The Surrogates- Replaceable humans?

  1. Throughout the graphic novel, there is the question of being ‘alive’.  Are the Surrogates, the shells that people project themselves into, ‘abominations’ as the followers of the prophet claim, or are they more advanced forms of the cosmetic surgery that many people use today to achieve their desired forms?  Are these types of humans easier to accept than other versions of the ‘other that we have seen that are human looking, like the Cylons or Yod?

5 thoughts on “The Surrogates- Replaceable humans?

  1. I would argue that the surrogates are more akin to advanced cosmetic surgery, though more complex. Surrogates are real life internet avatars, so while they can give people completely redone appearances, they also fulfill the desire to be a totally new person, while retaining the same mind. Humans now have the power of God and remake themselves. In the context of this course, surrogates further blur the line between human and Other. While occupied by a human consciousness, I would call the surrogates human, as the human mind animates them and is the core of who they are. Without the human consciousness, the surrogate becomes an inanimate object. They are easier to accept than other forms we have seen, because though the surrogates are technically machines, they are occupied by recognizably human minds. Yod and the Cylons are not and have never been human, and thus humans recognize them as Other (at least at first).

  2. I think that as creations, the Surrogates would be more palatable to to our society. The comparison to cosmetic surgery is very apt, but I found myself sympathizing with the Prophet’s view, and they are at the least problematic. The idea of removing one’s real body from the experience of life would in my view alienate people even further from a society that today already feels disconnected. I find myself championing embodiment, and fully understand Harv’s wish to sit down with his actual wife and not her Surrogate. The refusal to accept age and change she displays has been an integral part of the human condition since the start of our race, and it seems only damaging to run from it in such a powerful way.

  3. I really agree with Hannah here about Surrogates serving an almost cosmetic function within the world of the novel. While they certainly have “higher” applications such as police body doubles, the novel’s close attention to their aesthetic function is highly significant. Given that the Surrogates serve more as alternate “selves” for their human others, I am not sure they truly qualify as representing any sort of artificial intelligence. Just as Hannah points out, the surrogates, when not being used, are simply inanimate objects that inherently depend on “real” humans to “operate.”

    Still, I do not think that a consideration of the Surrogates as cosmetic excludes a concurrent notion of them as abominations. Indeed, I think the novel’s depiction of the social and interpersonal problems that arise in a world of inherently fictitious body doubles leads the reader to considering the surrogates as a negative innovation. Moreover, it is the world’s use of surrogates for largely cosmetic or perhaps even escapist purposes (going on dates, alternate lifestyles etc) that suggests their abominable quality.

  4. In the Hayles reading, there is a section in Chapter 9 called “Reconfiguring the Body of Information.” Here Hayles suggests that as research in Artificial Life-forms becomes more expansive, human life as we know it is affected. She points us to Rodney Brooks’ theory that the most essential property of the human being is “the ability to move around and interact robustly with the environment” (235). Brooks believes that it is “locomotion and simple interactions” that are essential in distinguishing between natural and Artificial Life (235). If we apply Brooks’ narrative to the graphic novel The Surrogates, then things become a little tricky. If Brooks believes it is uniquely human to “interact robustly with the environment” then it would be as if the humans in The Surrogates are non-human and the Surrogates are more human than the actual humans (235).

    I can understand why–from Brooks perspective especially–the Surrogates might be easier to accept as ‘alive,’ but I am still skeptical. Because Surrogates’ purpose seems entirely cosmetic and to make everyday human life easier, I think they are ‘less-alive’ than Yod and even the latest models of Cylons.

  5. Like everyone else has said, I see it more as a cosmetic thing (or as a sort of prosthetic). These “types of humans” are still the same humans, only hiding behind the technology instead of attaching it to themselves/creating a separate being with it, so I don’t see them as in the same category as Yod or the Cylons. I also saw it being used with the frequency of technology in our time, that the people are using the machines to advance their lives and to change the way the world around them views them, instead of giving up their humanity to become something post human.

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