IDS 301 Blog

I’ve recently noticed that one of my favorite musical “Be More Chill” actually contains some cybernetics. Specifically the concept of Kubernetes and Gubernetes. 

The musical revolves around Jeremy Heere, a high school student who is often called a “loser.” Sick of being unpopular he decides to take a pill that contains a super computer known as a SQUIP. 

This relationship between Jeremy and the SQUIP is actually a cybernetic system. The components pf this system include the SQUIP and Jeremy. The function of the SQUIP is to tell Jeremy what to do in order to “be more chill.” Jeremy simply has to obey and execute the SQUIP’s instructions. The overall goal of this system is to make Jeremy popular.

It quickly becomes apparent that this system follows Gubernetes. At first, when Jeremy takes the SQUIP he tries to show autonomy in the situation, not initally following its instructions. However, Jeremy is swiftly told that “you can’t just listen. You have to obey.” Jeremy then willingly does whatever the SQUIP says, even “SQUIPing” the entire school in order to make Jeremy popular. Jeremy doe eventually end up resisting and gets rid of the governing super computer.

HP Lovecraft is one of my favorite authors. I enjoy reading his stories and thinking about the lore of each creature. One of my main goals I had was to figure out how the monstrous applies to Lovecraft. After some thinking, I believe that these creatures are monstrous due to a multitude of reasons, all of which end up transgressing boundaries of our system of order.

Things such as they’re appearance, unknown and grotesque faces that we can’t comprehend, they’re goals (for some beings) is to end humanity and out into complete chaos (dirt), and their overall existence. These creatures are ambiguous and unknown (like the honey example in Purity and Danger). 

Recently I was thinking about cybernetics and rivalry between the autonomous Kubernetes, and the governing Gubernetes. Most cybernetic texts I have seen such as “The Matrix” and “Star Trek First Contact” tend to focus on Gubernetes than they do Kubernetes. Why is that? 

After class today I was thinking about monsters and how I’ve only talked about monsters a total of 1 time in this blog...THIS SHALL NOT STAND!!!

I Don’t know. He has elements of both 

Cyborgs are an example of a figure that tends to give people anxieties. The anxiety of cyborgs arises from the question of autonomy and control. In a cybernetic system, we wonder if we are even in control of ourselves. We wonder if the goals the system is trying to achieve are our own, or the goal of  some other component. As a result we feel a sense of anxiety with the concept of cyborgs and cybernetics in general. 

The concept of the cyborg and it’s associated anxieties appears in a multitude of media and texts. One such example is the Nintendo 64 game Star Fox 64. The main characters in this game can be considered autonomous cyborgs. However, Unbenounced to the main characters of the game, they are actually experiencing the same exact anxiety that arises as a result of cybernetics. 

In this game we control a team of space pilots who fly plane-like machines called “Arwings.”  Already, we see an example of a cybernetic system. The components being, the pilot, and the arwing. The function of the pilot is to control the arwing, and the function of the arwing is to simply fly. With these functions, this system can achieve the simple goal of getting from point A to point B. Making their operation of the arwing a cybernetic system.

These pilots also have mechanical parts surgically implanted into them. For example, their legs are actually robotic, extending the notion that the pilots are in fact cyborgs. The components being, their bodies and their robotic legs. The function of the body is to use their eyes as feedback mechanisms to sense the surrounding area and using the brain to communicate to the robotic legs to perform their function of motor skills. The goal being presented here, similar to the previously stated goal, is to go from point A to point B.