization and timekeeping." Using this example we can see how a human is no longer just a natural being of existence, but rather a machine that is run, fueled, maintained, and analyzed through a system of technology. The technology itself becomes living, which leads to the next concept which is “Vibrant Matter.” Bennet describes Vibrant Matter in his book with that title as “the active role of nonhuman materials in public life,”(Bennett, 2) and coins the term “thing-power” to describe its ability to “make things happen, to produce effects.” (Bennett, 5) Meaning that the thing can create happenings without being directly programmed or controlled. Social Media is a great example of this, it gives voice to people who did not have one before, creates awareness of issues and information that would not have been common knowledge, and therefore creating a certain amount of activism among people who would likely not have been in that frame of mind otherwise. However, it also leads to the spread of chaos and misinformation as well as connections among people who would not otherwise have been able to communicate openly with one another such as overtly racist or hate groups. Science is making new discoveries every day constantly changing what was considered accurate and accepted knowledge, theories, etc., and society is generally unable to keep up, so muddying the water with misinformation and ‘white noise’ only contributes further to the problem.

Humanism as a concept is pretentious. This was thoroughly demonstrated in Coetzee’s Disgrace. The main character of the novel is an arrogant professor who believes that he is somehow above the expectation of society, and he is then abject to living for a while within a world where his own privilege is no longer applicable. The reader comes to loathe the main character from the beginning and though he ‘comes around’ toward the end of the novel, he is still somewhat arrogant and pompous. It subtly compares David to dogs as well as other animals throughout the novel and demonstrates that animals and humans are not necessarily on different levels. Not so much in the sense that animals should be given the human pedestal but rather that humans are not so superior as they would like to believe. Animals have their own ways of communicating and surviving that can rival humans, and I am not just talking about pets and creatures that seem capable of what we humans call love. Bees communicate with plants using electrical impulses, worms detect vibrations in the dirt when it rains, humans are able to do these things with technology to some degree, but animals do it without the need for it. When David “gave up” the dog at the end it was still a much more arrogant sentiment than that of his daughter who was willing to keep and care for the abandoned bulldog Lucy. I am realistic enough to realize that there is no possible way to ‘save’ all the dogs and that the preservation of life for life itself can generally create a worse situation than it would be otherwise, which is why Bev Shaw’s feeling that it really hurt and upset her but she understood that it was necessary, and asked wouldn’t you rather this come from someone who is aware of it rather than someone who doesn’t care?

On the topic of animals I will bring up Harroway again from her Companion Species Manifesto when she discusses the human concept of “unconditional love” and how from a humanist perspective it is actually just “caninophiliac narcissism,” (33). She argues that "According to this belief, people, burdened with misrecognition, contradiction, and complexity in their relations with other humans, find solace in unconditional love from their dogs," (33) "caninophiliac narcissism," (33). On a certain level this is truth, it is not simply because a dog loves a human that said human becomes better or have the ability to “restore their souls.” If one is to look from the humanist perspective then Harroway is correct, but looking from a post-humanist perspective one could alter the definition of “unconditional love” to mean something that is less pernicious and more relevant to the animal species and then adjust the humanistic definition of love to meet that. While there may be a split between people who are willing to discuss the differences of the definition, there are many who will see human’s reliance on animals as very post-human.

This leads into the concept of “privileged interiority of the human subject”, and how it relates to technology and animals. Personally, I had not really considered humans to be on a higher level than animals, however, I felt that technology was a different thing altogether. This is something that I have questioned many times before, thanks to Science Fiction concepts similar to what we watched in Metropolis and Blade Runner. While I did not have a term for it, I considered privileged interiority not necessarily a human concept but rather a living concept, living being considered an organic life form such as humans, animals, and even plants. This is a very thematic concept among forms of science fiction from Frankenstein to I, Robot. One series that I found to be a strong example of this concept was the anime series Ghost in the Shell where the main character is entirely synthetic with the exception of her “ghost” which was downloaded into her body. One of the main themes of the series is whether she is truly human since there is no part of her that is organic. Another small piece that I remember vividly was one of the characters was a mechanic who worked on fully functional AI vehicles that he would intentionally service with “natural oil.” Other characters always poked fun at him for treating the robots like they were human, and he even programmed them so that they could interact as humans would. (Throughout the series they were portrayed with very human-like traits). He, along with other characters, pondered whether they could develop “ghosts” which is later given credence when one of the machines seemingly goes against its programming to save the character’s life. While this anime was probably a starting point for whether technology can have the “ghost” or privileged interiority, this is mirrored in the movies that we watched in week two which makes the line turn into something more akin to a grey area.

To conclude, I will reiterate that the concept of humanism is pretentious. Society has always been egocentric, which is natural, I am going to care for and protect my family first, but not through some ideal that myself and my family are somehow above everyone and everything else, but rather because they are my family, they are within my reach. This does not mean that on a societal, global, or ecological level we are superior, but rather because that is where we belong in the system. I will concentrate on and protect my place in the system the same as I expect others to do as well. If this were a more universal concept then many of our societal problems would no longer exist. I am not superior to you, we are not more important than them. Whether we are discussing race, species or even interplanetary communication. So in a sense we have always been posthuman, but society as a whole does not realize this. Humans are a very integral part of the world and have a vital role to play, but it is vital, not superior.

Works Cited

Delillo, Don. White Noise. New York, NY: Viking, 1985

Coetzee, J. M. Disgraced. Penguin Books, 2000

Kunzru, Hari. “You Are Cyborg.” Wired, Conde Nast, 15 Dec. 2017, www.wired.com/1997/02/ffharaway/.

Haraway, Donna. “Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness.” The Companion Species

Manifesto, 1 Apr. 2003.