The idea of extra and/or enhanced body parts is not really new to science fiction. The stylized additions seen in sci-fi also have a real-life and considerably more boring counterpart with prosthetic limbs, artificial joints, and even transplants to some extent, so even when this book was published in 1984 the reader wasn't really in unfamiliar waters.
So it's interesting to see where Gibson has taken this idea in Necromancer. Case being able to neurally access the internet, Molly having implanted glasses that allow Case to virtually come along with her, or Armitage having an entire personality that is built by a virtual intelligence. While there is something intriguing and almost desirable about the benefits of enhancements, I can't say that I would hope that humanity chases that path quite so aggressively as in the novel. Obviously, prosthetic limbs or Lasik surgery are already a commodity-- you can't just get them for free, after all-- but making it a fashion statement is what feels off. This is way beyond tattoos or piercings; it's like pursuing the flashiest car but on your body.
Of course, looking at it that way is just further evidence that the idea isn't so far-fetched. It's not like our society isn't obsessed with the latest thing or the coolest technology-- the entire advertising industry is based around getting people to desire the latest and greatest. So to some extent, I suppose it's only a matter of time before this more-invasive tinkering becomes the norm. Don't we already have gastric bypass surgery, liposuction, and pacemakers?
It's the "invasive" that bothers me, and that I think will cause the greatest hesitancy among the general public. It's one thing to have a phone that I can pull out at any moment to be entertained/informed; it's another thing altogether to have it programmed into my brain. Right now, we seem to be collectively comfortable with technology that is outside ourselves, but to bring it under the skin is kind of creepy. But, technology changes; perhaps this will sound like a silly, old-fashioned point of view in a few years' time. (Perhaps it already does!)
The way Gibson presents body modification in "Neuromancer" presented a struggle for me as well. Some of the modification technology turns out to be life saving, like curing Case's drug addiction, but others, like Molly's nails or eyes, are purely extra. I couldn't, and still can't, decide whether or not I am okay with these extra modifications. Plastic surgery has been normailzed and accepted in today's world, so maybe it's only a matter of time modifications like Molly's are acceptable and even, dare I say, "normal."
ReplyDeleteAlso, just a side note, did anyone notice that when Molly broke her leg they just put a cast on it? (82) I would have thought with all this crazy technology a broken bone would be a quick fix. Compared to everything else in this book a leg cast seems like it should be ancient history to me.
I don't think that we have to worry about technology ever becoming truly invasive into our lives. Even in Gibson's technologically saturated world, old standbys of human predicament still remain. We have the religious fundamentalism of the Zionites (pg 110) and the confusing (and possibly very tragic) relationship between Case and Linda (pg 117).
ReplyDelete@Megan: I wondered that about Molly's leg, too... although it seemed like she was making kind of a rapid recovery. Maybe in the next couple of chapters she'll be done with the cast a lot quicker than we would call normal. After all, Case still had to have an 8-day recovery from his surgery, so it's not instantaneous.
ReplyDelete@Chinchin: On the other hand, it's kind of invasive already; how often are you in conversation with someone and they get a text, so they interrupt the conversation to answer it? I think that's pretty invasive (not to mention really rude... who needs manners, right?). It's a bit of a leap to go from "hang on, I have a text" to someone just zoning out because the technology is implanted in their brain, of course, but I can't say that technology has proven to be non-invasive so far.
I think that we will see some of the modifications present in Gibson's novel in our lifetimes. In particular, I think we will see the production of individual organs (recall how Case received a new pancreas) as well as some of the cosmetic enhancements that are in the novel. Although some of Gibson's modifications are somewhat silly (there's no need to have lenses implanted in the body if we have Lasik surgery), others are pretty realistic.
ReplyDeleteI think that in a few decades, what seems taboo or impossible now will be commonplace (you touched on this in your article). In 1984, Gibson was able to predict plastic surgery, eye enhancement surgery, and organ "growing." These are either common practices or in-the-works today, and I can't help but think that we'll continue to see more advancements in this field.
It would definitely be cool to have organ transplants that don't require immunosuppresant drugs. Something to shoot for in our lifetimes, to be sure.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I kind of wonder if you calling some of the modifications "silly" is going to be as old-fashioned an idea as me calling them creepy if they actually come to pass. I'm sure there was a time when people thought contacts were unnecessary because we have glasses... and Lasik was unnecessary because of glasses & contacts, etc.
I agree that people should be concerned about the invasive nature of these modifications, but I really think if they actually existed today people would jump at the chance to get them. Our culture already has us so wrapped up in technology that it seems like a next logical step could be to implant it directly into your brain. I know a lot of people that would love to have their phone somehow connected to their brain. I know even more people that would get some of the body modifications in a heartbeat, too. People love modifying how they look, and there is already such a huge culture surrounding body modification that I can only assume that if something more serious came along, like the Panther Moderns' extreme modifications (Angelo's creepy sharkface), they would embrace it.
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