In a World Where Reggae e Saves the Day...

I've never titled anything on this blog so I'll start now

There's a LOT to be said about the intrigue of a cyberpunk setting that houses a cesspool of cultural amalgamation, especially with token icon occupations of said culture peppered throughout it.  Case is a computer "cowboy," Molly's an assassin, ninjas and mobs with ridiculous names are common place in a sanctioned black market city, and that's the tip of the iceberg in the material world.  I like the setting and some notions I'd formulated about it so much that for the first time in my life I won't focus on the AI's in an AI centric story. 

I said it briefly in class, but I want to clarify and expand my claims here as well.  A lot of times in futuristic sci-fi, it's pretty fair to assume that a lot of things and dynamics become antiquated, like how a lot of things are in Star Trek, so it's odd to have things like pay phones in the future.  Neuromancer goes, quite purposely so, above and beyond that in the most inane of ways.  There are major geographic shifts compared to the past (a.k.a our contemporary world or our world when the book was written), which isn't too insane, and there are still major, international wars, which is sadly not a surprise considering how things are going nowadays (a.k.a terrorist radicals, poorly handled asylum for immigrants resulting in mass death, general disagreement between powers, Trump, etc.).  These are the kinds of things that you'd sort of expect, along with the general advancement of technology, although perhaps not on the level of a matrix, construct personality AI's, so on and so forth.  It's odd, and for some like me somewhat invigorating, to see odd little anachronisms or eccentric things by today's standards as common place, like the absence of horses or the fact that throwing stars are a normalized weapon.

Then there are the people who exist in a world where all of these things and occupations are common place.  Clearly they wouldn't step back and realize how insane everything is.  A century or two in the future (being hopefully optimistic), people are going to look back and be astounded by the fact we didn't allow people to get married because they didn't meet a gender quota, where as of right now it's sadly a common thing that still exists.  Being a dude that occasionally hops into the digital realm to hijack and smuggle info or manage transactions is a revered and unquestioned occupation, same as a samurai with razors in their fingers or a construct with the brain scan imprint of a dead dude, yet for some reason we draw the line at semi-omniscient, 100% artificial made program that's sentient.  You can have an out of body experience in the matrix or when you literally put yourself in someone else's shoes/sensory input, but god-program level AI is too much.  The duality in Neuromancer, rather the consistent duality in the genre of cyberpunk in general, constantly baffles me, much to my enjoyment.  

Furthering the concept of the space elevator, I'd imagine something like an artificial ring in geosynchronous orbit around the Earth, with multiple elevators attached to it, all of which connect from major facilities/ countries/ports.  Of course this would mean that all the locations chosen would need to be directly under the ring and perpendicular relative to the point on the Earth's surface from where it's foundation is.  This would essentially necessitate careful planning and positioning of the ring in order for the most optimal orientation that hits as many major locations as possible to be achieved.  The ring itself wouldn't have to be ridiculously thick, as it would have a gigantic circumference.

I would pretty much consider the ring and elevators to be designated as one giant space station, almost entirely dedicated to the launch and reception )from either Earth or space) of equipment or vessels such as telescopes or ships respectively.  Basically, it would serve as an aid to research and space exploration.  I can easily foresee more nefarious uses and occupations/ monopolization occurring with respect to it, with major corporations, excessively rich individuals, [insert some other shady trope], etc., abusing it's detached location for schemes that you've probably seen in some form of media or another.   

While I don't actually think the earth has enough resources for such a thing to be plausible, and that this concept is waaaay too far off, not to mention zany, I think it's a fun addition to the space elevator, which is one concept I genuinely believe we will one day implement.  I'm not even sure how such a thing could be brought about discussing being built, let alone what people you'd need to propose this to.  Who knows though, after all, off-world mining could become a thing like in other staples of sci-fi such as 'Alien', and we could very well accumulate what we need by the time further implementation of things like the the space elevator come around.  Maybe far off in the future we'll have a World council that'll be in charge of approving or disapproving of such a thing (I mean probably not, considering how much so many people here irrationally hate each other).  Regardless, this idea would remain centuries off from now.  Honestly I just think it would be/look cool, and apparently I like Halo so much that even when I think of sci-fi things that have nothing to do with it, it still influences EVERYTHING I think about.  

The fact that well over half of the things I've discussed on this blog have to do with Artificial Intelligence and the various looks on AI morality should be enough to indicate that Bladerunner and this general unit are right up in my alley.  It's fair to say my enthusiasm is biased. 

Anyway, getting down to it, the central concept surrounding the attributes and applications of replicants, while left with room for speculation and further intrigue, was pulled off quite well.  The 'rouge AI' plot line, as a matter of self preservation or the protection of someone else, has always been a favorite of mine, and it's no different this time around for me.  As reprehensible as the replicants approaches were to getting what they wanted accomplished, it was a fine means of getting down to the nuance of their collective inter workings- why they seek what they do.   The fact the drive behind their motive to seek out a way to extend their lifespans-the fear of mortality-is so utterly human, and that's what I like to see.  You almost forget how many people were killed, regardless of their affiliations or relations of the main bunch of replicants.  

We get to the end of the narrative, and if you can look past the creepy way the romance between Rick and Rachael kicked off, him going the extra mile to take her somewhere safe so that her last bit of time is lived out in freedom is touching.  The phrase "It's too bad she won't live, but then again who does?" is absolutely one of my favorite quotes from not just this movie, but most of the movies I've ever seen.  And for the story to top off with the insinuation that Rick was a replicant himself was a neat final twist.  

There's a lot more for me to go on about, such as the various attributes and specifications amongst replicants (i.e. Nexus 6's v. Rick or Rachael), or the unique setting and differences that Bladerunner's dystopian world has compared to others, but since I feel as though we'll get to this stuff in class, I'll abstain for now.