WS798: Technology vs. Sustainability

How often are people really sick? I guess it depends on our definition of “sick”. In the introduction of Gender Circuits (pp.29-31), Eve Shapiro makes the point that we, as humans, only acknowledge that we are sick because technology says so, not simply because our bodies say so. Think about it. We have a multitude of new tests and body scans to tell us what is wrong with our bodies and we have plenty of pills, liquid medicine, lotions, and gels to aid us when we are sick. None of which are natural to the human body. Shapiro describes an article written by Donna Haraway, who argues that humans have become cyborgs because of all of the technology we put into our bodies. She talks about many intentional modifications that we make to our bodies, including tattoos, tanning salons, and hair dyes, but what about the unintentional modifications?

Since we first learned that chemicals had the power to kill insects and weeds, we have been spraying them as insecticides and herbicides over farms and gardens to kill the insects and weeds to maximize fresh fruits and vegetables for crop. To make a point, Ester Hernandez's Sun Mad Raisins illustrates a box of Sun Maid Raisins modified to read “Sun Mad Raisins unnaturally grown with insecticides, miticides, herbicides, and fungicides” with the maid portrayed as a skeleton holding the basket. This image symbolizes the harm that we are doing to our bodies by consuming the crop or meat from animals that have been exposed to harmful chemicals. This is a vicious cycle brought on by technology. We have so many ideas for new technology that is supposed to save us time and make our lives easier and more efficient, but it is not at all healthy. What good is having an easy, stress-free life if we're all sick and dying?

Chemicals from the insecticides and herbicides that remain on the food we eat are digested in our bodies. Human bodies today are filled with too many unnatural substances that were never meant to be there, hence Haraway's term “cyborgs”. We are a technology centered society that favors convenience and efficiency over health and sustainability. We cannot sustain ourselves or our earth if we keep producing new technologies that not only create unnatural changes, but that cause harm to us and the environment as well.

 

Eve Shapiro's Gender Circuits
Preview: Gendered Bodies and Identities in a Technological Age
Biomedical Technology as Mediator between Physical and Mental Life (pp.29-31)