{"id":8497,"date":"2016-02-03T12:45:10","date_gmt":"2016-02-03T12:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lab.wrkshp.fi\/huopaniemi\/?p=8497"},"modified":"2018-01-10T14:20:06","modified_gmt":"2018-01-10T12:20:06","slug":"2-5-frag-17-r","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/2-5-frag-17-r\/","title":{"rendered":"2.5 Fragment 17"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1><em>2.5<\/em> Fragment 17<\/h1>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-1 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style><div id=\"gallery-1\" class=\"gallery galleryid-8497 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-large\"><dl class=\"gallery-item\"><dt class=\"gallery-icon landscape\">\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"1024\" height=\"640\" src=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-17-1-1024x640.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-1-6526\" srcset=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-17-1-1024x640.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-17-1-300x188.jpg 300w, https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-17-1-768x480.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class=\"wp-caption-text gallery-caption\" id=\"gallery-1-6526\">\n\t\t\t\tFragment 17. <em>The fourth fragment that does not match any specific Hayles passage.<\/em>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\"><\/div>\n\n<p>In response to <a href=\"http:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-17-1.jpg\">fragment 17<\/a>, I would like to focus on a single keyword, &ldquo;entangle.&rdquo; In my reading, it is very significant that DAR uses this relatively unambiguous verb to describe Carr&rsquo;s portrayal of a complex situation between our plastic brains, the addictive and overvalued digital technologies that we increasingly use, and the Tayloristic (at least seemingly scientifically managed) corporations that manufacture them. &ldquo;Entangle&rdquo; does not appear at all in Carr&rsquo;s book, which gives the word choice even more weight. In this comparatively serious&nbsp;fragment, DAR, at least for the time being, puts their doubts aside and captures the gist of Carr&rsquo;s argument by describing our current situation in terms of an <em>entanglement<\/em>. In the following, I will take a closer&mdash;and hopefully more palpable&mdash;look at this entanglement by way of&nbsp;a personal anecdote.<\/p>\n<h3>Cyborg Messenger<\/h3>\n<p>In 2013, soon after the completion of the first artistic part of this research, <em>love.abz<\/em>,&nbsp;I am in need of greater economic&nbsp;stability. I start looking for non-research related, additional work. I live in Berlin, Germany. Since my German skills are mediocre, I cannot apply for jobs that my education and professional background qualify me for (in English, and especially in Finnish, job opportunities are few and far between).<\/p>\n<p>While wrestling with this problem, I spot a courier riding a cargo bicycle on a street corner. As a cycling&nbsp;enthusiast, the sight impresses&nbsp;me. After slight hesitation, I email the company whose logo I have seen on the side of the cargo bike.<\/p>\n<p>In spite of my imperfect language skills, I pass a mandatory test that&nbsp;measures, among other things, my knowledge of Berlin bike routes. After waiting for a few months, I start on the new job.&nbsp;Working as a bike courier is, in some respects, much like working as a cab driver. As an independent contractor, one is in constant contact&mdash;in this case, via radiophone&mdash;with the dispatcher, who distributes the incoming commissions (more or less) fairly depending on the geographic location of the messengers on duty (see&nbsp;<a href=\"http:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/messenger-Stadtteile005-page-001.jpg\">fig 2.5.1<\/a>&nbsp;below).<\/p>\n<p>The basic principle is that the messenger who is on duty&nbsp;and who is closest to the pickup gets the task. Couriers are paid on commission for runs, minus taxes and a monthly sum paid to the dispatch center. To make the work profitable, the courier&nbsp;has to collect as many orders as possible within the working day. In practice, at least in Berlin, couriers must have several assignments at the same time to reach a sum even close to a reasonable hourly rate.<\/p>\n<p>Learning to navigate in the urban space is literally vital. The better couriers know back routes, bridges, sidewalks, and alleys, the faster and more profitable they&nbsp;are likely to be. In 2013, I have lived in Berlin for over a year, enough time to explore many places. However, in one year I have not, by any means, learned all the streets and bike routes of the&nbsp;metropolis by heart.<\/p>\n<p>Since my income depends on how well I manage this considerable challenge,&nbsp;I explore, in a Tayloristic spirit, ways to enhance my work. After using a&nbsp;printed map for some time as my primary navigation tool, I come to the conclusion that digging it out of my messenger bag and spreading it on the handlebar, especially in rainy or windy weather, is too time-consuming and impractical. Instead of embarking on the long process of learning the most advantageous bike routes by heart, which could take months or even years, I decide&mdash;under the influence of this research, as I now understand&mdash;to outsource determining the fastest and most appropriate route to software designed for this purpose.<\/p>\n<p>Given the proliferation of digital navigation devices that use different satellite systems, ubiquitous for instance in taxis, this would hardly seem a surprising choice. In the community of bike couriers, however, whose ethos includes an emphasis on autonomy and a do-it-yourself-spirit, using a bike route application is at least embarrassing, if not absurd (despite the fact that a variety of applications are constantly used on the job, for example to receive and confirm accurate information concerning commissions) (<a class=\"glossaryLink cmtt_note-2-5en\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;Against this backdrop, the algorithmic (mis)translation in &amp;lt;a href=&amp;quot;http:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-17.jpg&amp;quot;&amp;gt;fragmentti 17&amp;lt;\/a&amp;gt; is about apposite as it could be: &amp;quot;it is embarrassing to embody psycho-physical dependence.&rdquo;&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/glossary\/2-5en0\/\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">2.5EN0<\/a>). The bike courier is expected to embody the skills and knowledge needed to do the job. The simpler the technology in the immediate use of the courier is, the better (which probably accounts for the popularity of stripped-down fixed-gear bicycles among messengers).<\/p>\n<p>In addition to this psychological or social stumbling block, several technical obstacles arise when I try to switch&nbsp;from printed maps to digital. The first problem relates to the application itself, since the most readily available option, Google Maps, turns out to be, in practice, untrustworthy or at least imprecise&mdash;despite the fact that the application specifically offers suggestions for (supposed) bicycle routes. However, a solution to this problem arises when I discover&nbsp;that a local programmer has designed a much more reliable application called BBBike designed specifically for Berlin and its immediate surroundings. (Also, this is a more practical solution in that I can personally contact the programmer concerning updates.)<\/p>\n<p>The next problem is also technical. My workdays end abruptly, as the battery of my smartphone empties in only a few hours when I use the&nbsp;energy-consuming new application.&nbsp;In addition, constantly glancing at my smartphone in the middle of heavy traffic&nbsp;is both cumbersome and dangerous. During the weeks and months of this experiment, I become painfully aware that&nbsp;the time and energy I am spending on making this technological transition could instead be spent on learning the best routes by heart.<\/p>\n<p>However, I stick&nbsp;to my decision, perhaps because the idea of &#8203;&#8203;a human-digital interface in the form of a bike courier, a kind of cyborg messenger, still appeals to me, both intellectually and emotionally. The use of a map application for this purpose is, moreover, not unlike the use of machine translation to compensate for my deficient&nbsp;language skills, which also drives me to continue my costly&nbsp;experiment. From the point of view of this research, it is more important to note that the cyborg messenger is akin to the&nbsp;<em>cyborg translator<\/em>, the part human part machine figure in which both human and machine translation processes merge (<a class=\"glossaryLink cmtt_note-2-5en\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;The etymology of the word &amp;quot;translation&rdquo; is evidence of the connection between translation and courier work, as the past participle of the Latin verb &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;transferre&amp;lt;\/i&amp;gt;, &amp;lt;i&amp;gt;translat&amp;lt;\/i&amp;gt;, means &amp;quot;carried across.&rdquo;&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/glossary\/2-5en0-5\/\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">2.5EN0.5<\/a>). Acting as cyborg messenger, then, appears as a variation on and expansion of my research topic, although I am unaware or only vaguely aware of this motive when seeking the job. In utterly different but equally demanding conditions, it appears as a way of rehearsing collaboration with the machinic other&nbsp;(<a class=\"glossaryLink cmtt_note-2-5en\"  aria-describedby=\"tt\"  data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;In light of this anecdote, comparing the route suggestions of Google Maps to the translation suggestions of Google Translate could allow us to explore&nbsp;how digital technologies expand and fail to expand our geographical and linguistic reach.&lt;\/div&gt;\"  href=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/glossary\/2-5en1\/\"  data-mobile-support=\"0\"  data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex='0' role='link'>2.5EN1<\/a>).<\/p>\n<h3>Entanglement<\/h3>\n<p>I have described this somewhat bizarre personal experience in&nbsp;some detail in order to lay bare the complexity of the entanglement that, in my reading of <a href=\"http:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-17-1.jpg\">fragment 17<\/a>, is at the center of&nbsp;DAR&rsquo;s understanding of Carr. In his book, Carr touches upon a slightly similar technological entanglement when he writes about studies conducted on London taxi drivers in the late 1990s. A group of British scientists scan the brains of the taxi drivers belonging to the test group and compare them with the brains of the control group. (<a class=\"glossaryLink cmtt_refer-fi cmtt_refer-en\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;Carr, Nicholas. 2010.&nbsp;&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;The Shallows:&nbsp;&amp;lt;\/em&amp;gt;&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains&amp;lt;\/em&amp;gt;. New York &amp;amp;amp;&nbsp;London: W. W. Norton &amp;amp;amp; Company.&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/glossary\/carr-2010\/\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">Carr 2010<\/a>, 32&ndash;33)<\/p>\n<p>The test group includes ten to twenty&nbsp;drivers that have a varying amount of experience on the job. The comparison shows that the drivers&rsquo; hippocampi have evolved to be considerably larger than average. The hippocampus is the part of the brain that plays a key role in memory, including, among other things, in the storage and processing of spatial information.&nbsp;(Carr 2010, 32&ndash;33)<\/p>\n<p>The continuous processing of London&rsquo;s complex network of streets has, according to the researchers, shaped the hippocampal cognitive maps that allow the drivers to navigate their environment (relatively) easily. Without this cognitive map the drivers would get lost and would not recognize places where they have already been. Later, the researchers express concern about how the introduction of satellite navigation may affect the drivers&rsquo; nerve cells, as the massive processing of spatial data comes to an end or is, at least, reduced. As Carr writes, &ldquo;The cabbies would be freed from the hard work of learning the city&rsquo;s roads, but they would also lose the distinctive mental benefits of that training. Their brains would become less interesting.&rdquo; (Carr 2010, 212)<\/p>\n<p>The main question, of course, is not whether the brains belonging to the members of a certain test group are more or less interesting for&nbsp;a group of researchers. Nonetheless, in the light of this example, it is clear how significant a choice the turn to the cycle route application in my example above is. If I had continued to work as a bike courier (which I didn&rsquo;t), the choice between print and digital map would undoubtedly have impacted how the work would have, in future, shaped my brain.<\/p>\n<p>Using the results of the British study freely, it could be assumed that the impact on my hippocampal cognitive map would hinge&nbsp;on how dependent I become on the route app in the long run. If the application turns out to be just a temporary support like training wheels, my cognitive map would, eventually, be likely to develop just as the cognitive maps of the couriers learning the streets by heart from the start. The application would therefore only be an alternative way of learning.<\/p>\n<p>If, on the other hand, the outsourcing of the route choice would become a permanent and unchanging practice, it is likely that my cognitive map would remain underdeveloped in spite of accumulating work experience.&nbsp;In that case, responsibility for the cognitive work&mdash;at least as pertains to route selection&mdash;would really be externalized to the application.&nbsp;(Based on about six months of employment, the question remains open:&nbsp;I notice in myself the internalization of the route suggestions, i.e. learning, but also a peculiar desire to &ldquo;consult&rdquo; the application&nbsp;even when I believe I know the best route.)<\/p>\n<p>Even more important than observing these micro-scale changes is to note how such a small technological choice triggers the entire entanglement between neurologically mutable human beings, alluring digital technologies, and the multinational&nbsp;companies manufacturing these technologies. If as a bike courier I am entangled in technology, it is the result of a complex network in which the economic and other interests of both the users and manufacturers of the technologies are enmeshed, &ldquo;in a dynamic interplay,&rdquo; as Hayles writes (<a class=\"glossaryLink cmtt_refer-fi cmtt_refer-en\" aria-describedby=\"tt\" data-cmtooltip=\"&lt;div class=glossaryItemBody&gt;Hayles, N. Katherine. 2012.&nbsp;&amp;lt;em&amp;gt;How We Think: Digital Media and Contemporary Technogenesis.&amp;lt;\/em&amp;gt; Chicago &amp;amp;amp;&nbsp;London: The University of Chicago Press.&lt;\/div&gt;\" href=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/glossary\/hayles-2012\/\" data-mobile-support=\"0\" data-gt-translate-attributes='[{\"attribute\":\"data-cmtooltip\", \"format\":\"html\"}]' tabindex=\"0\" role=\"link\">Hayles 2012<\/a>, 18).<\/p>\n<p>The key question is can the constructive&nbsp;potential of the entanglement&mdash;or technogenesis, as Hayles calls it (see <a href=\"http:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/frag\/13\/\">2.1<\/a> and <a href=\"http:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/frag\/25\/\">3.5<\/a>)&mdash;be harnessed&mdash;and if so, how. The risks are&mdash;thanks to informed critics such as Carr&mdash;well known. Simply recalling&nbsp;the risks, however, is not enough. In this research, solutions are sought by writing and in writing, as&nbsp;the research indicates that writing continues to be an area in which constructive interventions&nbsp;between humans and digital technologies are possible.<\/p>\n\n\t\t<style type=\"text\/css\">\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 {\n\t\t\t\tmargin: auto;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-item {\n\t\t\t\tfloat: left;\n\t\t\t\tmargin-top: 10px;\n\t\t\t\ttext-align: center;\n\t\t\t\twidth: 100%;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 img {\n\t\t\t\tborder: 2px solid #cfcfcf;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t#gallery-2 .gallery-caption {\n\t\t\t\tmargin-left: 0;\n\t\t\t}\n\t\t\t\/* see gallery_shortcode() in wp-includes\/media.php *\/\n\t\t<\/style><div id=\"gallery-2\" class=\"gallery galleryid-8497 gallery-columns-1 gallery-size-large\"><dl class=\"gallery-item\"><dt class=\"gallery-icon portrait\">\n\t\t\t\t<img width=\"535\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/messenger-Stadtteile005-page-001-535x1024.jpg\" class=\"attachment-large size-large\" alt=\"\" loading=\"lazy\" aria-describedby=\"gallery-2-6521\" srcset=\"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/messenger-Stadtteile005-page-001-535x1024.jpg 535w, https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/messenger-Stadtteile005-page-001-157x300.jpg 157w, https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/messenger-Stadtteile005-page-001-768x1470.jpg 768w, https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/messenger-Stadtteile005-page-001.jpg 1117w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 535px) 100vw, 535px\"\/><\/dt>\n\t\t\t\t<dd class=\"wp-caption-text gallery-caption\" id=\"gallery-2-6521\">\n\t\t\t\tFig. 2.5.1 <em>The bicycle messenger&rsquo;s code book: districts with their corresponding numbers.<\/em>\n\t\t\t\t<\/dd><\/dl><br style=\"clear: both\"><\/div>\n\n<div class=\"viitteet\">\n<h5>Notes<\/h5>\n<p>2.5EN0<br>\nAgainst this backdrop, the algorithmic (mis)translation in <a href=\"http:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/02\/Fragment-17.jpg\" data-slb-active=\"1\" data-slb-asset=\"1156378820\">fragmentti 17<\/a> is about apposite as it could be: &ldquo;it is embarrassing to embody psycho-physical dependence.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>2.5EN0.5<br>\nThe etymology of the word &ldquo;translation&rdquo; is evidence of the connection between translation and courier work, as the past participle of the Latin verb <i>transferre<\/i>, <i>translat<\/i>, means &ldquo;carried across.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>2.5EN1<br>\nIn light of this anecdote, comparing the route suggestions of Google Maps to the translation suggestions of Google Translate could allow us to explore&nbsp;how digital technologies expand and fail to expand our geographical and linguistic reach.<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>2.5 Fragment 17 In response to fragment 17, I would like to focus on a single keyword, \u201centangle.\u201d In my reading, it is very significant that DAR uses this relatively unambiguous verb to describe Carr\u2019s portrayal of a complex situation between our plastic brains, the addictive and overvalued digital technologies that we increasingly use, and [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[27],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8497"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8497"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8497\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20333,"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8497\/revisions\/20333"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8497"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8497"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/actascenica.teak.fi\/huopaniemi-otso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8497"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}