Mini-essay 1 –Do Cyborgs Fall in Love?

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Approx. length 2 pages, double-spaced

We’re viewing two TED talks and reading an opinion editorial (op-ed) about cyborgs, relationships, and connectedness.

Sherry Turkle TED talk “Connected, but alone?” (short video, TEDx)
Amber Case, TED talk “We are all cyborgs now.” (short video, TEDx)
“Can Cyborgs Fall in Love?” (Craig Malkin, short article in Psychology Today online)

After watching the two videos, I would like you to respond to Malkin’s op-ed. Do you agree with his arguments? You do not need to address this in a formal argumentative manner (although you can, if you like). Feel free to respond with narratives and descriptions of your own experiences (stories). Think about the definition of cyborg that these speakers/writers are forwarding. How do they differ? How are they similar? Malkin’s op-ed is a direct response to Case’s TED talk about wormholes and he also invokes Turkle’s work that is summarized in her TED talk. How does he shape or alter their words to his own views? Do you reject the idea that you are a cyborg, an argument that Case forwards? Do you agree with Malkin that the cyborg is a “crudely pixelated” version of the whole human self, or do you have a different idea?

Refer to specific passages, scenes, images in the videos or passages in the articles to support your points. You can also refer to other texts, movies, stories in the news, etc., but do not neglect the materials assigned.

As you talk about these videos and the article, use what you have learned about signal phrasing to write the support for your points. You may either quote directly or paraphrase (put the ideas into your own words), but the citations must always be clear. Review the documents on in-text citation and signal phrases in Module 3A.