"'Numb,' he said. He'd been numb a long time, years. All his nights down Ninsei, his nights with Linda, numb in bed and numb at the cold sweating center of every drug deal. But now he'd found this warm thing, this chip of murder" (Gibson 152).
This is a possible danger of too much advanced technology. The chance of becoming completely numb, devoid of the emotions that make us human. When our machines take over too many facets of our lives or when, as Gibson imagines in his novel Neuromancer, we merge with our machines we may lose the qualities that make us uniquely human. We risk becoming entirely dependent on our technology to the point that our lives lose meaning without it.
The technological future as Gibson imagined it has not yet come to fruition. Cyberspace is not a physical place that we can actually enter. We don't all insert different chips in our heads depending what task we are completing. However, the technology we do have may have a similar effect on us as the technology in Neuromancer has on the novel's characters.
With things like facebook, twitter, endless news outlets, laptops, smartphones and new gadgets being introduced on the market all the time, it's easy for us to get lost in our technological world. Ever notice how time seems to pass quicker when you're surfing the net? It seems to me that as our technology advances we are becoming more engaged with our machines than with each other. The human component of our lives becomes secondary and in Gibson's world it could be almost completely lost. It's as if the world just turns cold.
At one point in the novel, Case actually begins to feel something. It is stated that, "he sat on the bed for a long time, savoring the new thing, the treasure. Rage" (145). This moment of emotion is long overdue. It is not only creates a sense of wonder for Case at this "warm thing" but as a reader I felt a sense of relief. Case finally feels something proving that he must have some human capacity left in him. Without that emotion, Case is little more than a machine disguised as a human. He seems empty.
Gibson meant his book to be a warning of the bleak future that technology has the potential to create. He should be taken seriously. As vital and convenient as our technology is in our everyday lives, we should take a step back every once in awhile. Detach ourselves from our machines and reclaim our humanity.
I agree that there is a danger associated with the advancement of technology. If Gibson's prediction of "microsofts" eventually becomes a reality, we will loose certain qualities that make us unique as humans. Also, I think we have become too reliant on and immersed in technology. It would be frightening to see the average number of hours people (especially teenagers and young adults) spend daily on Facebook, playing video games, texting, or surfing the Internet. As Gibson warned us, the prevalence of technology in our lives has been and will continue to increase.
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you brought up Case's return to feeling. He does change in the course of the book, and his feeling that he and Molly and Armitage have been used propels him. I like how he gets disgusted (as one well might) by Peter Riviera.
ReplyDeleteThough Case is an unlikely hero, he's more human than many of the secondary characters. His feelings about Linda are perhaps the most admirable thing about the man and also the most human.
Gibson did want to warn us about becoming "numb" in the precincts of cyberspace. He's much like Birkerts in that regard. Maddie's correct here; if we get some sort of brain-software connection, will we still be humans or cyborgs?