The posthumanist perspective has been the core of this project and is also the initial thought process
that went on when initially first getting accustomed to the thoughts on posthumanism. There were
basically, two separate areas of interest with the common denominator relation. Mainly derived
from the notion of entanglement and how entities tied together and co-lived. Firstly, the slime-mold
and the pure wow-factor from seeing it move, seeing it grow, and having a consciousness truly
disrupted parts of my view of the world. Secondly, technology and how the increase in engagement
with AI-based products. The two of them, are tied together under the flag of ”what is a relation?”
And the future of how humans and non-humans can interact. Furthermore, similar to Forlano
(2017), it somewhat challenges the human-centered perspective, enabling a point of view where
robots and non-humans take on new roles in society.
The strongest critical emotion awoken in me during this project is taking the role of a ”puppet-
master”, domesticating the slime-mold and keeping it for the traditional ”human amusement” vis a
vi animal at the circus doing tricks. Forlano (2017) gave the example of ”What does the chicken
want? this type of empathic mindset has been prevalent since the very beginning of this project. As
Thomas Laurien phrased it, maybe it just wants to exist. Another important thought is the
understanding of where the slime-mold or Fred/George would prefer to live, would he feel better in
nature or forest? It seems relevant to understand the different growth aspects of the slime mold, the
oats are usually referred to as the slime-molds best friend and frequently brought up as the number
one nutrition to the slime-mold in a laboratory setting (Pappas 2018). Fred/George existed in
harmony in the closed setting on my site.
The last phase of slowly getting tired of the slime-mold, and it slowly turning to more of an
objective that a living creature, gave me a scary feeling and felt like something traditional
humanistic. Surroundings, nature is for the enjoyment of humans, and when it is not fun anymore,
we toss it away. I believe that this is still the main discourse in society, and we are shaped by, as
Ferlano (2017) refer to it as neoliberal capitalistic values, we consume, we throw away everything
that is not pleasant to us. I do however, believe that the slime-mold if it would live in a more natural
habitat, with other surroundings and become more of a self-sufficient individual, would be more
interesting.
