Degeneracja, cyborgizacja, ewolucja – przedstawienia transhumanistycznych utopii i dystopii w grach komputerowych
Degeneration, Cyborgization, Evolution – Presentations of Transhumanistic Utopias and Dystopias in Computer Games

Summary/Abstract: Visions created by enthusiasts and critics of transhumanism represent both utopian possibilities and dystopian consequences entailed by creation of new humans. Narratives representing various ways of human evolution appear in many kinds of media, the text, however, concentrates on computer games whose form is eminently interesting in this respect. In computer games, the player becomes a cyborg, to some extent, as he/ she controls activities of the virtual avatar being aware, at the same time, of his/ her own corporeality.The aim of the article is to trace two main ways in which the effects of the transhuman evolution into the post-human are represented in chosen games. On the one hand, the ultimate post-human becomes a biological entity degenerated into a condition which is worse than contemporary homo sapiens, and on the other hand, it becomes a technological entity turned into a being of superhuman abilities. The article explores their role and their form in both the structure of the game and the virtual world itself. The material of this study comes from games in which the player controls a single avatar: Bioshock series, Deus Ex series, System Shock 2 and Prototype.

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