Content
Individual or Personal Technologies: Definitions
- Technology: an apparatus or a device that has at least one practical or utilitarian function, which was developed (not found) and can be further enhanced.
- A big leaf used to cover oneself from the rain is not a technology
- in fact, any primate could do that
- however, an umbrella is a technology
- a roof made of big leaves woven together is a technology as well
- A long stick found in nature, collected and used by someone to walk, gather fruit from a tree or defend from animals is not a technology
- even a non-human primate could do that
- however, two or more sticks tied together to reach higher branches could be considered a technology
- a stick with a sharp stone tied at its end, used to hunt or fight, definitely is a piece of technology
- chipping or sharpening the stone with other implements or tools would be the next development of that technology, followed by the fashioning of metal blades to build an actual axe, etc.
- Clothes can be considered a technology
- Individual or personal technology: an apparatus or a device that has at least one practical or utilitarian function, which is perceived as fundamental in some way for the development of the user’s private or public identity (“persona” = from an Etruscan word meaning mask), and has at least one overlapping or superfluous function (e.g., replaces a corporeal function with minimal or no advantage), and one immaterial function or quality that goes beyond its immediate utility (non-utilitarian function). Also, it would be able to stand the before/after and the with/without intellectual tests with significant implications being uncovered in the process. Since technological products have become staples of the consumer’s market, an additional relevant test is the examination of want/need impulses and how they affect the buying decision and experience.
- Fashion can be defined as such. Let’s put the definition to the test:
- used to cover or warm up oneself [practical, utilitarian function]
- often used in excess of its need (dressing up when outside temperatures would favor lighter attires; owning multiple clothes just for variety; accessorizing) [superfluous functions]
- used to identify one’s social role (including but not limited to uniforms), or to stand out and be recognized in society, or to feel more secure and more confident in a tense situation (an exam, a job interview, a romantic date) [immaterial functions]
- elegance or beauty are immaterial qualities, with additional functions (e.g., to attract, to inspire self-confidence, to be playful, to express happiness, mourning or sadness, to communicate other feelings)
- before/after and the with/without test:
- before/after: clothes have been intrinsic to the development of organized societies and civilizations for thousands of years
- with/without: wherever fashion is not in use within a society, often a variety of body-marking techniques act as alternate signifiers with similar functions/goals
- want/need: easy to understand in this case, nearly everyone buys more clothes than they need
- Smartphones
- used to communicate clearly, from anywhere with sufficient coverage, with anyone carrying a similar device, located anywhere else (over any distance) [practical, utilitarian function]
- often used to communicate with someone nearby, within voice reach or at a short walking distance from the user [superfluous function]
- texting someone in another room, inside the same house
- additional example: using a phone to consult a restaurant’s menu, while sitting in the same restaurant, during COVID 19
- used as a fashion accessory (bedazzling, naked, with cases, etc.), or to stand out and be recognized (carrying the latest, the most expensive, the most rare model) [immaterial functions]
- can be used to obscure, mask and manipulate communication with others, to influence and affect social outcomes [non-utilitarian functions]
- can be used to isolate oneself and avoid direct or indirect communication in a crowded environment (inside a waiting room, on a subway train, etc.) [non-utilitarian functions]
- before/after and with/without tests, etc.:
- before/after: most people in the younger generations cannot even conceive of social life, or life in general, without a cellphone
- with/without: how long can you go without looking at your phone? Would you be able to spend an entire weekend without using your phone? What are your psychological and physical reactions when the network is down for more than a few minutes?
- want/need: at this point in the development of the technology, does anyone really need to have the latest iPhone or Galaxy, if the model they use now is still working?
- What about the automobile?
- Can you apply this kind of model to the automobile, following the previous examples?
- If you do this and post the results on your Google Docs file (200-400 words) by Sep. 8, it can be counted for participation.
- What about the train?
- You can try this by yourself, as a way to test what you learned from this section.
Symbiosis and Rapture
- In nature, symbiosis is a form of interaction and codependence happening between two biological organisms
- The invention of the automobile introduced a new kind of prosthetic symbiosis, fusing together the body and mind of the user with the inanimate wheeled machine
- a broad range of stimuli are traveling from the moving car (the wheels, the suspensions, the chassis, the engine) to the driver’s hands, their ass [!] (watch this famous scene from the movie Rush [dir. Ron Howard, 2013]), and the whole body, including the nervous system
- most of the senses (sight, hearing, touch and smell) are involved in the process, in one way of another
- the car/driver combination essentially becomes a kind of hybrid living, sentient creature, interacting with the environment as one; the human driver, in a way, becomes the extension of the mechanical apparatus
- example: do you intentionally look at the corners of your car when you steer it around a turn or you pass other cars? No, not unless you are driving on a very narrow road or you are parking!
- compare that with a hammer: for a blacksmith or a carpenter, the hammer represents merely the extension of their arms and muscles
- it does not let them feel much beyond its heaviness and the the pliability, the density or the hardness of the material that you are working on
- inversion of the technological extension model of bodily functions:
- the driver is the recipient of the stimuli coming from the car, and only some of them are being converted into and applied to into the act of driving; the same is true, for the most part, for the passengers
- you experience the surrounding environment through the car, which shapes your field of view and influences what you see, what you hear, etc.
- you “feel” the road
- you “feel” the speed, and the result can be excitement or anxiety or fear
- you “feel” the car leaning when you turn or accelerate quickly
- you may “feel” the air, the smell of oil and gasoline, the vibrations, the noise of the engine, etc.
- the car is not just the extension of the body, it is also the extension of the self, or, rather, we could say that the car ‘extends’ into the self and modifies it momentarily
- example: road rage (people acting and feeling differently only while driving, becoming less empathic towards others, being unduly hostile and outright aggressive)
- From the beginning of its history, the speeding car was seen as a thrill, a powerful distraction (allowing for a trance-like immersion or “rapture”), right around the time (1880-1910) when “stress” and “neurasthenia” (what we now call depression) became associated with “modern life”
- example: driving automatically, as when you drive to a familiar place such as your school, your workplace or your home while listening to the radio, being engaged in an intense conversation or deeply immersed in thought or daydreaming, and your brain automatically takes care of the mechanical actions related to driving without interfering with those other higher-level functions, the same way that complete awareness of the finer muscle movements is not required when you walk
- in fact people sometimes just go for a drive with no destination in mind, either to escape, relax, empty their minds, or to reflect on an issue, meditate on their lives (see “Modern Love” 2.1), think creatively, immerse in nature, listen to music, be alone, get away etc.
- the same happens, on a smaller scale, when you ride your bicycle
- the bicycle becomes an extension of your body: you move the whole thing as one (body and bike) to control it and steer it in any direction
- example: Testoni’s character of Renata, in the comedy On the Automobile (1904)
- As we will see later on in the semester, Renata’s naturally nervous temperament receives a lasting (negative) impression when a young Count takes her out of Florence for a car ride, trying to trick her into sleeping with him with a kind of romantic automotive kidnapping
- Dr. Emile Blanchet’s automobile therapy pamphlet, Automobilisme et médecine: rôle thérapeutique de l’automobile (1904)
- This French doctor claimed that he was able to cure a variety of physical and psychological ailments (including tuberculosis, anorexia, insomnia and morphine addiction!) by prescribing automobile rides.
- He was not alone, during that period, to believe that medical issues such as tuberculosis or depression could be treated that way, by virtue of the exposure to large amounts of fresh air and the excitatory effect of high speed on a shaking, vibrating vehicle.
The Inspiration for This Class
- A lifelong obsession
- at age two I fell in love with my first pedal car, a red Lola 1000 which I was able to park under the kitchen sink and which I would wash with laundry soap
- when people asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, I would answer “a guido”, a word that I made up myself from the Italian verb guidare (to drive; nothing to do with Guidos)
- A series of intellectual discoveries
- as a high school student, I soon became aware of Filippo Tommaso Marinetti and the manifesto of Futurism, which celebrated the automobile as a superior form of art
- A new technology, a new vocabulary, a new jargon
- A new technological era, a new human era
Core Concepts
