"Digitality" means simply to not exist. Everything that is anything has a mass, takes up an amount of space equal to its shape and weight. To be digital, is to be something, without actually being something. How is this possible? How can something exist but not really exist? It is the way that our bodies transmit thoughts and sensations, electrical impulses that shoot in every which way. Do our thoughts exist? They exist only in the subatomic particles that are used as stimuli to nodes in the brain. This is how a computer's hardware functions. For Kittler to say that "the bulk of written texts do not exist anymore in perceivable time and space" (There is no Software p.2) is precisely to say that they are beyond existence. They do not live, they do not die, they are eternal as long as they are understood by the hardware of machines. Interfaces are the links for humans to the physical electrical components of these machines. For the common individual interacting directly with the computer's hardware is impossible, that is where software comes in. It is the invisible harness that allows the "average Joe" to utilize the machine. The most important interface on any computer is the operating system. It is the control system that allows the user to have complete manipulation over the currents and pathways, the circuitry and the signals of the hardware. All other software's fall under the operating systems software. What are software's hiding? And are software's a never ending cycle of repetition and confusion?
Kittler states that software is an attempt at hiding the workings of the machine from the user. "On the contrary, the so-called philosophy of the computer community tends to systematically obscure hardware by software, electronic signifiers by interfaces between formal and everyday languages." (TINS p.2) So essentially, software converts the natural reactions of atoms into common language to be understood. With operating systems, let's say Macintosh's OS X, the functionality is reliant upon two things, the users knowledge and the machines capabilities. The OS is completely freeing to the normal user, allowing them to do what they please without many constraints. The needs of the users vary, which means the demands of the software shall too vary. However, the issue of compatibility remains constant with competing systems, Windows and Macintosh, the cross-demands between users requires softwares to be written for both OS's. The OS exists as a platform for every other working of the computer. In this sense it is the ultimate interface because the user interacts with a software, the software rests on other softwares and eventually through the OS is transmitted to the hardware. We the users don't see those interactions, in fact we see nothing other than the excited pixels on our displays. We remain dumb and oblivious.
With Mac OS X, the interface is completely useless in and of itself without software. Software brings the OS to life. It is merely a platform that allows other softwares to exist. It is actually a strange relationship between the platform, the tools (software) and the hardware. Essentially there are different layers to interfaces, information passes through multiple levels in order to be fully deciphered into commands. Again, it is a reoccurring theme, that of complete oblivion to the functioning of the systems. The interfaces are seemingly transparent to what we desire to accomplish. With Mac OS X the suite of softwares that come with it (iLife) is the starting point for any function of the computer. It is a confusing vortex of softwares, one software is dependent on another, which is then dependent on another, and so on and so forth. However, the engineers are good at what they do because to the normal user it is seamless.
What is this box in front of me? I don't understand the first thing about the workings of my laptop's hardware. This doesn't matter, I am able to do what I need with it. I ask nothing more of it except maybe to be a bit quicker at times. Does this mean that I don't need the body? Or is the body just invisible to me as a physical thing? Kittler states, "identifying physical hardware with the algorithm forged for its computation has finally got rid of hardware itself. " (TINS p. 3) Yet without the hardware software is literally nothing. Kittler talks about how in Germany there was a legal dispute over whether or not software should be considered a mental property. They concluded that software is material because it relies on material to function. Just as our mental functions rely on our physical bodies survival, so to does the software rely on the hardware. So to completely negate the importance of this box in front of me, to be blind to its functions is precisely to forget the very thing that allows me the freedom of the virtual world. My interface wants me to be oblivious, because in the fast paced modern world it is unnecessary to understand the electrical signals for everyday use.
"Software, if it existed would just be a billion dollar deal based on the cheapest elements on earth." (TINS p.4) The doors to nearly everything imaginable is just a click away. All that happens is digital information transfer through wireless routers into my hard drive. To think that something that isn't tangible can be worth so much is mind boggling. Just as in 'Second Life' when people sell the virtual property to others for real money, how can one own a space in a virtual world? This also raises questions of whether or not software creators should have some rights to money acquired through their softwares. Even writers who use Word and then sell a million copies of their books, should the programmers have some rights to the revenue? As we progress more into a digital age, these are the questions that will confront. As the softwares values increase, so to will money making ploys, security, control/freedom, and transparency.
Friday, March 21, 2008
Thursday, February 21, 2008
wakeup_7
Gnosticism and The Matrix. The most prevalent idea in the movie is Neo as Savior figure. The One who will come back to save all sentient beings from their enslavement to the machine. This parallels the belief of Gnostic Christians who think that humans are divine beings trapped in a false world, who were enlightened and saved by Jesus Christ. In Gnosticism the belief is that the creator of our reality is a false god who fell from divinity. His goddess mother of the heavenly realm created him fatherless and malformed. She cast him down, and he lived believing he was the only god and so he created the earth and humans. Because his mother was a goddess, he had divinity in him, and he passed that along to humans. The humans live their lives not knowing that their real home is in heaven with other divine beings. Jesus was sent from the heavenly realms to save the human race from their selfish god who keeps them under his control. The parallels are obvious between this story and The Matrix. The AI machines are the false god, they harvest humans and control them. They keep them in this artificial reality. Neo is Jesus, the One who will save humans from their ignorance and show them the truth. This is where the themes of truth and reality come in. What humans believe to be true is false, their reality is not real, their existence is not real either. Therefore what they know, is not true knowledge because it is not a justified, true belief. Jesus brings with him the true knowledge, and so does Neo. Neo's transformation from the 'Doubting Thomas' to the Savior has everything to do with belief. He did not believe in himself until he no longer had to. Then he just recognized the reality of his situation and through doing so became the ultimate hero figure. The truth, the knowledge, the awakening, all are themes that played a roll in Neo's development as the One. They are crucial to the story of the movie, and to the faith of Gnosticism. The final scene when Neo dies and comes back is the most overt connection to Jesus and his death and resurrection. It is the climax of the film when Neo realizes finally that he is the One. He fully believes. What precisely is belief? And what makes him realize it? It is experience, it is the reality he comes to know. In the first half of the movie Neo is seen sleeping nearly 10 times. Sleep and dreams rule Thomas Anderson's life, he is in a constant dream until he 'begins to believe' (Chapter 33 1:54:32) When he is finally awoken this is when he obtains true knowledge.
wakeup_6
The matrix is a computer generated dreamworld, built to keep us under control in order to change a human being into this... (battery) (Chapter 12 0:43:25)* Dreamworld again referenced here. Neo's reality is a dreamworld for Morpheus. However, both Neo and Morpheus believe that they are experiencing true reality. Therefore what reality means to one could be different for another. The signifier is reality. What that word means is different for Neo and Morpheus, however only one can be correct and that is Morpheus' reality. The important thing to note is that the semic code is what is being analyzed here. A theme that is reoccurring and lasts the length of the movie is this idea of what exactly 'reality' is.
wakeup_4
NEO: Am I dead?
MORPHEUS: Far from it. (Chapter 11 0:35:35)*
NEO: Why do my eyes hurt?MORPHEUS: You have never used them before. (Chapter 11 0:36:00)*
Neo passes in and out of sleep, for once he is being brought in and out of reality. The image of being awoken for the first time, never having used your eyes. The idea that Neo believes he is dead when in fact he is finally fully alive. The use of camera angles, and effects is important here as well. Neo opens his eyes to a blurred bright white light that then focuses on Trinity. Images of heaven, and light vs. darkness are brought to mind.
wakeup_3
Have you ever had a dream, Neo, that you were so sure was real? What if you were unable to wake from the dream? How would you know the difference between the dream world and the real world? (Chapter 9 0:31:32)* The text again references dreams, sleep, reality. The epistemological questions of knowledge, how one knows they exist. Skeptics argue that for all anyone knows, nothing we hold true is in fact knowledge because we may just be brains in a vat with electrodes attached to our sensory ports. There is no definite way to acquire true knowledge.
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