Many of the predictions made in Neuromancer ring true today. It became apparent to me in the last section of this book that Gibson predicted the internet to be an inhabitable space, as he describes Case as he "jacks in" to the virtual world. Case can sense and experience the virtual world that he is in just as our virtual world today can be experienced on a sensory level.
I was reading an article called "Neuromancer: What It Got Right, What It Got Wrong" after I finished the book. The article can be found at the following link: http://goo.gl/8Gq00. In this article, Mark Sullivan says that "Gibson took the World Wide Web much further. By introducing the concept of cyberspace, he made the Web a habitable place, with all the world’s data stores represented as visual, even palpable, structures arranged in an endless matrix."
"Anything you want, baby," Zone drawled, "just hop it for Lonny..."
"No," Case said, "use the Finn."
As the Zone image faded....(Pg. 218).
Gibson proposes a world that contains more than just a virtual element, it posses a virtual reality that is integrated into everyday life. Case interacts with a virtual image and speaks to it, listens to it, and interacts with it.
Our world is moving more and more towards this prediction. The lines between the virtual world and the physical world are being skewed, as the virtual and the physical worlds mold into one.
And because of this expectation of virtual reality in our daily lives, when it is not there we don't really know what to do with ourselves. "Nothing. Gray void. No grid, no cyberspace...he tried to scream" (Pg. 225).
The terror that comes to Case when his virtual environment is nonexistent is fascinating. Do we, as an increasingly technological society, have this same type of reaction when our virtual outlets are offline or out of commission?
Gibson's Neuromancer may seem far-fetched, but it may not actually be that far from the truth.
I think we often do have a smilar reaction to Case when our virtual worlds are absent. For example, cell phones and computers. Many people, including myself, become very anxious when a cell phone becomes lost or broken or if our computer crashes. When I was younger I remember the worst thing my parents could do to punish me was take my cell phone or computer away. I would (and probably still would) rather be grounded than to have either of these devices taken away. In this sense I can relate to Case and how he feels when he is unable to jack in to the matrix.
ReplyDeleteTo be honest, I sometimes relish the idea of all our virtual outlets shutting down (computers, internet, cell phone, etc.). Whenever I go to the great outdoors (whether its backpacking, a cycling trip, etc.), I just turn my smart phone off and ignore it until I return to civilization.
ReplyDeleteOf course there are downsides to this (like not knowing if something catastrophic just happened). Perhaps much of this stems from my Survivor Man/I Am Legend fantasies... but yea, I may be the exception, but I wouldn't freak out too much if the virtual world came crashing down.
I think that we do have something of an addiction to technology - ever seen how badly some people freak out when Facebook goes down? I won't lie, I feel like I need to be "jacked in" at all times simply because superior intelligence is at the heart of every successful operation (as USAA's commercials so eloquently put it), but at the same time, like Chinchin, I'm trying to learn how to survive in a world without technology as I don't ever want to become too reliant on it. I've found that there's a growing number of people who feel the same way, though their reasons for preparation seem to be caused more out of a desire to be ready for the zombie apocalypse than something like Katrina 2: No-Electic Boogaloo.
ReplyDeleteRight now, we are jacked into our version of the Matrix (read: Internet), through monitors and computer screens. It is quickly moving onto a mobile space with iPads and iPhones. This is what our technology currently limits us to today, but if we able to reach appoint where we could plug in our whole consciousness (instead of just our eyes through screens) would we?
ReplyDeleteThis reflects the idea that with every significant invention, we create a corresponding disaster: the ship created the shipwreck, electricity created power outages. The invention of technology has now created the potential disaster of being removed from technology, and this has varying effects for us all. If I lost my phone, for example, I'd imagine I'd be in far worse shape than many others because I don't bring a computer to classes, I only carry my phone with me, taking notes or looking up answers when necessary. For better or worse, it's the risk we take when we begin to depend on any sort of invented technology.
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