The commensurability between humans and network technology is made possible, according to the digital discourse, because of the revolutionary nature of network technology. The underpinnings, characteristics, and architecture of network technology—such as binarism, information, communication, flexibility, and adaptability—echo the essence of humans. This commensurability allows for new forms of interaction and convergence between humans and network technology to take place: humans can be further technologized and instrumentalized, technology can be humanized, and the hybrid entity of the cyborg can be constructed.
Since the mutual transference between humans and network technology is rendered unproblematic in the digital discourse, network technology is also seen as more conducive to bringing out human qualities associated with the humanist critique of capitalism: underdetermination (or nonessentialization), flexibility, and multiplicity. In the digital discourse, the conflation of information technology and humans, conceptually and practically, is seen as a means for human augmentation and emancipation. It is not simply that to be human is inextricably tied to information technology; human experience is augmented by technology, and human potentials are unleashed. Since network technology and humans are perceived as having a shared essence, network technology is seen in turn as the ideal conductor for human’s liberating potentiality.
These narratives are weaving a spirit of networks for a post-Fordist society. Humans are reconceptualized to fit their place in the new mode of production and a new society: contrary to the Fordist human characterized by spatial and temporal bodily presence and by physicality, the post-Fordist human is characterized by virtuality and disembodiment. The post-Fordist human—her body, mind, and identity—are informational, flexible, and multiple.
Set within the framework of this book, the digital discourse on the network human is seen as a response to the humanistic critique of Fordist society concerning authenticity. It rejects and transcends the overdeterminist and essentialist conception of the human in Fordist society. Network technology is conceived as materializing a response to the humanist critique of capitalism regarding authenticity, creativity, and self-expression; network technology complements the network human. In the digital discourse the relationship between humans and network technology (resulting in the network human) is set in contrast to the relationship of humans and industrial technology (resulting in industrial human).
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Media and New Capitalism in the Digital Age