Hi. I am Coral Walker, a Junior at Haverford College. I am Anthropology major and an Education Minor. I am especially interested in Anthropology of Reproduction. I spent last semester abroad in Mendoza, Argentina; it was an amazing experience.  My interest in Evolution derives from my love of Anthropology. Within the study of civilizations, societies, peoples and cultures one can more or less decipher different evolutionary transformations which have occurred (not to say that all cultures, etc. go through the same evolutionary stages). So I am interested to see how the connection between evolution and literature occurs, especially in stories which are heavily linked with culture.

and this time w/ the word button:
 

This is a test!

From 2008 for Mac: Version 12/2/6 (00708)
 

this time w/out the word button:

  I would like to start this post with a comment on the Selarc video we watched at the beginning of the class.

 According to the New York Times article, "Smartphones Now Ringing for Women" by Laura M. Holson, there is an increasing number of women who are choosing to use smartphones. 

At the time the article was written, the number of women who were using smartphones was about 10.4 million, a number that was twice the previous year's. The number of users has undoubtedly grown since then. 

 What really stuck out to me in Clark’s essay was the image of Stelarc’s third robotic arm. Stelarc was able to control his mechanical arm using his own stomach and leg muscles, along with controlling one of his biological arms. But his other biological arm was being controlled by a computer, with the help of an operator. As a computer science major, I study how I can control a computer, so I've never really thought about a computer controlling me.

According to Clark, humans are natural born cyborgs, ready to embrace technology. While in class on Thursday, I found our discussion of human extended cognition, the role of agency on technology, the natural desire for humans to seek technological advances, our prejudice against technology, and our nature/ nurture debate of our use/ relations with technology to be rather interesting. However, I am concerned with human growing relations to technology. In primitive times, we did not have as much electronically powered resources, but I wonder if our obsession/ dependence on it is changing the way our brains are structured.

When I first started to read Clark's piece I was skeptical of the notion of being a 'natural-born cyborg'. It seemed like a ridiculous notion. However, as I began to understand his argument it began to make sense. The mere act of writing on paper has become a mnemonic tool for me. My thoughts seem very delicate and unclear to me until I write them down; the act alone allowing me to remember ideas even without consulting my notes. While few animals besides humans use tools, it seems that for us they are a necessity.