BIO
Jerika Sanderson is a current PhD student in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo, Canada. She completed her MA in English and her BSc in Biological Sciences and English Language and Literature at Brock University, Canada. Her current research involves examining depictions of biotechnologically engineered beings in 21st century popular culture, including science fiction television shows such as Westworld. Her general research areas include posthumanism, ecocriticism, and contemporary science fiction.
TITLE
“Be careful what you wish for’: Transhuman Nightmares in HBO’s Westworld”
ABSTRACT
In HBO’s television show Westworld (2016-present), scientific progress has resulted in a highly technologically advanced society. While Westworld engages with the transhuman optimism that technology will allow humans to surpass their biological limitations, the show’s depiction of the existential dread that arises from these transhuman aspirations reveals a highly pessimistic approach to the future of human society. Rather than technology being used to propel human progress, the technological advancements in Westworld have superseded humanity’s ability to use that technology. Consequently, the very technology that was being used in a transhuman attempt at immortality reveals the lack of meaning behind “human” identity to begin with.
While the transhuman dream of using technology to immortalize human minds fails in Westworld, this leaves us with a posthuman perspective on humanity and progress. Donna Haraway notes that “Our machines are disturbingly lively, and we ourselves frighteningly inert” (11). By depicting a future in which scientific progress results in a destabilization of human identity, Westworld asks us to consider this frightening inertia of being human. By encouraging the audience to reevaluate our own relationships with technology, Westworld engages with what Siri Veland et al. refer to as a “pessoptimistic” approach that “can move the reader to imagine their agency in different ways in enabling or preventing such futures” (44). This “pessoptimistic” approach to scientific progress in Westworld encourages the audience to consider new forms of agency that arise when technology has eroded the stability of what it is to be “human.”
EVENT
NYU Global Posthuman 2020
Jerika Sanderson is a current PhD student in the Department of English Language and Literature at the University of Waterloo, Canada. She completed her MA in English and her BSc in Biological Sciences and English Language and Literature at Brock University, Canada. Her current research involves examining depictions of biotechnologically engineered beings in 21st century popular culture, including science fiction television shows such as Westworld. Her general research areas include posthumanism, ecocriticism, and contemporary science fiction.
TITLE
“Be careful what you wish for’: Transhuman Nightmares in HBO’s Westworld”
ABSTRACT
In HBO’s television show Westworld (2016-present), scientific progress has resulted in a highly technologically advanced society. While Westworld engages with the transhuman optimism that technology will allow humans to surpass their biological limitations, the show’s depiction of the existential dread that arises from these transhuman aspirations reveals a highly pessimistic approach to the future of human society. Rather than technology being used to propel human progress, the technological advancements in Westworld have superseded humanity’s ability to use that technology. Consequently, the very technology that was being used in a transhuman attempt at immortality reveals the lack of meaning behind “human” identity to begin with.
While the transhuman dream of using technology to immortalize human minds fails in Westworld, this leaves us with a posthuman perspective on humanity and progress. Donna Haraway notes that “Our machines are disturbingly lively, and we ourselves frighteningly inert” (11). By depicting a future in which scientific progress results in a destabilization of human identity, Westworld asks us to consider this frightening inertia of being human. By encouraging the audience to reevaluate our own relationships with technology, Westworld engages with what Siri Veland et al. refer to as a “pessoptimistic” approach that “can move the reader to imagine their agency in different ways in enabling or preventing such futures” (44). This “pessoptimistic” approach to scientific progress in Westworld encourages the audience to consider new forms of agency that arise when technology has eroded the stability of what it is to be “human.”
EVENT
NYU Global Posthuman 2020
