Notes on pg 69-131, "The Definition of what it is to 'be human'"

Page 79: “A man’s face filled the screen. The eyes were Armitage’s”.
It is interesting that Case is only able to make the connection from Corto to Armitage due to the eyes. They say that eyes are the windows to the soul. Humans are capable of communicating intentions, emotions and thoughts through their eyes. The opposite can be seen in Molly.

Page 84-85: “He glanced back at the bed, at Molly, and her paleness struck him. She’d left the micropore cast on the bedslab in their loft, beside the transdermal inducer. Her glasses reflected part of the room’s light fixture.”
Through various alterations and surgeries, Molly has transformed herself from a purely organic creature to a machine-human hybrid. She also chooses to cover her eyes hiding herself from the outside world and also choosing to perceive the world through an artificial, albeit enhanced perspective.

Page 93: “Case tried to find the man called Corto behind the pale blue eyes and the tanned mask…The blankness he found in Armitage was something else”
Gibson again brings up the idea of a shell, or casing. The body is merely a prison for the mind or some kind of suit that can be taken off and replaced. Biologically, Corto, or Armitage is human, but Case is beginning to learn that he may be nothing more than a meat puppet, to be manipulated by Wintermute, an AI.

Page 100: “He closed his eyes and told himself the shuttle was only a big airplane, one that flew very high. It smelled like an airplane, like new clothes and chewing gum and exhaustion…Twenty minutes, then gravity came down on him like a great soft hand with bones of ancient stone.”
Fear is an essential human emotion that has and still does play an important role in society. All people feel uncertainty and the edge of unease in new situations that lie beyond their comfort zones. It is comforting to know, that even in a future where so many services, technologies, ideas and even sensations have become obsolete and dated, there are still experiences that can trigger primal responses.

Page 104: “‘I’m dead, Case…What bothers me is, nothin’ does…Do me a favor, boy…This scam of yours, when it’s over, you erase this goddam thing.'”
This is a passage describing one of Case’s conversations with Flatline’s construct. In this instance, it is very clear that Pauley is no longer biologically a human, but he still seems to emulate and display the characteristics of humanity so perfectly that you begin to wonder if he really IS dead. Emotions and thoughts, even expressing Pauley’s personality, seem like they would be impossible for a mere machine or construct to recreate. This is an instance where the line between man and machine seems to be blurred.

Page 118: “I try to plan, in your sense of the word, but that isn’t my basic mode, really. I improvise. It’s my greatest talent. I prefer situations to plans, you see”
This is another rather strange and uncomfortable situation in which the line between man and machine is blurred. Wintermute, the previous mysterious AI figure that has been working behind the scenes and controlling all of their actions has finally been revealed to Case. Wintermute is an AI, or artificial intelligence and essentially a very sophisticated and intelligent robot. Yet it is not its intelligence that is slightly disturbing but rather the revelation that it can independently make plans, execute them and also improvise and make quick decisions when the situation calls for it.

Page 124: “…the golden children he’d seen…Now he saw that their tans were uneven, a stencil effect…They looked to Case like machines built for racing…”
In this passage, Gibson is highlighting the increase in and human direction towards artifice in their daily lives. With all of the genetic and physical modifications that are available to the people of this time, they increasingly resemble machines, and comparatively lose their connection to an organic and traditional human identity. In contrast, machines, and in particular, AI’s are being engineered to appear more human-like.

Page 128: “‘But I ain’t likely to write you no poem, if you follow me. Your AI, it might. But it ain’t no way human…the minute, I mean the nanosecond, that one starts figuring out ways to make itself smarter, Turning’ll wipe it. Nobody trusts those fuckers, you know that.'”
Wintermute is acknowledged as a very powerful entity that may indeed possess a kind of sentience, however, it is still an artificial lifeform. It is important to note that the ruling company or body of power for this era has recognized this and sees the potential threat from a being such as Wintermute. However, one must wonder, where is Turning now that Wintermute has started to act out on its own, even going so far as to infiltrate the consciousness of a human and spending vast amounts of money to manipulate others.