"A human being is a part of a whole, called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest... a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty." --Albert Einstein
Robin Zebrowski has been in the field of artificial intelligence for about 10 years, but believes the entire project needs an overhaul based on the philosophical work being done in embodiment. And she’s the one who plans to do the overhauling. She is currently working on her Ph.D. on the (incorrect) notion of a standard body implicit in the theory of embodied metaphor in cognitive linguistics.
Every Body is Already Different: How the Myth of a Standard Body Feeds the Myth of an Authentic Self
The notion of a standard body underlies many philosophical and scientific theories. Yet if there is no standard body, then no bodily alteration can destroy something core. Every body is altered constantly by physical and social forces outside of our control. There is a paradox – selfhood is traditionally something immutable and simple. But critics of enhancement argue that changing the body alters selfhood. We must face the paradox, and if there is no standard body then no alteration destroys this mythical core. I look at neuroscientific and phenomenological accounts of bodily experience to show that there is no standard body.
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