Climaxing Sunset
kiwifarms.net
- Joined
- Sep 27, 2021
I’ve been reading various science fiction literature, but more specifically of the sub genre known as cyberpunk. I’ve read the Neuromancer/sprawl trilogy, Snow Crash, & Altered Carbon, watched the blade runner films, and played some cyberpunk video games such as CP2077 & Deus Ex games
All of these mediums share a common theme: high tech low life. I’ve noticed that technology has rapidly evolved and is quickly surging again with bionics, Musk’s nueralink, nanobots, and increased space travel. On the other hand, society is becoming worse at the same time: people are more isolated, atomized, mental illnesses have risen, violent crime by protected classes of people (the melanated folks on the bottom and the Uber rich on top) has turned america and other societies into a decaying mess on the urban streets. Not to mention, the total lack of tradition held by people and the nihilistic worldviews expounded upon by millions of Americans especially (and probably other western nations).
Additional tropes I’ve seen in cyberpunk mediums also include techno-orientalism, ie the aesthetic of East Asian culture penetrating western societies. Of that time, Japan was seen as the great cultural threat in the 80s especially but today it’s arguably China, who by all accounts has grown rapidly beyond just manufacturing. Chinese corps have grown massively (look at TikTok, DJI drones, Lenovo computers, TCL TVs for example), flooding the US market, and the ongoing geopolitical tensions between the U.S. & China has led to a slowly fracturing world order where American uni polarity is slipping away as China sinks its talons onto poorer states with its new Silk Road project & its rapidly growing tech sector.
What do you think? Is cyberpunk an unfortunate reality? Or do you see an upside to this?
All of these mediums share a common theme: high tech low life. I’ve noticed that technology has rapidly evolved and is quickly surging again with bionics, Musk’s nueralink, nanobots, and increased space travel. On the other hand, society is becoming worse at the same time: people are more isolated, atomized, mental illnesses have risen, violent crime by protected classes of people (the melanated folks on the bottom and the Uber rich on top) has turned america and other societies into a decaying mess on the urban streets. Not to mention, the total lack of tradition held by people and the nihilistic worldviews expounded upon by millions of Americans especially (and probably other western nations).
Additional tropes I’ve seen in cyberpunk mediums also include techno-orientalism, ie the aesthetic of East Asian culture penetrating western societies. Of that time, Japan was seen as the great cultural threat in the 80s especially but today it’s arguably China, who by all accounts has grown rapidly beyond just manufacturing. Chinese corps have grown massively (look at TikTok, DJI drones, Lenovo computers, TCL TVs for example), flooding the US market, and the ongoing geopolitical tensions between the U.S. & China has led to a slowly fracturing world order where American uni polarity is slipping away as China sinks its talons onto poorer states with its new Silk Road project & its rapidly growing tech sector.
What do you think? Is cyberpunk an unfortunate reality? Or do you see an upside to this?
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