The episodes we watched this week all delve into the split between the mind and the body. Alva Noe said “you are not your brain” but these episodes all conceptualize the brain as independent consciousness, beyond the body.
Altered Carbon explicitly states, “Your body is not who you are, you shed it like a snake sheds it’s skin, leave it, forgotten, behind you.” But the episode seems to grapple with this statement. On one hand there are very cybernetic theories at play. The mind, people’s consciousness are downloaded into other bodies(sleeves). While Bancroft explains his “murder” to Kovacs its all very analytical, like a computer he is backed up to an orbiting satellite feed, he is theoretically immortal as long as his backup remains intact. This approach to consciousness appears to embrace the duality between mind and body, that the body is just imprisoning the mind and easily switched, because the consciousness is the core of the person not the body. However, there are many instances within the show that seems at odds with this thought, taking a more embodied approach to cognitions – that left me with so many questions. The most obvious variance from cybernetics is the conscious tie to the body as a form of the human identity. When Kovacs wakes up, he is told not to look at his reflection because he risks schism/a psychotic break. An Identity crisis seems like a logical assumption for someone suddenly inside a different body. So much of a person’s identity rests on their appearance, race, age, gender, perceptions. The consciousness is affected by the body’s production of hormones which fully displays this embodied conscious theory. When Ortega is speaking in the precinct, she states the envoys can “drop into any sleeve and be combat ready in minutes.. absorb local language culture and customs” This is where I have questions, were the languages and culture and customs a part of the sleeve’s knowledge, it seems like the envoy is merging their own consciousness with the remnants of the body’s conscious. For the first episode, I would need to see more of how this is explained but if that were the case, it would be interesting to see how the merged consciousness affects the stacked conscious.
What was interesting in the Futurama episode is the similarities between the brains race and the nibblonian race. These are 2 presumably far superior and ancient intellectual races. While the nibblonians were intelligent and perceptive enough to send nibbler to earth in an effort to save the galaxy from the brains, they are driven to an almost compulsory need for food. Plato would consider them a slave to their bodily needs, even in the direst situation they are easily distracted and influenced by ham. The brains, however, claim to be so advanced they have evolved “far beyond asses” yet they are said to be driven by pure hate – Plato associates emotions within the confines of the body – so it doesn’t fit in with the cartesian dualist theory that they would be motivated by emotion rather than any reason/logic. It’s interesting that the 2 ancient intellectual races seem to be driven by more primal needs.
In the Star Trek episode, we are introduced to another superiorly intellectual race, they had transmitted their consciousness out of their bodies, however when Sargon takes over Captain kirk’s body he breathes in and feels, and exclaims “to be again” almost completely diverging from Descartes exclamation, for centuries Sargon has been thinking – however, only once he is in a body and can see and feel again, does he consider himself as “being”. Similarly Henoch goes against plato’s perception of the body as the mind’s prison. When he is trying to convince Thalessa to steal the body, he calls the unfeeling bots they were creating a prison, trapping them out of a living/feeling body. I find these overt departures from the cartesian dualist theory important it denoting that humans/people are beyond just thoughts, we are a collection of our senses, our environment our bodies, our perceptions and our thoughts. This episode truly highlights what it means “to be”.
4 thoughts on “I Feel, Therefore I am”
Hi Nicole,
You do a great job of breaking down some of the nuances and contradictions of these episodes. I think what your analysis suggests are some of the flaws in cybernetic and Cartesian ways of thinking about the mind—and why theorists of 4-E cognition reject them. For example, what would a mind without emotions look like? Later this semester we’ll continue to explore some of the research about the role that emotions play in our cognition. There is no such thing as “pure reason,” thinking without emotion. A mind without emotions would be unrecognizable as a human mind, because our emotions always play a role in our thinking (which is one of the reasons that I love the title of this post!), and our body plays a role in our emotions. They are all part of our cognitive system, inseparable from it. I really like how your analysis of the Futurama episode demonstrates this idea.
In addition, your analysis of Star Trek also does a great job of exploring the connection between mind and body. As you note, the episode suggests that a disembodied mind is more of a prison that a living/feeling prison. (There is also an interesting connection to Altered Carbon here, too, where a prison sentence refers to a duration during which the body is unsleeved.) So, while in these episodes, we see the mind being disembodied, but our conceptualization of the mind still relies (to some extent) on the human body.
Jessica Hautsch
Hi Nicole,
You’ve done a wonderful job with analyzing the episodes we’ve watched in this module. I was really intrigued by your analysis of the episode from Altered Carbon. I definitely agree that the episode utilizes cybernetic theories. You’ve made an excellent point in regards to how minds in this episode are tied to the human body as a form of identity. As you’ve stated, this aligns with the embodied approach. Here we can see how bodies and minds work together to form our cognitive system. It is definitely interesting to see these two ideas side by side. You’ve expanded well on the idea that the mind and body work together to form our cognitive system in Star Trek’s episode as well. The part of the episode where Sargon feels what it is like to breathe again is the perfect example for this, for a body being able to breathe is one of the most essential things for it to live. Excellent work!
Anthony Aromolo
Hi Nicole!
I loved the way you incorporated the Nibblonians race in your post. I didnt think to focus on them and compare them to the brains. You saw the Futurama episode in such a creative way discussing the two races, and their primal needs. It made me look at the ideas and episode in such a different perspective because I mainly focused on the brains and how fry saved them.
Excellent response!
Brianna
Hey Nicole !
I was also thinking about how the envoys merge with the consciousness of their new sleeves. I keep thinking about the scene where Kovacs is told about his new body, how it retained its muscle memory as well as a nicotine addiction. While I suppose you can say this is a “mind over body” argument, I wonder if there are mental ailments that can carry over as well as physical ones. If Kovacs has a nicotine addiction in his new body, does that mean he also has the mental struggles that come with a physical addiction ? If thats the case, how would that change his personality and perception of his surroundings ? I feel like you’re right in that there are a lot of questions left unanswered. I’ve watched a bit more of the show and I still don’t know !
arbuonaiuto