3 ms·

The recurrent theme in all cyberpunk media is the lack of humanity we're left with. This isn't something to strive for. All of your needs are commercialized. R

The recurrent theme in all cyberpunk media is the lack of humanity we're left with. This isn't something to strive for. All of your needs are commercialized. Relationships are reduced to tubes you can jerk off into while watching a gyrating hologram for $1.99 a minute. I respect your attempt to be nuanced but you're really missing the point of cyberpunk itself. The neon lights and wild fashion aren't glamorous, they're artifacts of the desperation of attention-seeking systems attempting to stand out by being more over-the-top than everything around them. Every sense is exploited to death, and when that's not enough, we'll sell you body augmentations in exchange for your mortal soul (cyberpsychosis' technical debt). It's a body-shaming, soul-sucking hellscape. Being You is pathetic. Anyone who isn't able to be a perfect corporate drone is generally a low-level criminal of some type, subsisting off of carbs and sodium while living in a squalid apartment the size of a cargo container. Nobody ever "makes" it. You're born rich and live forever or you live and die with rats. Every protagonist quickly finds themselves with a 5-star wanted level and has a hypermechanized cybermilitary force pursuing them over dumb shit like delivering a package or picking up the wrong passenger. The bureaucracy of justice is impenetrable; I've never seen a cyberpunk Phoenix Wright, only variations of Judge Dredd. You exist to be exploited, and the minute you stop being useful you're thrown into a literal meat grinder of some form. You don't hear about cyberpunk prisons, just execution squads. The world is already working or headed this way. To want this future, you really do have to be a fool, a sociopath, or wealthy.

keiferski 3y ago
It’s a genre of literature. People have different interpretations of it than you do. I don’t think something like Neuromancer or Count Zero is dystopian at all, but as I said, have spaces for more exploration and experimentation that our world today doesn’t allow for. I wouldn’t call it utopian, but to insist that someone who finds it slightly appealing is a sociopath is to miss the point entirely. I’m not sure what is so difficult to understand about this.
- jstarfish 3y ago
  > I’m not sure what is so difficult to understand about this. I understand you just fine. You see a shiny prospect. I'm not denying its appeal. I'm just warning you, Icarus-- you're staring at the sun. Look away. It's not worth it.
  - TeMPOraL 3y ago
    > I'm just warning you, Icarus-- you're staring at the sun. Look away. It's not worth it. Over 2000 years have passed. We've since invented sunglasses, and rivets, and composites, and UV-B blocking sunscreen. We can deal with sunshine.

keiferski 3y ago

It’s a genre of literature. People have different interpretations of it than you do. I don’t think something like Neuromancer or Count Zero is dystopian at all, but as I said, have spaces for more exploration and experimentation that our world today doesn’t allow for. I wouldn’t call it utopian, but to insist that someone who finds it slightly appealing is a sociopath is to miss the point entirely. I’m not sure what is so difficult to understand about this.

jstarfish 3y ago
> I’m not sure what is so difficult to understand about this. I understand you just fine. You see a shiny prospect. I'm not denying its appeal. I'm just warning you, Icarus-- you're staring at the sun. Look away. It's not worth it.
- TeMPOraL 3y ago
  > I'm just warning you, Icarus-- you're staring at the sun. Look away. It's not worth it. Over 2000 years have passed. We've since invented sunglasses, and rivets, and composites, and UV-B blocking sunscreen. We can deal with sunshine.