The Rise of the Posthuman Brain: Computational Neuroscience, Digital Networks and the ‘In Silico Cerebral Subject’

Sven STOLLFUß

doi:10.22901/trans.2014.7.3.79

The purpose of this paper is mainly diagnostic. It investigates current research projects in computational neuroscience to emphasize a shift from a life science approach (biology and medicine) to a computer science approach in the epistemology of the human brain. This shift updates and preserves the “posthuman view” (N. Katherine Hayles) to render a proper regime of knowledge of the brain in the digital age. Moreover, the massive impact of digital media and digital networks in particular cause essential modifications of the concept of the (post-)human subject in the 21st century. At first, the paper will present an analysis of the “Human Brain Project” to highlight the shift from the human to the posthuman brain in one of the most influential projects in computational neuroscience at the moment. What follows is a discussion of the relations between the “Human Brain Project” and the transhumanistimpelled “Substrate-Independent Mind Project” to emphasize the rise of the posthuman brain between visions of treatment and enhancement. Finally, the paper draws attention to recent theory of digital networks to expose some broader transformations of the concept of the (post-)human subject. In the information-driven ‘century of the brain’ that is dominated by (computational) neuroscience, the human as a “cerebral subject” (Fernando Vidal) turns into an ‘in silico cerebral subject.’ As a programmable and networked model of/for human properties the ‘in silico cerebral subject’ becomes the main epistemic object in computational neuroscience to re-conceptualize the human (brain) out of a multi-level system with brain-like artificial intelligence.

Citation status

KCI Citation Counts (1)
열림/닫힘 버튼
REFERENCES (33)
열림/닫힘 버튼
* 2021년 이후 발행 논문의 참고문헌은 현재 구축 중입니다.

[journal] Bostrom, Nick / 2005 / Transhumanist Values / Review of Contemporary Philosophy 4 : 3~14

[book] Bostrom, Nick / 2013 / The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future / Wiley-Blackwell : 28~53

[book] Choudhury, Suparna / 2012 / Critical Neuroscience: A Handbook of the Social and Cultural Contexts of Neuroscience / Wiley-Blackwell

[other] / Critical Neuroscience / N.p., n.d.Web

[journal] Elger, Christian E. / 2004 / Das Manifest / Gehirn & Geist 6 : 30~37

[journal] Ferrando, Francesca / 2013 / Posthumanism, Transhumanism, Antihumanism, Metahumanism, and New Materialisms: Differences and Relations / Existenz 8(2) : 26~32

[book] Galloway, Alexander / 2007 / The Exploit: A Theory of Networks / University of Minnesota Press

[book] Hagner, Michael / 1996 / Anatomien medizinischen Wissens / Fischer : 259~286

[journal] Hagner, Michael / 2001 / Mindful Practices: On the Neurosciences in the Twentieth Century / Science in Context 14 : 507~510

[book] Hansen, Mark B. N. / 2011 / Die technologische Bedingung. Beiträge zur Beschreibung der technischen Welt / Suhrkamp : 365~409

[book] Hayles, N. Katherine / 1999 / How We Became Posthuman: Virtual Bodies in Cybernetics, Literature, and Informatics / University of Chicago Press

[book] Hayles, N. Katherine / 2012 / How We Think: Digital Media and Contemporary Technogenesis / University of Chicago Press

[book] Ihde, Don / 2006 / Simulation: Pragmatic Construction of Reality / Springer : 79~86

[other] Koene, Randal A. / 2011 / Achieving Substrate-Independent Minds: No, We Cannot ‘Copy’ Brains / Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence. 24 Aug. 2011. Web

[other] Koene, Randal A. / 2011 / Pattern Survival Versus Gene Survival / Kurzweil Accelerating Intelligence. 11 Feb. 2011. Web

[book] Koene, Randal A. / 2013 / The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future / Wiley-Blackwell : 146~156

[book] Legrenzi, Paolo / 2011 / Neuromania: On the Limits of Brain Science / Oxford University Press

[journal] Legrenzi, Paolo / 2012 / The Human Brain Project / Scientific American 6 : 34~39

[journal] Markram, Henry / 2011 / Introducing the Human Brain Project / Procedia Computer Science 7 : 39~42

[book] More, Max / 2013 / The Transhumanist Reader: Classical and Contemporary Essays on the Science, Technology, and Philosophy of the Human Future / Wiley-Blackwell : 3~17

[book] Ortega, Francisco / 2011 / Neurocultures: Glimpses into an Expanding Universe / Peter Lang : 7~27

[other] / Overview / Human Brain Project. N.d. Web

[book] Putnam, Hilary / 1988 / Representation and Reality / MIT Press

[report] Sandberg, Anders / 2008 / Whole Brain Emulation: A Roadmap / Future of Humanity Institute, Oxford University : 1~130

[book] Schwartz, Eric L. / 1990 / ix–xii. Print / MIT Press : ix~xii

[book] Tallis, Raymond / 2011 / Aping Mankind: Neuromania, Darwinitis and the Misrepresentation of Humanity / Acumen

[journal] Thacker, Eugene / 2003 / Data Made Flesh: Biotechnology and the Discourse of the Posthuman / Cultural Critique 53 : 72~97

[book] Trappenberg, Thomas / 2010 / Fundamentals of Computational Neuroscience / Oxford University Press

[journal] Uricchio, William / 2011 / The Algorithmic Turn: Photosynth, Augmented Reality and the State of the Image / Visual Studies 26(1) : 25~35

[journal] Vidal, Fernando / 2009 / Brainhood: Anthropological Figure of Modernity / History of the Human Sciences 22(1) : 5~36

[journal] Vul, Edward / 2009 / Puzzlingly High Correlations in fMRI Studies of Emotion, Personality, and Social Cognition / Perspectives on Psychological Science 4(3) : 274~290

[book] Warwick, Kevin / 2012 / Artificial Intelligence: The Basics / Routledge

[journal] Zeki, Semir / 2002 / Neural Concept Formation & Art: Dante, Michelangelo, Wagner / Journal of Consciousness Studies 9(3) : 53~76

KJC Korea
Journal Central

Statistics

Tools

Sharing

Issue List

Citation status