Upgrading our systems and rewiring our brains to optimize performance
Can the brain be treated like a circuit board?
In anticipation of the ART+TECH Festival [2026], we are exploring what it truly means to be The New Human @ CODAME
As we imagine the future of our species through the lens of art and technology, we often fall into the trap of computer-centric metaphors. We talk about “upgrading” our systems or “rewiring” our brains to optimize performance. But as Peter Lukacs argues in his recent Aeon essay, “What the metaphor of ‘rewiring’ gets wrong about neuroplasticity,” these mechanical analogies might be leading us astray.
Lukacs suggests that while “rewiring” implies the engineered precision of a circuit board, the brain is actually more akin to a forest—a living, breathing, and messy ecosystem that grows and adapts in ways far more complex than simple toggles or cables.
Why this matters for The New Human:
The theme of this year’s CODAME festival posits that the future is built from the “debris of the past—a coral reef of human traces, layered into new bodies, minds, and worlds.” If we view ourselves only as machines to be reconfigured, we lose the organic, emergent quality of what makes us human.
⬩ From Circuitry to Ecology: “The New Human” isn’t just a hardware update. It’s an exploration of how we evolve when we embrace our biological complexity alongside our technological tools.
⬩ Art as Inquiry: Just as Lukacs calls for better metaphors to understand our minds, our artists use tech to challenge the rigid definitions of humanity, moving beyond “fixed paths” toward “dynamic connectivity.”
Are we “rewiring” ourselves, or are we growing into something entirely different? Join us at the CODAME ART+TECH Festival as we peel back the metaphors and build the future of the human experience.
Explore the theme: The New Human
Read Peter Lukacs essay on Aeon: Can you rewire your brain?