/lit/ - Literature

Is Hop-Hop dead?

Is books dead?

Is huamans dead?

Is babby formed?

Why are we here?

>>644239
>>644242
>>644244
>>644251
>>644257
/b/ ooks thread here

>>644260
Because the space lord Xenu dropped us here out of jet planes in prehistoric times. Duh.

Yes.

The whole idea of cyberpunk was that it explored possibilities that we thought, despite how fantastical, could actually happen. It thought that the internet and rapid growth of technology would change our world into some sort of cyberia where a hacker was more dangerous than a suicide bomber.

Now, we know better. How I wish it all came true, though ;_;.

>>644710
Hackers are far far more dangerous than a suicide bomber. Their impact has the potential to be global in consequence. Suicide bombers have a blast radius of what? 100 meters? Big deal. Hackers can quietly take billions of dollars from anywhere they can compromise. Hackers can maliciously shut down a power-grid, destroy a broadcasting center's ability to reach the people, instigate a world-wide conflict in another country's name.

Cyberpunk is dead, because we're living in it. We now call it present-day reality.

>>644710
bro.

very short-sighted, we've got things like the global stock market almost completely computer controlled- The cyberwar over georgia could be considered a preulde, and certain Chinese millitary doctrines stress the use of hackers as a leveling mechanism. A friend of mine who is chinese claims that hackers in china are treated with a high level of respect and used as on-call mercs for black bag operations where the government needs to be able to disassociate itself from those involved

in other words, maybe in another 50+ years we can start cyberpunking it up, not a long time

>>644716
Not to mention in a world where Walmart and Yum! chart next to countries in annual GDP, corporate espionage is *all* about cyber-wars. It's happening every single day, everywhere online, but its impact is largely hidden from public view.

Okay, so it isn't a smoking crater in the ground and car alarms wailing off in the distance, but the damage is profound.

>>644723
about chinese merc hackers, absolutely very prescient. The most dangerous thing about cyber-warfare is pinning responsibility on organizations. The US is struggling to come to terms on this new playing field with China and Russia. Many high-level attacks on US nodes have originated in China, but we simply cannot definitely say it was the Chinese government responsible. Chances are high, but it could be some 15 year old prodigy on the Chinese equivalent of 4chan, skipping school and dicking around in the Pentagon's back-end.

Corporations are taking down sovereign nations (Greece) as we speak.

Is that cyberpunk enough for you?

>>644738
yup. Operation Titan Rain, and probably many others. But you also gotta remember that these are being hyped for publicity and extra spending as well.

I'm pretty sure the US only has Navy hackers and a bunch of NSA spooks, amiright?

>>644767

Yeah, just two guys in a room.

>>644716
>>644723
Cyberpunk is more than "hackers having power". Hackers could shut down the whole phone line system with ease back in the 90's. However, that did not make the 90's a decade of "cyberpunk".

I'd suggest actually reading cyberpunk before making comments on what constitutes of it. Cyberpunks is an idea of a completely advanced world structure due to the rise of technology. It is not "government hacking twitter battles!!"

>>644785
No it isn't. Cyberpunk is a world that has broken down under the weight of its own garbage. Online, the architecture of data like pulsating cities of pure light, lattices receding into infinity.

The idea of Cyberpunk is that government is irrelevant. Multi-national corporations rule all.

>>644785
that is why it is called sci-fi, dolt. We're talking about trends that may give rise to a cyberpunkish future. However, it would be idiotic to assume that sci-fi can predict the future completely. Read it as a genre, don't say it's dead because the future winds up looking a little different.

Ghost in the Shell

Transhumanism is the new Cyberpunk.

>>644790
However, the points you argued have nothing to do with a cyberpunkish future. If we are to take this "The idea of Cyberpunk is that government is irrelevant. Multi-national corporations rule all.", then any hacker story previously brought up is null, as all hackers with that much power are regulated by the government. And of course, they are only powerful because of the government.

>>644820
>The idea of Cyberpunk is that government is irrelevant. Multi-national corporations rule all."
that is a very strict and narrow interpretation. I suspect most authors would argue that is not cyberpunk by itself.

> then any hacker story previously brought up is null
Science-Fiction: Fiction
>as all hackers with that much power are regulated by the government
that is a determinist viewpoint. Highly unlikely that all interactions will fall within the mold.

Troll detected.

>>644816
>transhumanism

It appeared in nueromancer as well, first few chapters. It really kills me how Gibson had this great opening, but mutated into this outragous beast by the end of it. Probably to do with him seeing blade runner and then deciding to change the plot dramatically. A shame really