In Donna Haraway’s The Companion Species Manifesto: Dogs, People, and Significant Otherness, the main point Haraway is making is that as humans we rely on relationships with both humans and non-humans in order to identify ourselves, and in turn co-evolve with the other party within that relationship. Specifically, Haraway uses dogs as a non-human companion species to support her argument.
In this article, Haraway states that “dogs are not surrogate for theory; they are not here just to think with. They are here to live with. Partners in crime of human evolution…” [4]. Her notion of co-evolution between humans and dogs is evident in this statement, in that ultimately in this relationship, one would not evolve without the other, and vice versa. I agree with Haraway in her description of these co-evolutional relationships, and find it easy to relate to her arguments, on both a personal and global scale. I have developed certain character traits; morals; ethics; based on the influence of those around me growing up. Having cats and dogs in the household, though living with their own set of rules, developed within me a certain respect for these companion animals. They shared a home with me; slept in the same bed as I did; watched TV on the couch with me. They ate breakfast and dinner, and my mother was always worried about them when we were planning trips away to see family. Haraway describes how dogs have been used as companions rather than just as working dogs for centuries; that despite their many jobs – hunter, herder, tracker – dogs have been regarded as more or less equals by humans with regards to their living conditions or burial and death rituals. On a broader scale, the human race in general has forever been adopting new ways to incorporate these companion animals into every day life. Dogs lead our blind through the streets and shopping malls. Cats are used as therapy tools in hospitals or prisons. In the following blog, Jennifer Copley describes how “in 2007, the Associated Press reported that a Columbian police unit has been using cat-and-rat teams to find and remove landmines” [Copley]. Not only are these animals working with humans, but cats and rats are working together, despite their historical feud.
Beyond the idea of humans and dogs living as one, this issue is of importance to us in this course because we can relate what Haraway is saying in terms of our co-evolution with communication technologies, specifically, the Internet. To take a step back and look at how technology has developed over the past century, it is apparent that without human involvement, the Internet would not be what it is today. On the flip side, this networking technology has in turn changed how humans behave, interact, and think, as a species. Jose Luis Cordeiro describes Part II of a book written by William E. Halal called Technology’s Promise, in saying that “Social Impacts of the Technology Revolution builds on the previous chapters [of Halal’s book] in order to visualize possible futures and the direct impact of science and technology on social institutions during this current Knowledge Age, which seems to be giving birth to an Age of Consciousness. The author argues that these changes are fundamental to the very survival of humanity.” [Cordeiro]. This book, though I have only read reviews, appears to build on this idea of technology evolving alongside the human race, and in turn the necessity of this technology in human evolution.
My question for my fellow students is, where is the breaking point between how you identify yourself based on relationships with family, friends, work, sports, and so on, versus your relationship with the technological companion, the Internet?
When wrapping my head around the concepts in this article, I found Wikipedia’s explanation of coevolution particularly useful. Please refer to this site, as well as the sites listed below for further reading. Also, if you’re interested, I have also included a link to a website that has available for download, a 20 minute “video” (you’ll see why I put that in quotations if you check it out) called Co-Evolution of Technology, Media, and Collective Action where Howard Rheingold talks about human evolution through writing, colonization, and the advancement of networks and network technologies. It is an interesting piece, though it doesn’t touch on the technologies aspect until the last couple of minutes.
In closing I’d like to end with my favourite quote from Haraway’s article:
“Generally speaking, one does not eat one’s companion animals (not get eaten by them); and one has a hard time shaking colonialist, ethnocentric, ahistorical attitudes toward those who do (eat or get eaten).” [14]
In thinking about co-evolving alongside the Internet, I like to hope that, as time goes on, we do not eat, or get eaten, by this technology.
Thank you for reading!
Copley, Jennifer. "Suite 101." Cats with Jobs. 29 May 2008. 17 February 2011. <http://www.suite101.com/blog/shaya_weaver/cats_with_jobs>.
Cordeiro, Jose Luis. "Kurzweil." Technology’s Promise: Expert Knowledge on the Transformation of Business and Society. 4 July 2010. 17 February 2011. <http://www.kurzweilai.net/technology’s-promise-expert-knowledge-on-the-transformation-of-business-and-society>.
Rheingold, Howard. “Co-Evolution of Technology, Media, and Collective Action”. NMC Symposium on Evolution of Communication. 5 December 2007.
Wikipedia. "Coevolution." October 2010. Wikipedia Foundation Inc. 17 February 2011. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coevolution>.
I don't think there is a point of separation. My relationship with the Internet is integral to how I define my relationships with my friends, family, and coworkers. There are some people with whom I interact primarily or even entirely via Facebook, IM, or email. Our relationship is constructed within the terms of my relationship with the Internet. Even for people with whom I interact primarily offline, such as my father, my relationship with the Internet is still present. My father reads my blog and my tweets from my website, so when I write a blog post or tweet, I have to remember that whatever I write, he will be reading. Just today, I tweeted about having trouble with my honours seminar talk; a few minutes later when he came downstairs, he tried to give me some tips.
ReplyDeleteWow... your dad is cool (lol). In ways I wish my mom was that technologically savvy... but on the flipside, I know that whatever my Facebook status is, I don't have to worry about her asking me about it...
ReplyDeleteI like your explanation of the inseparable relationships. Do you think this is different from person to person? Or are we, as a society, moving towards this sort of symbiotic relationship with the human and non-human?
Yes, each person's experience is probably different. It depends on how comfortable one is with using the Internet to communicate, and how open one is about publicizing one's life.
ReplyDeleteI think as we get better at integrating this technology into our lives, we will see a sort of symbiosis emerge. For example, I use Google Calendar for my schedule, and I make my work and school schedules available on my website, so anyone can see when I'm in class. I wouldn't be surprised if we start seeing households where everyone has a smartphone and can access everyone else's calendar at any time. This might replace, say, the communal calendar on the fridge. So in one sense, it is something new and very different: it's instantaneous and flexible. Yet in another sense, this isn't that new; we've used technology as an aspect of our relationships long before the Internet became a big part of our lives.