Through the looking glass: Ghost in the Shell, transhumanism, and transcendence through the virtual

Masamune Shirow's manga, Ghost in the Shell, is a ‘cyberpunk' classic of the 1990's. It focuses on a fictional counter-cyberterrorist organisation led by Major Motoko Kusanagi known as Section-9. This classic manga was made into an anime by Mamoru Oshii and became a cult hit in the mid-90s. Its popularity fuelled the production of a number of feature length animated films as well as two anime series. It regained popularity in 2015 following the news that Scarlett Johansson signed to play the lead in a live-action version of the anime that was released in 2017. What is interesting about Ghost in the Shell is not only its ‘cyberpunk' motifs but the very transhumanist themes it conveys. Though considered a ‘cultural/intellectual' movement transhumanism has some interesting ‘religious' elements associated with it, albeit ones that may not fit the usual conventional understanding of ‘religion'. This is especially the case if ‘religion' is seen as the sui generis concept that it is popularly known as, rather than a cultural activity. One of the fundamental beliefs of this movement is that humans will advance physically, intellectually, and psychologically, not through the will of a divine creator, but through human ingenuity and technology. Another popular belief held by some transhumanists is one that suggests that in the 'not-so-distant future' humans will transcend their physical and mental imperfections by uploading themselves into a supercomputer. With transhumanist themes in mind this paper will focus on two main points. The first is that Japanese traditions can be used to strengthen the ‘transhumanism as religion' argument as proposed by Robert Geraci. The second will examine how-through the adoption of Japanese mythology and its articulation in Ghost in the Shell­-cyborg technology can be used to enhance spirituality, thus introducing a new method for understanding the traditional science v religion debate

Invoking the Ghosts in the Machine: Reassessing the Evolution of the Science/Religion Phenomena - Alternative Perspectives

This thesis is an in-depth critical analysis of the nature of the science/religion relationship. The purpose of this project is to expose the problems associated with the many fallacies related to these phenomena, and to evaluate the reasons behind certain perceptions. It outlines the damage done through years of misconceiving and misunderstanding the concepts of science and religion, and to address what led to such inadequacies in interpretation, emphasizing the use of insufficient and archaic methodologies. A number of the methodological problems that will be assessed are the following: Chapter One will focus primarily on the issues related to the definition of religion and will evaluate how this was/is a contributing factor in how ‘religion’ is received and recognized in the academic community as well as in more popular circles. The main emphasis here will be on the false conception that ‘religion’ is a stagnant concept rather than a dynamic one, and will be examined through an appraisal of its chromatic history. This will be followed by an examination of the primarily Christocentric and Western ideologies that are endemic to this field of study, and will demonstrate how these beliefs are related to the Western construction of ‘religion’ and are tied strongly to the spread of imperialism throughout the world. Chapter Two will build on these issues, through highlighting the Western conceptualizations of religion and science, especially the erroneous belief that these phenomena are universally shared. Similarly evaluated in this chapter will be a number of other factors: (1) The subjective approaches taken by some scholars who insist on making ‘science’ sound more like ‘religion’ through the use of clever machinations. (2) Related to this is the concept of inclusivism, which will call attention to the negative effects that Western biases (in academia) have on non-Western practices, mainly denuding them of their cultural uniqueness. (3) Furthermore, this chapter will examine the over simplification of complex cultural phenomena in academia and will evaluate the inefficacy of certain works in dealing with these phenomena. This will be garnished with a critical assessment of this scholarship and will gauge how years of misinformation and negligence (within the academy) has led to a troubling relationship between science and religion. This will be proceeded by a case-study of the ‘scientific movement’ known as transhumanism as a means to demonstrate the long lasting and problematic effects that years of misinterpretation has had on the popular understanding of the science/religion phenomena, from at least one perspective. This will be concluded with an examination of the future of this evolution. Evidenced here through the use of SF film, is how transhumanism, because of its relationship to science and religion and its communion with popular transcultural SF ideas, has the potential to become a site for a belief system that translates well cross-culturally and incorporates both of these phenomena

Sex-specific effects of high-fat and ketogenic diet on inflammatory responses in the hippocampus

Poor diet and metabolic diseases (obesity, Type 2 diabetes) are associated with increased risk of neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and depression. Studies indicate that inflammation in the hippocampus could be one mechanism linking these conditions. Previous findings on inflammation, specifically glial activity in response to a high-fat diet, indicate sex differences in microglial responses in the hippocampus. The ketogenic diet is characterized by a high-fat, low-carbohydrate, and moderate-protein diet. While the ketogenic diet is very high in fat content, it may also possess neuroprotective properties against brain aging and neurodegenerative disorders, as well as boost mood and cognitive function. The aim of the experiment is to examine further the sex-specific effects of a high-fat diet (HFD) and a translationally relevant ketogenic diet (KD) on inflammation in the hippocampus, with a specific focus on astrocytes. Male and female C57BL/6J mice were fed high-fat, ketogenic, or low-fat control diets starting at 9 weeks of age and remained on the diet for ~5 months. Mice were assessed for weight gain, adiposity, ketone body levels, and diabetic status using glucose tolerance testing. Immunofluorescence was performed using a GFAP antibody for the analysis of astrocytes in the hippocampus. In males, there was no effect of diet on GFAP labeling in any subregion of the hippocampus. However, in female KD mice, there was a decrease in GFAP percent area covered in the CA1 and CA2 regions of the hippocampus, with similar but non-significant trends in other hippocampus regions (CA3 and dentate gyrus). These findings suggest that KD affects hippocampal astrocytes in a sex-specific manner, though further research is necessary to evaluate the downstream and functional effects of these changes