Individuation and the synthesized network: An approach to digital convergence

This paper proposes an analysis of digital convergence through the concepts of French philosopher Gilbert Simondon, who develops a theory of technicity as a mode of existence of humanity on par with religion, science and art, and describes an evolution of technicity that culminates in networks by which the world itself becomes technical. The paper relates contemporary digital technologies, which converge in algorithms, gadgets and the internet, to this theory, including an examination of the roles played by machines, humans, and the external world in different stages of technicity, a discussion of how digital technologies involve problems of affect and embodiment, and suggestions concerning the social and political import of such problems. I argue that contemporary technologies of digital convergence perform an operation of synthesis whereby not only are different networks tied by the same operation, but also the technical roles of machine, world, and human are merged