[ExI] [ieet] Singularity - Non-Gender Specific

[natasha at natasha.cc]

Come on.  Give me a thought-provoking response.  Not the same ole  
stuff that - men like tech/match; women don't.


Quoting "Giulio Prisco (2nd email)" <eschatoon at gmail.com>:

> I don't think anything is gender specific -- we all know
> cigar-smoking, football-loving women and men who love flowers and
> stuffed animals.
>
> Rather, as they know well in advertising, for cultural reasons men and
> women relate best to different flavors of the same message. So it is a
> positive feedback loop: there are more men than women speaking of
> these things, and so of course the message is biased for a male
> audience. No big deal or fundamental problem, just something to
> correct.
>
> 2009/9/29 Natasha Vita-More <natasha at natasha.cc>
>>
>> I will be in Lisbon the second weekend of October speaking at the   
>> [INSIDE] conference.  This is a transdisciplinary event which   
>> addresses the sciences and arts of human-machine interfaces.  My   
>> talk will cover a transhumanist perspective of human enhancement as  
>>  aiming for radical extension of personal existence, and which   
>> includes issues of the Singularity.  Of concern, and this was   
>> addressed on the IEET blog, why the Singularity appears to be   
>> male-centric.  I simply cannot shed any light on this phenomenon.    
>> If anyone has psychological or theoretical pointers as to why this   
>> phonemic has happened, please let me know.  (That it is   
>> technological and women are not technological;.mathematical   
>> oriented is simply not a good enough defense because it is not   
>> true.)  There must be another reason.  Misogyny?  Does it trickle   
>> down from the top?
>>
>> Do you all think that could be the beginnings of another hijacking   
>> of terms, such as with "cyborg"?  With cyborg, which we all know   
>> was Manfred Clyne's description of a man-machine adaptive,   
>> self-regulating system for the purposes of space exploration.    
>> Years later, Donna Haraway popularized the term cyborg to reflect a  
>>  feminist theory.  Now the term is deeply engrained in academic and  
>>  public sector as being attached to a feminist worldview.  I spoke   
>> to Clynes about this and he was quite certain that the feminist use  
>>  of cyborg was wrong.
>>
>> Because the Singularity has a type of inference of chrysalises, it   
>> could a metaphor for the human species reaching a type of maturity   
>> in merging with AGI.  Because chrysalis is, on one hand, the life   
>> stage of some insects undergoing transformation; on the other hand   
>> it is well-known to women as a transformation stage from being   
>> fertile, reproductive organism to transforming into non-physically   
>> reproductive BUT intellectually productive, wise organisms.
>>
>> "For some women, menopause can transform their lives with the same   
>> power and force as a volcano. A woman may be radically different in  
>>  now she lives and moves in the world, and this transformation   
>> affects all hose around her."...  Usually this means that a woman   
>> (whose instincts are to nurture and protect offspring), now   
>> reaching outside the body to nurture and protect life.  As with   
>> Rachel Carson, a scientist, whose chrysalis brought her deeper into  
>>  the rigor of scientific study.
>>
>> Because the Singularity is so male-dominated, I wonder if it is not  
>>  almost stirring up what might later be a larger issue of gender   
>> misappropriation now, which could lead to a strong gender   
>> appropriation.
>>
>> I think this is a darn good quesiton to pose to Vernor ... I'll get  
>>  back to you all after I talk with him about it.
>>
>>
>>  Natasha Vita-More
>>
>>
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>
>
>
> --
> Giulio Prisco
> http://cosmeng.org/index.php/Giulio_Prisco
> aka Eschatoon Magic
> http://cosmeng.org/index.php/Eschatoon
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