HomeEssaysShort StoriesRelated LinksAbout Space MattersMoving into the Matrix
An examination of postmodernism, Cyberpunk, and technology's role in future societies
By Tom Cronin
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Conclusion
As Olalquiaga suggested, postmodernism lives. The presence of postmodernism is apparent in several aspects of Western culture, but it is most apparent in the Internet. Using the Internet can be described as the ultimate (existing) postmodern experience because there are no rules to the Internet. The Internet contains no class structure, and everyone can have access to the Internet no matter where they "jack in" from. Like most postmodernism phenomena in Western culture, the idea of the Internet as we know it today sprang forth from Cyberpunk literature and films. The Matrix from Gibson's Neuromancer is similar to the Internet, but the human-technology interface is an indirect interface with the Internet, whereas the interface is direct when one "jacks in" to the Matrix in Neuromancer . When examining Cyberpunk and the ways Cyberpunk literature and films have changed over time, it's important to take note of some of the trends. As technology has grown more and more complex, the human-technology interface in Cyberpunk has moved from the concept of a person accessing a network through a computer to a person mentally accessing a similar network by literally plugging into it. In postmodern Western culture, technology has grown so rapidly that it is often difficult to determine where technology will take humanity next. Ten years ago, it would have been difficult for one to foresee the Internet as we know it today. Of course, if one looks at the "progress" of Internet technology over the past ten years, one must also ask what the Internet will be like in the next ten years. Although science fiction writers do not write science fiction with the goal of predicting the future, many trends that are represented in multiple works of science fiction - especially Cyberpunk - have materialized. When looking at trends among Cyberpunk films and texts, the most enduring of the trends is that of cybernetics, or the direct interaction between humans and technology. Although the idea of cybernetics seems absurd to many people in today's Western culture, trends in Cyberpunk literature and films suggest that cybernetics may eventually be the wave of the future. If Western culture follows the trend toward an increasing interaction between humans and technology, cybernetics seems to be the end result. Actually, it seems to be the "end result" that is currently in sight. What lies ahead for Western culture, humanity, and postmodernism depends on what actions individuals within various societies take. It is quite possible that a future of cybernetics may never come to pass, but then again, it's hard to tell what the future holds.
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