Cyberpunks
In the essay "The cyberpunk: The individual as reality pilot," Leary gives examples of cyberpunks from different periods of history. He reminds us that our label of our species, Homosapiens, declares us as "the animals who think." He also accredits us to the fact that we are coming closer to a mature stage of human life when we can actually think for ourselves. Most people follow, some lead. I personally think that everyone is a mixture of both. Most of the people I have come across in life have taken the leading role if it is something they know a great deal about and I have watched the same people fade into the background and allow others to lead on a discussion or an activity that they know. To be a 'cyberpunk'you have to be self reliant or your own 'pilot' steering your decisions and life and I agree with leary to an extent when he refers to the aspect that during the 21st century, almost all of humanity will be self reliant and independent thinkers and the world will be full of 'cyberpunks.'
posted by Trissa Bordas at 4:01 PM
5 Comments:
Similar to what we discussed in class, I found multiple complaints about this article. I disagree with Leary about the idea of government. He seems to believe that eventually the government will fade away, leaving people to be independent cyberpunks. To me, this is extremely far fetched, and I would have to say that most of our society would not want to see the government disappear entirely.
Also, couldn't the term cyberpunk could relate to any of us, at some time or another? I think everyone knows a leader, a trendsetter, an innovator; every group of friends has that person.
The only part of this article that I actually enjoyed was the etymology explanation. I appreciated that Leary provided the reader with the history of the terms he used in the article.
Leary's thoughts on government are very unreasonable and rediculous. I know that I personally wouldn't want to see the government disapear and have the nation run by these cyberpunks. It may change more as we experience advances in technology but it will definitely not vanish.
Even though I did find this article to be hard to follow, I did like how he explained the cyberpunks of the past and explained how they became them because that seemed to clear up the article somewhat for me.
The word meanings that were in the article I found somewhat interesting because it is odd to think that one word in one language can be translated to mean something else in another one. I was able to understand somewhat of what he was talking about after we discussed this in class and it made it seem a little more clear.
Well, considering what our discussion was based on today, I really think Leary is just running his mouth for the sake of making noise. Sure, people may become extremely independent, and the future may hold that possibility, but it's never going to get to the point where we aren't going to need any type of leadership/government.
Leadership is based on knowledge, skill, and a person's ability to communicate. Not one person is ever going to be able to specialize in the knowledge of every single piece of material on this planet. That's way too much information to take in, especially for the sake of becoming a future "cyberpunk."
I also agree with what Courtney said. Each and every one of us has been a cyberpunk at one point or another. We all rebel, we all take lead in activities, and we all have been innovators. Who said that you have to make it your entire life's work to be a "cyberpunk?"
Personally, I did not like this article. In fact, I disagree with most of what Leary said. I especially disagree with Leary's theory that with the further advances in technology, humanity will become completely self-reliant. It is extremely hard for me to believe that just because we have technology, we will all become recluses hiding out in a cave somewhere. Although humans strive toward self-reliance, we need nurturing human contact. There is a difference between independence and living as a hermit. The latter, in my opinion, is utterly impossible.
I'm not sure if anyone else felt this way, but the entire article confused me. I felt like Leary was walking me in a circle that consisted of very few words: cyberpunk, Greeks, Romans, pilot, and steering.
I wasn't able to get much out of it, other than what a cyberpunk is. I do agree with Courtney, I think each group of friends has their own "cyberpunk," so I really don't feel like it's anything that needs to be stressed as much as he does.
The only part I did enjoy, was the Evolution of Countercultures. Mainly, because this was something I understood, and I found it interesting.
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