In the show Altered Carbon, Takeshi Kovacs wakes up 250 years later after being resurrected from his death. He wakes up in a whole new body called a “sleeve”. “Sleeves” are the new bodies that one wakes up to after dying and you look different from your last body but your brain in still intact. This goes with what we learned in this week’s lecture because one of the terms we learned was called , Embodied Cognition. Cognition does not occur in a disembodied mind but is an embodied process. To quote the slide, “A body is not something you have; it is something you are.” I think this related to the episode because Takeshi was put into a different body, however, his emotions and personality are still intact. His “body” is who he is because both of his sleeves were nicely built guys that play along with his soldier like traits. When he first wakes up, after fighting the doctors he asks for a mirror and sees his old body in the reflection for a second before seeing his new self. Our bodies and emotions are integrated into our cognitive system, not separate from it.
In Futurama, the episode was about how brains were taking over the plants and making everyone dumb. Fry then has to stop the brains by using his own brain. He goes against the biggest brain of all and has to actually think of a plan to stop it. He reads a book to it and defeats the big brain. I feel that this episode of Futurama contributed to “The Brain in a Vat” concept and Embodied Cognition. “The Brain in a Vat” concept connects with the episode for the reason that the floating brains in the episode “made up” their own worlds by making other planets dumb which is similar to the experiment where the scientist would create an entire fictitious world that he captive brain would feel normal. Embodied Cognition also goes with this episode because the slide from the lecture explains how we don’t notice the thinking our bodies do. We think with and through our bodies. I’ve only seen a few episodes of Futurama to know that Fry isn’t the smartest character but he unknowingly used his brain to save his planet.
In the Star Trek episode, this voice appears and as the crew investigate, they find a device that contains a mind; Sargon’s mind. Sargon then takes over Captain Kirks body and starts to reminisce as if he were re-enjoying having a body again. He also got a chance to rekindle his with his wife. I think this goes with 4e Cognition because it shows that being just a brain isn’t enough. You need your body to express emotions physically, you need your 5 senses. To quote the lecture, “Cognition is embedded, always occurs and is often off-loaded onto, a physical and social environment.” The body is such an important factor in every thought and decision one makes.
4 thoughts on “Blog Post #2”
Hi Brianna,
You are absolutely right that embodied cognition argues that the mind is an integral part of our cognitive system and that it is impossible to separate mind from body. In a show like Altered Carbon, then, what is being downloaded into the stack? If a mind can be downloaded in an then uploaded into another body, then wouldn’t that suggest that they are separate—that the mind can be abstracted and completely disembodied?
In the brain in the vat thought experiment, the idea is that the world is constructed only through neural stimulation of the brain itself. We might connect this to the brain being trapped by the narrative that Fry constructs—in essence he traps the brain in its own imagination. But that actually goes against what we are arguing in embodied cognition, which does not reduce cognition to neural stimulation, but considers the role of our bodies play as we move through and make sense of the world. As you note in your discussion of the Star Trek episode, 4-E cognition argues that, while brains are a part of our cognitive system, they
Jessica Hautsch
Hi Brianna,
You’ve done a wonderful job of connecting the ideas of embodied cognition to the scene from Altered Carbon. Although they are able to take the cortical stacks (minds) and put them into different sleeves (bodies), the cognitive system still remains in tact. The fact that Takeshi still was able to see his old self in his new sleeve proves how mind and body work together to form the cognitive system.
You’ve also explained 4E Cognition terrifically by explaining how Sargon “rekindles” with his wife by experiencing emotions through Captain Kirk’s body. It’s a great way to see understand the idea and how mind and body go together and how the body and what it experiences is such an important part of how cognition is formed.
Well done!
Anthony Aromolo
Hey Brianna,
First, I want to say regardless of the error, I love the cat – keep them coming. I discussed the stack/sleeve integration in my post as well. I think it was fortunate (well-funded) that he was placed in a well-built/well-suited body for his personality and experiences, however how do you think it would change if he had been put into an old person or a kid or a handicapped person, would the body limit the mind? I think you made a good observation with the star trek episode as a good example of embedded cognition and shows how our social and environmental interactions play a part in cognition.
nperalta
Hi Nicole,
I agree about the kitty in this post. Unfortunately, I am not sure that anything we watch is going to be quite as cute as this lil fluffer.
I think you also make a great point about the connection to between capitalism and the “suitability” of the sleeve. Certainly the perception and experience of the body might shift depending on the body a stack is uploaded into.
Jessica Hautsch