Patricia Piccinini

Talks, T. (2013, March 30). Genetically Evolved Technology: Luke Bawazer at TEDxWarwick 2013. Retrieved November 17, 2014, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BljY3_i3gfw

As biotechnology and genetic manipulation develop, it is only politically and ethically correct for the creators of these creatures to take responsibility to ensure that the process and correct function of these creatures is smooth. Much of Piccinini’s work relates to the human condition. There are representations of love, intimacy, trust, care and protection in her art. She captures in her work the bonds formed between human and genetically modified mutations (QAGOMA, 2018) whether the relationships are strong or weak. ‘The Bond’ ‘The Comforter’ and ‘The Welcome Guest’ invite us to look beyond the strangeness of the creatures to make connections in finding the beauty in a world not ruled by the notions of perfection. The sculptures questions our ethical obligation in looking after these creatures, in a place where technology has become so natural that it takes on a life of its

One company, OrganInc Farms, aims to improve the artificially formed pigoon through implementing, “a rapid maturity gene [that] was spliced in so the pigoon kidneys and livers and hearts would be ready sooner, and now they were perfecting a pigoon that could grow five or six kidneys at a time” (23). Through this attempt at “perfecting” the pigoon, OrganInc Farms promotes the importance of reaching an idealized version of living animals. Through inventing, and then accelerating the adaptation of the pigoon, OrganInc Farms transitions biological changes from an event outside of human control to an academic pursuit. This change signals a societal increase in control over natural surroundings, and a commitment to the advancement of humanity through the use of technology.

Patricia Piccinini is an artist born in Africa in 1965, who now lives and works in Australia. Her art focuses on technological intervention in producing; maintaining and enhancing life, the relationship between the natural and the artificial; familial love, maternal and children’s relationships with products and technology. Her main art mediums are digital media, computer-manipulated photography, video and sculpture. Her artworks are her personal response to ethical issues of the contemporary world as well as the advances in technology. Her art is designed to elicit an emotive response or shock from the audience.

Mankind has become more intellectual and creative than ever before. The human has learned to adapt and learn new ways of crafting society to be more functional. New sciences and technologies have developed at an exponential rate and then those new ideas blossom off of other ideas. This growth of ideas is similar to the process of dialectic. As this idea develops, counter ideas known as antithesis develop. The thesis and antithesis struggle between one another and convey about a new idea called a synthesis. The Synthesis contains the best of both, but creates a new antithesis as the synthesis ages. Various sciences have gone deep into human research and the makeup of the human anatomy. Scientists have become further innovative and have been able to clone people and make designer babies. Certain drugs and enhancements can also alter the way we act and think as human beings. Amid all these new alterations and being able to create life we have to ask ourselves, what is a human person? Before advanced science and mind altering drugs people would say in many instances that the person is a mind and a soul. There are many different definitions for what a ‘person’ or in many cases what a ‘human being’ is. I decided the best definition for a person to use would be the philosophical definition, which, is a self-conscious or rational being. This is a definition that makes us try to understand what is and what isn’t a person. However, this definition is simple and shouldn’t be our only

Seven months before the publish of Escape from Spiderhead, the first artificial life was created in US. Unlike Dolly the sheep, this is not the kind of artificial life from cloning but is created out of nothing but an “an entirely synthetic genome that was constructed from chemicals in the laboratory” (Sample). This finding has caused great reaction from the public and doubtlessly the experiment was challenged with “morality” and “playing god”. It is not difficult to image that there must be people who jump out and shout for their worries of any possible uncontrolled cases. According

To examine this possibility, Garreau interviewed Nick Bostrom, co-founder of the World Transhumanist Association. Bostrom shows his agreement with human transcendence by asserting that “Technological progress makes it harder for people to ignore the fact that we might actually change the human nature” (qtd. in Garreau, 242).

In the afterward to this book, author Lee Silver, professor of molecular ecology and evolutionary biology and neuroscience at Princeton, states, "My goal has been to present both the scientific and the political realities of reprogenetic technologies as I see them, along with the ethical dilemmas their use will raise. I leave it to philosophers and bioethicists to figure out how these ethical dilemmas might be resolved." As the book opens, the reader is moved scene by scene further into the future when, ultimately, the development of genetic engineering and its accessability will have formed a world even more polarized

Malik, Kenan. "Concerns About Biotechnology Altering Human Nature Are Groundless." Designer Babies, edited by Clayton Farris Naff, Greenhaven Press, 2013. At Issue. Opposing Viewpoints in Context, link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/EJ3010850213/OVIC?u=j170902014&xid=e7789a12. Accessed 31 Mar. 2017. Originally published as "Reviews: Francis Fukuyama, Our Posthuman Future," New Statesman, 20 May 2002.

In Consumption and Social Changes in a Post-Soviet Middle Class, Jennifer Patico explores the impact of market consumerism on the social position of public school teachers in post-Soviet Russia. Living in St. Petersburg during the financial crisis of 1989 –1990, Patico describes how her informants struggled to reconcile their perceived moral value as educators with their declining material wealth. Patico defines this “logic of value” as “how people in a marketizing society interpret and construct the interrelationships between materiality and morality; between wealth and social standing; and between resources and respect” (Patico, 8). From this definition, Patico investigates how teachers in St. Petersburg constructed their own conception of

A human being is described as being a creature capable of questioning concepts such as “who am I” and “why am I here” in order to give meaning to their existence. (Creech Ph.D., 2015)

One of the most controversial topics in modern philosophy revolves around the idea of non-human animals being considered human people. Controversy over what makes up an actual person has been long debated. However, society deems it as a set of characteristics. The average person normally does not realize how complicated a question this is, and in fact many scientists, philosophers, and individuals will side differently on this specific topic. I personally do not believe that animals are capable of being human people, but throughout this argumentative paper I will address critical views presented from multiple philosophers on why this seems to be the case.

Astor Piazzolla is from Argentina and became a composer. He created a new tango genre called nuevo tango which incorporates jazz into tango that also infers expanding instrumentation. Since tango had lost in popularity around 1950s and 1960s, Piazzolla was considered to be the saviour of tango since he created the new genre of tango. Traditional tango was for dance, not for listening. Furthermore, it was listened and played by poor people or lower-middle class people. In 1950s, Tango started losing it’s creativity and popularity. Since then, tango became things that were listened and studied. In fact, new tango music was not allowed to be melodic since tango was used for protestant and expression which means that the music has power.

Cartesian dualism and transhumanism are both controversial theories within their time contexts. Leahey (2004) describes Descartes dualism as the separation of the body and the soul. The soul is immaterial and is the location for thought, consciousness, and the Cartesian Theatre, and controls the actions of the material body. Transhumanism theorises that technology will enhance and supersede human evolution (Elkins 2011,) as technology will become an extension of ourselves, or already is. I will explore the arguments for the strengths and weaknesses of these theories, and explore their contribution to modern psychology.

Genetically Engineered Children is a political article from The Cagle Post published in 2012 by Tom Purcell. The writer is trying to inform the reader how technology has spread so much that it is being used in something as natural as child birth. In the article, the doctor is promoting the use of the genetic modification procedure while the couple are finding it difficult to accept his offer. Through stereotypes, allusion and dialogue, Purcell explores the conflict of values and puts forth a serious message of how today’s society is attaching itself to science and technology practices that are unethical. The argument between the doctor and the couple, and the illustration, convey the future of society in an amusing manner. By using stereotypes, allusion