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A Connection of Things I Love, Brought Together in Salt Fish Girl, by Larissa Lai

 Salt Fish Girl by Larissa Lai puts two things I really enjoy in conversion with one another, mythology and science fiction.

 Lai sets up two stories, one about Nu Wa, the creator of humans, and one about a girl named Miranda struggling with life in the year 2044. Salt Fish Girl highlights the many similarities that science fiction and mythology share and ties them together in a story about reincarnation. The choice to make Nu Wa the main character of the book instantly engaged me with the story (probably because I have a preexisting history with the goddess, which I will explain later) mainly because it shows the fate of the entity that created humans. In one of the possible Chinese creation myths, Nu Wa is one of the first entities to come to earth after Pan Gu. 

Before there was anything, there was Pan Gu and an egg. Once the egg broke open, everything that was perfect and divine floated to the heavens and all that was imperfect and impure stayed on Earth.

 Pan Gu spent his life keeping the two separate, and after he was gone Nu Wa came to earth. She created people out of clay because she was lonely. This is where Salt Fish Girl picks up. Nu Wa created people, I her image, so she wouldn’t have to alone. Even though they were supposed to take away her loneliness, Nu Wa still felt like she was alone, so she finds a way to become human.

In short, human Nu Wa falls in love with Salt Fish Girl, is forced to run away from home, gets taken advantage of a few times, and ends up killing herself.

What’s interesting is the treatment of ‘our creator.’ From the beginning, it is clear there is a flaw, either with Nu Wa, or humans, a flaw that created a divide between human and god, causing Nu Wa to want to change into one of us. Once human, she is faced with conflicts and alienations, never able to truly be happy. Her situation reflects the flaws in human nature, because by nature humans contain the ability to be horrible to one another. It must have been an oversight in our creation, or a negative effect of free will, but it remains a problem.

Meanwhile, Miranda does not have it much easier. She is part of a group of people that continue to give off a strong odor, something that had been true since birth, and Miranda has the smell of durian. She grows up in an area called Serendipity, where most things appear normal, except her father’s job which causes him to fight in matrix like setting. After her father loses his job they are forced to go to the Unregulated Zone, which is assumed to be horrible, but actually seems like the best place described in either future.

A man, Dr. Flowers, who wants to ‘cure’ these people with unusually strong smells, from what he calls the “dreaming disease.” Much like Nu Wa, Dr. Flowers dream of creating his own legion of people, clones called the Sonias and the Miyakos, proving once again the hardships of taking it upon yourself to create in your own image.

Salt Fish Girl contains many similar themes and elements that are usually found in creation myths, therefore making Salt Fish Girl and modern creation myth of its own. There is a continual pattern of water being the cause of life and death, representing a vehicle for reincarnation. The temptation of the forbidden fruit can be seen with Miranda’s family and the durian, there are even echoes of a temptress, with characters like Edwina, and a re occurrence of snakelike bodies.

The idea of modern mythology is not that unusual and pairs nicely with the concept of an unknown future. In present day, the pantheons of old are still very much alive. One example from my personal life is a game called Smite, which has gods that are all given in game abilities related to their own person stories of myth. Because of this game, I myself have been able to step foot in Nu Wa’s shoes, quite frequently. The reason the game is a success, is because it enables humans to get closer, if only a small increment closer, but closer to the gods that made up the heavens and the earth. While Larissa Lai brought the gods down to Earth, I believe people will keep trying to move up towards the gods.

^smite game            smite game again>

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The Shortcomings of Gender Binaries and Intersex by Aaron Apps

Intersex under the umbrella of a cyborgs and species class gives Aaron App’s story an interesting point of view, from the readers (my) standpoint. To be honest, I was not very familiar with the term until read this book, but of course the terms male and female, gender and sex, have been in my vocabulary for as long as I can remember. When I was very young I remember learning that Jamie Lee Curtis and I had the same birthday. Around the same time, I learned that she was born a ‘hermaphrodite’ and thinking that it was bad. I have no idea why that was my first assumption, I want to say some other kid pointed the fact out in a very accusative tone, as if she was a problem, but it is an impression I have never forgotten.

The desire to be able to cling to binaries created by humans (unnatural) and alienate things that don’t fit within them, like people born intersex (natural) creates a strange dynamic between people. There is a need to be so desperately defined into a normative state, that the acceptance to a concept that breaks the illusion becomes a threat. It reminds me of Octavia Butler’s Dawn and the way the humans (post Lilith) reacted towards the Oankali (and Lilith) for being not clearly defined as human.

Aaron Apps’ story of his life being born intersex is extremely personal, and I admire the honestly that he was able to capture on paper. He paints a picture of having to grow up as half science experiment. I could not imagine what that was like. He starts his story off by writing about a very vivid bathroom experience, where he accidentally ended up in a women’s restroom. By highlighting the one taboo after another, it becomes hard to not want to question the origin of what taught people to accept or reject. There is an element of being human that forces is to define what it means to be a person and how to act. How can a space, for example the women’s restroom, become a space impossible for other sexes to exist in, when the reality it, it is just another grouping of wall placed together in a space?

I’m hoping with time and more material like Intersex, we will be able to normalize the natural; move closer to Haraway’s cyborg, and focus more on the inclusive community and less on the labeling of the individual. Ultimately the labels ‘happy’or ‘healty’ should hold the most weight, and offer a new “normal.”

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Team Oankali: life after Earth and Octavia Butler’s Dawn

Very earlier on in reading Octavia Butler’s Dawn I decided two things, first, I would end up siding with the Oankali, and second, if more humans join the story, bad things will probably start to happen. I was not wrong. I’m not sure what this says about me, or my connection to my humanity, but the circumstance created in Dawn specifically, made the choice for Lilith to bond with the Oankali a pretty easy one.

Earth has been destroyed, a concept that shows up in many dystopian futures. Not only has it been destroyed, it was the fault of the humans, forcing us to leave the planet. The Oankali saved who they could, and worked to seek out those humans that would work with them and help them to co-exist and ultimately ‘trade’ with each other. If it had been a hostile takeover or some disruption of peace, perhaps I would find it easier to vilify the Oankali, but that’s not the case.

What is being asked of humans, specifically Lilith at first, is that they create a cross species breed, both taking positive attributes from each other, they want our cancer, and could provide longer life without the threat of cancer. Trading to become cross species is the way the Oankali live, they continue to maximize their potential by finding things in other species that make them better.

For humans, it seems as if the ability to champion their humanity only really comes into play when it is threatened. There is a level of hubris that would very possibly lead us to destroy our own world and then refuse the option of evolution because we are ‘fine the way we are.’

The situation also leads to what makes Lilith herself an interesting and powerful main character for Butler’s Dawn. She is a black, female, mother and wife. She is also chosen specifically by the Oankali to be the new leader of the humans they have aboard their ship. What I really connected to as reader was Lilith’s ability to remain very human and yet adapt to change. She questions everything, taking it what she can, and understanding that there are things she is unable to change. She shows off an ability to be human, but to not be trapped in her own humanity. Her relationship with Nikanj become familial. Nikanj being young enough to have to obey his elders, and Lilith being human enough to seem childish in the face of the Oankali. Their partnership resembles, slightly, the cross-species bonds found on earth, unusual but strong.

In fact, the relationship between Lilith and Nikanj appears to be stronger than that of her and 99% of the humans that she chooses to awaken in hopes of repopulating Earth. It is interesting that once the humans are awake and grouped together, they all mostly chose to remain as they were back on earth. They paired off into ‘couples’, men fought for a dominate role, and fueled by the fear of change, they became violent and caused harm.

Overall, Octavia Butler’s Dawn has been one of the most interesting stories I’ve read lately, and I am certainly a fan. Even though my assumptions were right, I think the choice in this book speak to the human condition, and its flaws and successes. It seems to foreshadow a future that is possible, for better or worse. Either way I remain, Team Oankali.

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Ken and Cross-Species Relationships

Reading Humans, Horses, and Hormones: (Trans) Gendering Cross-Species Relationships by Natalie Corinne Hansen, brings up an interesting situation. Her article examines a proposal made by a transgender individual by the name of ‘Ken’ who is explaining his relationship between him and his horse before and after is transformation from female to male.

With the explanation of an influx of testosterone to aid in the gender change, Ken sees the relationship between himself and his male horse changes, as his horse becomes much more obedient after Ken is able to embody his new male persona. While Ken is telling his story and explaining something private about himself, the article challenges the idea of attributing the new found respect in the relationship to Kens rise in testosterone. I tend to agree with Hansen. The story overall is Ken’s truth, that is not up for debate, but as someone who grew up around animals, horses in particular, I do not think they resolve to act one way or another due to the gender of the human around them.

Point: Lisa Owens. 

^actual picture of Lisa 

When I was young, my parents tried really hard to get me to into an activity that I enjoyed. I tried (and quit) soccer, baseball, piano, guitar, karate, and I’m sure a list of other activities that I have long since forgotten. Horseback riding was the only thing that stuck. I became part of a ranch community called Nickel-O Farms, owned by Lisa Owens. I had never met anyone like her. She was strong, and undeniable presence, and very intimidating. She could look at a horse the right way, and the horse would obey. One thing she would instill early on is body language. The most important thing you can do around a horse is hold back any attempt awkward fear and nervous behavior; it will instantly transform an obedient horse into an untrusting beast who wants you to get away from them as soon as possible.

Ken brings up an interesting point, in his female skin, he was unable to feel confident in himself, something that must have very quickly transferred to his horse. After Ken was able to embody his physical male side to match his internal male side, he was able to exude confidence, making him whole, and well received by the animal community. If animals are able to celebrate a positive change in people, it is interesting that people seem to have a hard time accepting it. Not only is the story of Ken and his transgender adventure one of hope and acceptance, the story of his horse is one to set an example, and example to accept the way people chose to find their happiness, and their confidence.

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Who Are You?The many faces of feminism in The Female Man by Joanna Russ

I took to the internet to look for one of those buzzfeed-esq quizzes that categorize you based on your answers to seemingly unimportant questions, and this time I was hoping to find one that would tell me which character I would be in The Female Man by Joanna Russ. In The Female Man, Russ introduces four different women, each from a parallel universe, and each with different types of relationships with the opposite sex.

In my ‘quiz searching’ the closest thing I got to was a quiz called “Do you have a male dominate brain or a female dominate brain.” Here is my result:

http://www.quizony.com/do-you-think-more-like-a-man-or-a-woman/index.html

“With a female dominant brain, you’re great at reading other people’s emotions, maintaining peace, understanding language and finding lost items, like your keys. You’re better at talking to people and managing your emotions, but you’re prone to worrying and overthinking.

With so much brain activity, it’s hard not to think too much! Make sure you get plenty of sleep — you’re not as good at all-nighters like your male-dominant counterparts.”

I don’t often consider myself a feminist, but…..whatever I am, was insulted by the generic overall assumption of the quiz. Yes, it’s one of many, just for fun, mediocre parts of internet, but it is also a reminder of the bold creativity found in The Female Man.

Russ puts different types of women in conversation, which in itself is important (especially in the 70s when it was published, considering the conversation is still active today) that we, as women, are different. In worlds where women chose to no longer co-exists with men, they thrive. They are able to have ‘masculine’ features or characteristics without being ridiculed, as seen in Janet or Jael. Jeannine is the product of a world that could have existed, if we survived a war with different results, and Joanna probably leans towards the most ‘normal’ world to resemble our reality.

Perhaps one of the most interesting things is the way people in Jeannine’s world question the existence of Janet. She is unusual because she is comfortable with the world existing of only females. The gender binaries that existed before are erased, and Janet is capable of feminine and masculine traits. It almost leads me to believe that the only way to make it possible to possess dominate traits that are typically reserved for the opposite gender, is to eliminate the other gender entirely. The fear of a hybrid anything is scary because it takes away from the ability to assign labels, or at least labels that involve less than one word, for example, boy, girl, black, white, human.

Overall, Joanna Russ does not propose a solution to the issues between gender normative roles, but instead reminds us that our reality is only one of endless possibilities. To assume we are the only possible standard for co-existence is an assumption that can never be proven, and always be changed.

K���6

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The Secret to Happiness, as verified by CA Conrad

This week I was introduced to CA Conrad and his work with somatics in Ecodeviance. 

He paired a large variety of rituals with poems he created as a result. I am officially a fan of CA Conrad. Without revisiting his work too much, I want to go further with his story of how he led to somatics, which is explained on the first page. He wanted to break free from his home and life in a factory town, explaining that he has seen his family’s creativity diminish in the monotony of everyday life. Later, he realized that he habitually created a ‘poem factory’ of his own, and decided to take action.

Removing specifics from his experience, I think he touched on an important message, the danger that lies in monotony. Regardless of job or hobby, it seems to be human nature to be seduced by routine. It finds you and holds you in a pattern, unique to you, but still cycled like everyone else. The danger with this is that is stops creativity. Nothing is created on new feeling, but instead processed for mandatory creation, mandatory creativity. Write for deadlines, innovate for money, it is extremely hard to avoid the insincerity of it all.

For lack of a better explanation, there is a song in the musical Fun Home that seems to articulate this better, and I think the song is emotional because it talks about the worst thing that could happen to a person…..they never escape they cycle. I posted  it towards the bottom. 

 The special quality CA Conrad created was the ability to put his whole body into the space of his production. Instead of hiding behind a screen, secretly calculating his grocery list, while typing some art for a deadline, he adds a ritual. His rituals let him experience words in a 4-D manner, and I personally think it shows on the page.

I recently tried to recreate one of his rituals, one that I did alone, as I view the human interactive ones advanced level. I stuck with the beginners me and nature ritual. Over the span of a week, I spent some time shifting water and rocks around from my home to a lake. Day one, I felt pretty silly, and thought maybe I am much to introverted to reach a Conrad-esq frame of mind. However, by the last day, it became really important, I could feel my brain playing around with words and sentences that were new. I felt a little free, and wrote one of the first things I’ve actually like (as I am very new to creative writing)

I understand that it is impossible to break free completely and live life as a fully engaged somatic artist, for the most part, but I hope I remember the value of shifting space, breaking free from monotony, and being put in the new. After all, the new is what makes us feel alive.

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Happy Hour at the Gentleman Loser: Cyberspace and William Gibson’s Neuromancer

       I am almost positive I haven’t fully understood or visualized the universe created by William Gibson’s Neuromancer, but I am sure that I understand the importance of it revolutionary place in science fiction. Neuromancer, being the first book to coin the term ‘cyberspace’ has to be understood as a piece of literature that is irreplaceable. The multitude of science fiction classics influenced by this story are hard to ignore (looking  at you The Matrix). 

However, moving past the world of cyberspace created in this novel, it also perpetuates the idea of an impending doom, a future that may be advanced in many ways, except in the the joy of the human condition. Neuromancer brings up the idea of what it means to measure success. The need to exists in virtual reality because reality is awful does not champion the success if technology.Cyberspace moves into cyberpunk, with the need to fight back against the state of the world. 

Cyber is defined as: relating to or characteristic of the culture of computers, information technology, and virtual reality.

Punk: a criminal or hoodlum, often in alignment with anti-establishment beliefs.

In the name, Gibson suggest that this is a time inherently discontent.  

These ideas are seen through the two main characters Case and Molly, who are both hard to define as the story’s ‘hero,’ mostly because I think the story’s intention is to not have heroes, or a world with simple resolution

Case, a hacker, starts out in Chiba City where his nervous system is flooded with mycotoxins, preventing him from entering the matrix, so he agrees to a deal that would offer him a chance to be repaired. He meets his ‘team of support players,’ but never really seems to create a strong bond with anyone, and ultimately walks out of the life at the end of their mission. I simultaneously like and dislike the idea of stories not based on human growth, and instead fully focused on the technology and its evolution. In this case it helped to almost humanize the matrix, in an attempt to relate or invest in the story.

Molly “it's just the way I'm wired” Millions, was the character I spent the most time wanting to learn about. She, a female cyborg, was, in my opinion, written with a great sense of duality. Molly is powerful, in control, and the proxy to a weak or handicapped case. Even in their romantic relationship does not get over fantasied by her. On the other hand, she also explains that she would ‘check out’ and rent her body for the sexual fantasies of men, perpetuating a cycle of female inferiority and objectification.

Overall, the world created by William Gibson’s Neuromancer is incredible, I feel like he himself travel back from the matrix to give us this story in the 80s. I also appreciated the lack of resolution, and the question raised by the possible dangerous of giving up bits of our humanity, in order to fully go forward with technology. At the end of the day, I think the one place I’d like to run into Gibson himself would be the Gentlemen Loser, and I hope it’ll be happy hour.

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Cthulhu Ritual: How to Make a Cthulhu Ritual Stick An anti-racism, anti-fascism experience to cleanse the mind and body.

When propositioned in class to create a ritual for us students to perform, as suggested by Dr. Aggarwal, by way of Bhanu Kapil, my immediate response was…” thanks a lot Bhanu Kapil.”

She challenged us to think about:

1.       HISTORY IS HOW WE TOUCHED EACH OTHER AND HOW WE KNEW WHEN IT WAS TIME TO TOUCH EACH OTHER AND WHEN TO STOP

2.       2. DECOLONIZE WRITER'S BLOCK

And answer:

“What is a ritual of unbelonging?  What is ritual that extends care to its participants, and what is: care?  How do we assess the resilience and needs of the participants?  How can you take this ritual into the communities you are in?”

NEEDED: String, sticks, pipe cleaners, tape, objects of importance, paper, and anything else that holds power in your opinion.

I had to start by clarifying the overall meaning of these terms and focus on the “oppression” we are being asked to face. Here is the ‘cheat sheet’

PART 1: CLARITY

Fascism: a governmental system led by a dictator having complete power, forcibly suppressing opposition and criticism, regimenting all industry, commerce, etc., and emphasizing an aggressive nationalism and often racism.

Anti-Fascism: is opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. The anti-fascist movement began in a few European countries in the 1920s, and eventually spread to other countries around the world. The movement is also shortened to antifa.

Racist: a person who shows or feels discrimination or prejudice against people of other races, or who believes that a particular race is superior to another.

Anti-Racism: the policy or practice of opposing racism and promoting racial tolerance

PART 2: CREATION

Assess the care. In a class about cyborgs, we used our focus on co-creation, and the blending of organic and inorganic to motivate our ritual. Everyone brought one thing that symbolized an important feeling that we wanted to express during the ritual. This opened up the ritual to be something all inclusive, everyone’s piece mattered, we needed them for the puzzle to be complete.

Next: Find a base to hold the parts, with a slight nod the origin of the word fascist “fascio" -- a bundling, like when you lean down to gather reeds or thin sticks and collect them together in a fist “(according to Bhanu and the internet), we found a giant stick to hold out ritual parts.

NEXT: Sit together in a circle, create. Be open, there was no wrong step in the process because it was all about creating something new, something free of judgement or negativity.

LAST: The parade of the Cthulhu Ritual Stick, as a group, we walked into an open space and hummed in unison. We then took turns passing the stick around, and saying whatever was in our hearts. It is important to mention that “Bash the Fasc” became the chant used to cheer each other on.

(here I am hiding behind our creation)

The experience was liberating. There was a feeling created, that words were unable to capture. In the plainest explanation, we were happy. Our ritual gave us a chance to work together with such freedom, that the feelings of oppression, that seems to build on your shoulders, (sometimes without being noticed), fade way. I think, we at that moment fully understood the word ‘care.’ We established belonging on a deeper level, and even though it is hard to put into words, I can definitely say that the ritual was a great success.

So……

Thank you Bhanu Kapil and Dr. Aggarwal!

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If I Knew Heptapod B, my Tumblr Post Would Be Done by Now: A Reflection of Story of Your Life by Ted Chiang

 Story of Your Life follows the experience of Dr. Louise Banks, who is called upon by the military to learn an alien language. The aliens are Heptapods, and they communicate in two different ways; Heptapod A which is their spoken language, and Heptapod B, their written language, it is within Heptapod B that the true magnificence of their language is found. They write in complex structures, giving each tiny variance from the line its own individual meaning. Heptapods know what is going to be said before a sentence starts. Their connection to language gives them the ability to see the entire picture at once; the entire story of a life at the same time.

Dr. Banks tells this story to her daughter, going back and forth between the present and the past, and it becomes clear that she has taken on the ability to think within Heptapod B. Chiang writes the story through the filter of Heptapod B, creating a slight a very small semblance to what that must be like.

This universe introduces a number of questions, for example, what do we lose, functioning within the restrictions of our language? Is it possible that the human mind, which uses a small percent of its capability, is under worked? Humans have relied on the boundaries of language to express themselves, leaving little room for the exploration beyond words. We chose a series of icons and decided to teach it to our progeny for the rest of our existence. If communication is ‘good enough’ it seems unnecessary to tear it apart. It could be our overall reliance on the old that is holding is back from a realm of possibilities.

                      These

Words                                                                                                                          

                                    Are

                                                                        Comfortable.

But we coul

D have                                                              so much more

If we op

                         En ourselves up.

 It has to be possible, and the idea of re-configuring language as we know it into a series of understandable shapes has happened before, for example:

 But even if we found a way to revolutionize communication, I don’t think the majority of the population could handle knowing the events of their own lives, before it even happens. Story of Your Life is effective in showing the possibilities of evolution, but it also suggest the amount of responsibility and will power that comes with the privilege of full understanding. 

“What would it be like to go through life knowing what would happen in the future, but being unable to change it?”

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Is James Tiptree “The Girl Who Was Plugged In”?

No. But I think we all are, a little. The Girl Who Was Plugged In relates to anyone who, at one time or another, wished to be someone else; ans the narrator makes it a point to make sure we know it by calling the main character ‘our girl.’

“Believe it, zombie. When I say growth, I mean growth.”

In an article by Michelle Bastian called “Haraway’s Lost Cyborg and the Possibilities of Transversalism,” Bastian explores the “proto-ecofeminist relationship between gender and nature in the 1970s.” This was during the second wave of feminism, a big focus on the environment, and the career of James Tiptree.

James Tiptree, like her main character, Philadelphia Burke, spent time existing as the ‘home base’ so a different version of themselves could exist in the real world. The narrator seems to go out of their way to make you feel just as good as P.Burke looks, calling the reader ‘zombie’ and dead daddy’. P. Burke has pituitary dystrophy, causing her to fall beneath beauty standards set by the ‘gods.’

P. Burke lives in a commercial world where advertising is illegal. One thing that is clear is that the desire for people to push product hasn’t died, just the billboards. Along with advertising, suicide is illegal, which is unfortunate for the hideously deformed and depressed P. Burke. After a suicide attempt she agrees to be the host for a beautiful young girl named Delphi.

I think the reason that this story is so successful is because Tiptree touches on so many different themes in literature, that are timeless, and adds a futuristic spin on it. It’s a tragic love story, with a Romeo and Juliet-esq feel, a coming of age struggle as a woman, and a warning to a possible future draped in technology.

P. Burke is plugged into her reality as Delphi to the point that she no longer cares about what happens to the body of P. Burke. Her mind is 100% committed to the life she is living as Delphi, although these that are controlling her are pleased, it is clear that there is no level of support for P. Burke. The doctor that look after her try to make sure she is eating and taking care of herself, but it is heartbreaking to see “our girl” so willing to destroy herself. It is interesting that while Tiptree was writing this she was in a situation not all the different from P. Burke’s, she was plugged into the persona of James Tiptree. Tiptree suggest that the ability to write as male proved to be as tempting as Burke’s chance to be beautiful.

Is it better to live happier as a persona and spite yourself, or face the uncomfortable reality that the place society has allotted you is heartbreaking?

As a symptom of this fantasy life, P.Burke falls in love with a man named Paul, a man who wants to free her from her chains. In an effort to do so, he sees the hideously deformed P.Burke, kills her and along with her, the beautiful mind of Delphi. It seems that its always the end result in commercialized love. P.Burke’s death seems so empty and sad, but perhaps it wasn’t, ‘our girl’ died long before her cyborgian transformation.

Is it better to have loved and lost, than to have never loved at all?

Does a better quality virtual reality actually count as a reality?

In the words of James Tiptree….. “One capricious self-powered god can wreck you.”

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Reads like prophecy: A reflection of Donna Haraway’s “A Manfesto for Cyborgs” and Ursula Le Guin’s “The New Atlantis”

“They were the voices of the great souls, the great lives, the lonely ones, the voyagers. Calling. Not often answered. Where are you? Where have you gone?”

               Donna Haraway and Ursula LeGuin have created bodies of work that speak to a future state of things; some of which are internal and some of which are global. In “The New Atlantis” the main character describes a world in a power struggle, which seems to echo an exaggerated version of our world today. Le Guin wrote her story in 1975, decades later “The New Atlantis” is still seemingly familiar. There is a body of government that has taken strict control over the area. Marriage is forbidden, research strictly monitored, and all the while something strange is rising out of the ocean. The story seems to be a warning, warning against government control, ignoring nature, and forgetting that there is always the possibility of something greater than man.

 However troublesome, it is ultimately a unique story of hope. It is the small group of innovators that gets visited by special beings.; as seen in “Call of Cthulhu”, the gods will target the open minded, but in this case, these gods come as light, as hope.

If it can be said that “The New Atlantis” is a warning against a possible future, Donna Haraway is an answer to prepare human evolution to excel in a new world. Haraway’s Cyborg Manifesto is most likely something I will read over and over again, and maybe one day, many years from now, will begin to fully understand. One thing that is clear is Haraway’s interesting and inspired take on the human condition. A call to live as cyborgs, transcend the unavoidable human shortcomings.

The interest in a human machine hybrid has been around for quite some time, and is not that hard to imagine.

(this is an exaggeration, but this is the most popular image if you search ‘cyborg’) 

But it is common to picture the human machine cyborg as a symptom of comic books. Haraway’s cyborg is much more of a power house of the mind. 

My biggest take away from “A Manifesto for Cyborgs” is the calling to break down barriers, re-think common binaries, and no longer rely so heavily on the core values of the present day ‘human.’ She envisions a world without the tendency to believe in the trap of Oedipus, and offers up a world where you are fated to nothing; bound to nothing. The main characters in “The New Atlantis” were cyborgian in their efforts to live without the expected limitations of humans. In a time and place where humans already align themselves so closely with technology and machines in their everyday life, the evolution into cyborg seems inevitable anyway. 

Perhaps our technology functions so seamlessly because we haven’t tried to bog it down with the expectation of choosing gender, sexual preference, and a standard of belief. The binding of human to machine creates the best of both worlds, the highly functioning mind with judge-less parts. A NEW New Atlantis, where Portland is fine because we have all seen the light and received the messages that humans can’t stop here. Humans need to evolve.

           “I am here. Where have you gone?

 No answer.”

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Humanizing Cthulhu

H.P. Lovecraft opened a rift in the world of literature with the Cthulhu Universe. The Call of Cthulhu introduces an elusive danger existing all around us. The ‘Great Old Ones’ have always been there, and never been there. Cthulhu itself, is a creature foreign to us, yet so connected to our minds that it is omnipresent. However, for a mythos that is supposed to be foreign, the story of Cthulhu has evolved into an entity so familiar, it is almost human. So the real question is, does the humanization of Cthulhu, in itself, destroy the point of Cthulhu?

In The Call of Cthulhu, Lovecraft leaves readers with a sense of impending doom and unanswered questions, but like most fictional universes, over time the story gets filled in, it grows in expectant, humanistic ways. We insert creation myths, hero cycles, relatable experiences, and overall musings on how and why we are here. The most threatening thing about Cthulhu is that it can infiltrate the most meaningful thing to human existence, our minds; but it is only the minds of the characters that it can play with. Cthulhu’s downfall is found in its readers, we keep it and re-write it until Cthulhu becomes familiar. It is hard to fear a name that Microsoft Word auto-corrects for you.

Cthulhu and ‘The Great Old Ones’ would hold up better hiding in a chest somewhere, waiting for an unknowing adventurer to unleash its tales in a world wind of dust and intimacy, and that adventurer leaves the book to be rediscovered, as he whispers tales of the lore to passersby, instead it is a highly successful marketing franchise. There are currently countless games, movies, tee shirts, action figures, etc., out there celebrating this creature from the dark. This is only possible because the people connect to Cthulhu, Cthulhu is now family.

(I am a happy participant in this franchise)

Donna Haraway calls forth the need for us to move into the Cthulocene, and a focus on symbiosis, multi-similarity, community, a universal connectedness, much like that of ‘The Old Great Ones.’ As suggested by Haraway, lichens are on to something, lichens understand the benefit of a connectedness to survive.

Cthulhu understands the benefit of a connectedness to survive. I have to say I agree, especially at a time where humans are on the cutting edge of technology, life is easier, communication is open, we just have to connect. Haraway calls for ‘Our Epic,’ what is our legacy, what are we leaving behind? Is it possible that The Call of Cthulhu was not about an ancient network of gods threatening the earth, but a cry for people to connect with each other? Maybe Lovecraft is our modern Homer, authoring a story of our role models. 

It is interesting to live in a time that has high praise for monsters, especially monsters with relatable stories. It is near to impossible to not humanize monsters because the first way people learn is by association, at the core of everything, we related to our environment from the eyes of a human. It’s why we see human-like faces in light sockets and the fronts of cars. Its why Haraway calls for the modern movement of the Cthulocene. As part of the greater hive mind of connectedness, I am no different, there is a for these universes built around creatures of the unknown.  I wonder if ‘The Great Old Ones’ saw this coming.