The Organization as Locus of Technological Posthumanization Sapient Circuits and Digitalized Flesh: The Organization as Locus of Technological Posthumanization Second Edition Copyright © 2018 Matthew E. Gladden Published in the United States of America by Defragmenter Media, an imprint of Synthypnion Press LLC Synthypnion Press LLC Indianapolis, IN 46227 http://www.synthypnionpress.com All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher, apart from those fair-use purposes permitted by law. Defragmenter Media http://defragmenter.media ISBN 978-1-944373-21-4 (print edition) ISBN 978-1-944373-22-1 (ebook) 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 March 2018 The first edition of this book was published by Defragmenter Media in 2016. Preface ............................................................................................................13 Introduction: The Posthumanized Organization as a Synergism of Human, Synthetic, and Hybrid Agents ........................................................ 17 Part One: A Typology of Posthumanism: A Framework for Differentiating Analytic, Synthetic, Theoretical, and Practical Posthumanisms .............................................................................................31 Part Two: Organizational Posthumanism .................................................... 93 Part Three: The Posthuman Management Matrix: Understanding the Organizational Impact of Radical Biotechnological Convergence .............133 References .................................................................................................... 202 Index ........................................................................................................... 227 Preface ............................................................................................................13 Introduction: The Posthumanized Organization as a Synergism of Human, Synthetic, and Hybrid Agents ........................................................ 17 The Ongoing Posthumanization of Organizations ........................................ 18 The Intellectual Foundations of Posthumanism ........................................... 22 Applying Posthumanist Thought to Organizational Theory and Management ................................................................................................... 25 Managing the Transformation and Functional Convergence of Human and Artificial Agents ......................................................................... 27 Part One: A Typology of Posthumanism: A Framework for Differentiating Analytic, Synthetic, Theoretical, and Practical Posthumanisms .............................................................................................31 I. Introduction ................................................................................................ 32 II. Established Definitions of Posthumanism ................................................ 34 III. A Proposed Two-dimensional Typology of Posthumanism .................... 39 Distilling Five Main Types of Posthumanism: Posthumanisms of Critique, Imagination, Conversion, Control, and Production .......................... 43 IV. Classification and Analysis of Individual Forms of Posthumanism ........ 44 A. Analytic Theoretical Posthumanisms: Seeking to Understand the Posthumanized Present ........................................................................................ 44 1. Critical Posthumanism ................................................................................. 45 Posthuman Realism ..................................................................................... 50 2. Cultural Posthumanism ............................................................................... 50 8 Sapient Circuits and Digitalized Flesh 3. The Posthumanities (or Digital Humanities) ............................................. 52 4. Feminist New Materialism .......................................................................... 54 5. Antihumanism ............................................................................................... 54 6. Metahumanism as Rehumanism .................................................................56 7. Neohumanism as the Embracing of Human Subjectivity ......................... 57 B. Synthetic Theoretical Posthumanisms: Seeking to Understand a Future Posthumanity ............................................................................................ 58 1. Philosophical Posthumanism ....................................................................... 58 2. Science Fiction................................................................................................ 61 3. Prehumanism ................................................................................................ 64 4. Techno-idealism.............................................................................................65 C. Analytic Practical Posthumanisms: Seeking to Reshape the Posthumanized Present .........................................................................................67 1. Metahumanism as Advocacy for Those Who Have Experienced Metahumanizing Mutation ...............................................................................67 a. Anti-metahumanism as Discrimination against Metahumans ............ 67 b. Classifying Metahumanism within the Fictional and Real Worlds .......................................................................................................... 68 3. Neohumanism as Advocacy for Engineered Beings .................................. 69 4. Neohumanism as Spiritual Ultrahumanism .............................................. 69 D. Synthetic Practical Posthumanisms: Seeking to Control the Processes Generating a Future Posthumanity .................................................... 71 1. Biopolitical Posthumanism............................................................................ 71 a. Bioconservatism ....................................................................................... 72 b. Transhumanism .......................................................................................74 c. Three Typologies of Transhumanism .................................................... 78 2. Popular (or ‘Commercial’) Posthumanism ................................................. 81 E. Posthumanisms That Join the Analytic, Synthetic, Theoretical, and Practical .................................................................................................................. 83 1. Metahumanism as a Movement of Relational Metabodies ....................... 83 2. Sociopolitical Posthumanism ...................................................................... 85 3. Organizational Posthumanism .................................................................... 87 V. Conclusion .................................................................................................. 90 Part Two: Organizational Posthumanism .................................................... 93 I. Introduction ................................................................................................ 94 Detailed Table of Contents 9 II. Definition of Organizational Posthumanism ............................................ 98 III. Classification of Organizational Posthumanism as a Type of Posthumanism ............................................................................................... 99 A. Theoretical Aspects ......................................................................................... 101 B. Practical Aspects .............................................................................................. 102 C. Analytic Aspects ............................................................................................... 103 D. Synthetic Aspects ............................................................................................ 104 IV. Organizational Posthumanization as Reflected in Organizational Elements ....................................................................................................... 105 A. Posthumanized Members ............................................................................... 105 B. Posthumanized Structures ............................................................................. 106 C. Posthumanized (Information) Systems ....................................................... 108 D. Posthumanized Processes .............................................................................. 109 E. Posthumanized Spaces ..................................................................................... 111 F. Posthumanized External Environments and Ecosystems ........................... 112 V. Technological Changes Facilitating Organizational Posthumanization ......................................................................................... 113 A. Technologies for Human Augmentation and Enhancement ...................... 116 1. Implantable Computers ................................................................................117 2. Advanced Neuroprosthetics ........................................................................ 118 3. Virtual Reality .............................................................................................. 121 4. Genetic Engineering, Medicine, and Life Extension ...............................