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July 10, 2005
The Screen
Question: Isn’t this radical uncertainty brought about by Virtual Reality likely to challenge man’s vision of himself and the world?
Jean Baudrillard: Certainly, because it is the system of representation that is at issue. The image that he has of himself is virtualized. One is no longer in front of the mirror; one is in the screen.
While Baudrillard draws from Plato’s notion that we must only look into the mirror of art to see ourselves, Baudrillard argues that humans are now conceptually in the screen, that we can see ourselves in the art of the computer screen. Yet if the question is rooted in our system of representation as Baudrillard contends, then I suggest that we are not merely in the screen: rather, we are the screen. For while we create, transform, exchange, and destroy our “virtualized” persons, we increasingly privilege the genetic code as central to the essence of our person. We click, cut, and paste; we are yet another technological screen that can be manipulated through genetic therapy and testing. Perhaps our understanding of our genes defines the beginning and the end of this period in history. In this language we find what we believe to be ourselves.
Posted by Jennifer at July 10, 2005 06:06 PM
Comments
When Plato said that we need only look to art to see ourselves, did he mean find ourselves? At the end of your discussion, you say, "In this language we find what we believe to be ourselves."
Hence, is seeing ourselves and finding ourselves one and the same? Do we not know ourselves?
Was art a mirror for Plato or a window into the souls of others... of humanity? Was he looking for others or looking for himself? Is there a difference?
I'd say that there is not a difference. I say this because I believe that it is knowledge that allows us to reach understanding. Hence, the more we know about certain things, the more understanding we are able to achieve. Therefore, when looking at art to see others, we gain information about humanity, and when looking at art as a reflection, we gain intrapersonal knowledge.
The screen is a portal of knowledge. Through it we can learn, see, and hear.
However, an important point is that the screen does not transmit nor create understanding. That is left to the self- the self that creates the representations, the self that opens his or her eyes to see, the self thatintuites and understands. Many call this self the soul.
Posted by: Randall at July 20, 2005 12:16 AM
BBC article: Virtual reality aid for schizophrenia
talk about changing our visions of ourselves, not to mention our visions.
Posted by: Aayesha at July 21, 2005 07:57 PM