As we have seen, the question of the nature of embodiment is not a mere artifact of the new technologies but arises from examples closer to hand. Nonetheless some newer technologies have a way of bringing the issues into greater relief. Con…As we have seen, the question of the nature of embodiment is not a mere artifact of the new technologies but arises from examples closer to hand. Nonetheless some newer technologies have a way of bringing the issues into greater relief. Con…And a thing happens in my head. Exactly where, I say to myself, is Hawking? Am I any closer to him now than I was outside? Who is it doing the talking up there on the stage? In an important sense, Hawking doesn’t stop being Hawking at the e…
Stephen Hawking
scientist · 4 mentions across 2 readings
In this course
Hawking functions in these readings primarily as a figure through which to explore the question of embodied identity and consciousness in an age of technological mediation—his use of a speech synthesizer makes him a concrete case study for where the boundary between body and mind, human and machine, actually dissolves. The excerpts suggest he's being invoked to ground abstract philosophical debates about embodiment and the nature of selfhood in lived, technological experience rather than theory alone. His presence asks whether identity remains coherent when transmitted through prosthetic systems, a question central to how the course frames AI and cybernetics as reshaping fundamental categories of personhood.
Mentioned in 2 readings
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