Moving into the Matrix

An examination of postmodernism, Cyberpunk, and technology's role in future societies

By Tom Cronin

II. Science Fiction and Society

Although most scholars who study (or write) science fiction agree that science fiction represents issues central to the time in which the science fiction text was written, there is a debate as to whether science fiction is a tool to predict the future. In a 1987 interview with Takayuki Tatsumi, Samuel Delany said that science fiction does not try to predict the future, but rather offers a "significant distortion of the present." (Delany, 171) Jameson said that the canonical defense of science fiction suggests that science fiction is a tool for preparing the readers for a future characterized by an ever increasing rate of technological growth. Jameson asserts that he cannot accept this account of science fiction because the utopian futures depicted by science fiction are simply the possible future of some point in the past, and many science fiction accounts of the future have become dated. He said that the science fiction utopias were "futures of moments which are now our past." (Jameson, 151) Although the futuristic worlds in many science fiction films and novels have not come true (and probably won't come true in the near future), one cannot deny the influence of science fiction on many technological innovations that have come about over the past thirty years. For example, the concept of "Cyberspace" in Gibson's Neuromancer predates the modern use of the word by several years. Decades prior to the Internet, science fiction characters were often seen using computers that were interconnected in much the same way computers are connected using the Internet. In addition, the communicators used in the original Star Trek episodes bear a striking resemblance to cellular phones that are commonplace today. Perhaps Delany is correct in saying that science fiction writers do not attempt to predict the future. Although predicting the future may not be the intention of science fiction writers, perhaps science fiction writers unconsciously create a world which they could see as a possible future.

In his article, "Cyberpunk and Neuromanticism," Istvan Csicsery-Ronay, Jr. identifies two distinct types of science fiction: expansive science fiction and the science fiction of implosion, or looking inward. Expansive science fiction deals with the expansion of human thoughts and ideas and the spread of these thoughts and ideas across the universe. Expansive science fiction, which came about in the 1950, rests in the ideals of the space program, a program in which there was no limit to what the human mind can explore. Csicsery-Ronay also pointed to the concept of scientific humanism, where "classic liberal virtues have some moral-ethical control over technological production." In addition, he said that expansive science fiction is based on the notion that "human consciousness can contain the future." (Csicsery-Ronay, 186) An example of an expansive science fiction series that has endured for over three decades is the Star Trek universe. According to an article in the Oct. 22, 1999 issue of Entertainment Weekly , Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry said the Star Trek universe is a description of "the best of humans solving problems and learning about their own humanity." Roddenberry added, "Our characters symbolize where humans could be if they wanted to be." (Lee, 100) Contrasting expansive science fiction's positive image of humanity is implosive science fiction, which has a rather negative view of humanity. According to Csicsery-Ronay, the implosive science fiction movement, which began in the 1960s, was fueled for the desire for dissolution. As interest in space exploration dwindled, there seemed to be a greater interest in the individual. This inward turn toward on humanity is also reflected in science, Csicsery-Ronay said. Such scientific trends as microbiology, data storage miniaturization, bionic prosthetics, artificial intelligence, particle physics, and the world-shrinking grid of global communication all stem from the desire to look inward at humanity instead of at the expansion of humanity. (Csicsery-Ronay, 187) Cyberpunk, a movement in science fiction that represents the mixing of cybernetics and punk culture, falls into this category of implosive science fiction. Like other science fiction, Cyberpunk creates a "cognitive estrangement" between the text and the reader. In addition, Cyberpunk describes the world of the time in which it was written, which in the case of Cyberpunk, happens to be postmodernism.