Disembodiment in Neuromancer
The Internet is a vast, wonderful place, full of nearly
endless knowledge and entertainment. In moments, a person can get help on a
homework problem, find a forum to talk about the nuances of their favorite
television show, and find a YouTube video showing a cat riding a Roomba. When
taking these things into account, it is hard to imagine that the internet, a
technology that provides so much, could have any negative effects on us outside
of it’s addictive environment. But in On
the Internet, Hubert Dreyfus believes “when we enter cyberspace and leave
behind or emotional, intuitive, situated, vulnerable, embodied selves, and
thereby gain a remarkable new freedom… we might… necessarily lose some of our
capacities: our ability to make sense of things…. we would be attempted to avid
the risk of genuine commitment…” (Dreyfus 6-7). In gaining the boundless
freedom of the Web, Dreyfus believes we become disembodied from ourselves, and
from those around us. The disembodiment effect the Internet has is a notable
element in the character of Case in Neuromancer
by William Gibson.
One of the ways Gibson says disembodiment affects Internet
users is that it isolates people from their friends and family. When we come
into the novel, Case is alone. He does not necessarily have friends, more like
contacts. Interactions between him and others are brief, and casual. Even
entering into a pseudo-romantic sexual relationship with Molly happens with
almost no real intimacy outside of the bedroom, not even much in the bedroom.
Instead, he yearns for the Net. “He’d operated on an almost permanent
adrenaline high, a byproduct of youth and proficiency, jacked into his custom
cyberspace deck that projected his disembodied consciousness into the
consensual hallucination that was the matrix.” (Gibson 5). In fact, his curt behavior
with characters makes any interaction that is penetrated by emotion deeper than
the surface is almost jarring, such as his memory of when he started to date
Linda Lee. Still, perhaps his depth of feelings for her are caused less by his
attachment to her, but from how he literally reduces her to the code of an
arcade game, some of the only code he can interact with outside of the matrix,
with his injury. “…features reduced to code: her cheekbones flaring scarlet as
the Wizard’s Castle burned… mouth touched with hot gold as a gliding cursor
struck sparks from the wall of a skyscraper canyon.” (Gibson 8). Most of the
time, Case seems to view people as something he has to deal with, as opposed to
someone he wants to be with.
Dreyfus also states that Internet users show an increase in
levels of depression. “…greater use of the Internet was associated with…
increases in their depression and loneliness.” (Dreyfus 3). It makes some sense that the Internet
isolates a person from those around them for extended periods of time, leading
to feelings of depression, because people need physical interactions with
others. However, after Case’s injury, all he is left with is the physical.
Instead of regaining a healthy level of mental wellbeing, he becomes depressed
and feels trapped within his meaty prison, and is intentionally living
dangerously so that maybe somehow he’ll get killed and no longer have to deal
with a matrix-less existence. This is the reverse of what Dreyfus says. Instead
of increased depression with the Internet, Case experiences it sans-Internet.
Dreyfus asks, “…can we get along without our bodies?” (Dreyfus 6). For Case,
the question should be, can he get along with his body?
“We may lament the risks endemic to the embodied world where
we are embedded with objects and others in local situations, but the idea of
living in boundless virtual worlds, where everyone is telepresent to everyone
and everything, levels all significant differences and offers no support for
being drawn into local meaningful events.” (Dreyfus 123). In a way, that is a
good summary of the Internet. It is leveling yet isolating, giving a lot of
good at a price. This price is seen in Neuromancer.
Case has all the wonder of the matrix, yet gives up his ability to be without
it and to maintain a normal, emotional relationship. Is it worth it? Case would
probably believe so.
2 comments:
This essay has a very good, clear focus: the isolation of Case due to his fixation with cyberspace. In this regard the thesis is precise and not too broad when dealing with disembodiment in a book that is filled with comments about it. The only thing I found missing from the idea of this piece was the opinion the author (Janine) is taking. She proves very well that Case is isolated by his close feelings for cyberspace...but is this a healthy thing or not? What would Dreyfus think of this behavior? Such inquiries as to why this connection is important could have strengthened the essay or make for a good addition for a revision. It would pose an answer to the question Janine brings up in the conclusion "Is [the isolation] worth it?"
I also like the balance of Dreyfus and Gibson quotes. The equal distribution of the quotes enhances the connections made and makes sure the reader is seeing both Dreyfus and Gibson often enough to solidify their separate but related points on how the internet isolates us. The one quote used to introduce the conclusion could have been shortened or at least lead into rather than kind of substituted in, but it still works in this balance.
Your beginning is a reasonable summary of Dreyfus' argument, and why we might care about it. I would have liked it better if you'd been able to clarify what you were doing with Gibson here, though. Your initial argument is vague, even if your discussion of Dreyfus is fairly precise.
"Most of the time, Case seems to view people as something he has to deal with, as opposed to someone he wants to be with." This seems like a good take on Case's character, but one which doesn't really engage with the problem that he is a cowboy, then a down-and-out cowboy who can't actually jack in, and then a cowboy again. So I'm not saying that you're wrong, but I'd like to see this discussion framed within an analysis of his changing access to cyberspace...
"For Case, the question should be, can he get along with his body?" You're showing a great understanding here of both the similarities between and the tensions between Gibson and Dreyfus. So your reading of both texts and of the relationship between them is good - but where are you going? Why does this relationship and/or tension matter to you? Your reading has everything except a real thesis to guide it.
I grant you that Case would believe the price is worth it. But what do you think? What should we think? What can you accomplish, by interpreting our relationship with the internet through the tense relationship you've opened up between Dreyfus and Gibson. These are insightful readings which go nowhere, which is especially obvious in the first and last paragraphs.
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