Beyond the Human: Posthuman Intelligence, Oceanic Ecologies and Ethical First Contact in Ray Nayler’s The Mountain in the Sea

Abstract

The Mountain in the Sea by Ray Nayler is a contemporary novel. The story focuses on the discovery of a specific kind of octopus in the Con Dao Archipelago, which exceeds human-driven ideas through its complex interaction and extraordinary intellectual capabilities. By recognizing human as a concept and embracing the power, cognitive ability and moral significance of non-human creatures. Posthumanism acts as a theoretical structure that questions the humanistic assumption of human exceptionalism. By means of post-humanistic components such as human beings, the octopus’s species, the sea and the marine system, this study aims to show the various degrees of intelligence and interactions that go far beyond humans. It also reveals the issues related to anthropological notions and poses the difficulties that human beings face. In addition, it addresses the moral consequences, the significance of artificial intelligence, as well as its impact on society. Besides highlighting overlapping narratives through the characters, this research further illustrates an exact representation of interdependence and human intervention, which threatens the natural environment and mankind’s inhumaneness against the natural world where they reside in. The research examines innovation in technology that fosters domination instead of harmony and cooperation, such as the power of corporations, systems using AI and surveillance. The novel analyses surveillance culture and the collapse of capitalism as a means to establish its post-human implications. Commercial powers seek to control, investigate and make profits from humans and other bodies, revealing the hybrid characteristics of biopower.