Exoskeletons, Transhumanism, and Culture: Performing Superhuman Feats

In this article we study how exoskeletons are construed through three dominant but interrelated presentations: 1) popular science journalism, 2) advertisements of military innovation, and 3) blockbuster science fiction film. We address how these media function to alter attitudes about the future. The attitudinal framing of the exoskeleton asks that people aspire to transhumanism, and that they “imagine the possibilities in the near future of dramatically enhance[ed) human mental and physical capacities” [4). In this case, they are being encouraged to visualize a militarized future. More so, the rhetorical proposition calls upon people to identify personally with the technology. The rhetoric conveys a militarized identity through celebration, anticipation, and to an extent, panic. It unites excitement and fear through entertainment, but it also succeeds in distorting the conversation of what exoskeleton technology would actually mean in a nonfictional, socio-political, or military context. Michael, Fusco, and Michael [5) identify the “socio-ethics” concerning emerging inventions, as “the moral principles which govern a particular society at large.” We seek in our work to disclose some of the socio-ethical cultural manipulation conveyed through popular channels concerning exoskeletons.