William Gibson

William Gibson: Technology is the driver and ideology is an attempt to steer

by Socrates
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William Gibson, the iconic sci fi author who coined the term cyberspace - i.e. the “mass consensual hallucination” of computer networks, talks about a wide variety of topics such as the occupy movement, technology, the Internet, the growth of cities, the relationship between drugs and creativity, and having a time-machine. While Gibson does not talk directly about his newest collection of essays titled Distrust That Particular Flavor, during the 12 minutes of the interview he still focuses almost entirely on the present rather than the future. My two favorite quotes from William Gibson’s interview: “Technology invariably trumps ideology. And I am inclined to think that history increasingly suggests that human social change is more directly driven by technology than by ideology. I think we develop ideologies in an attempt to cope with technologies and that in fact we’ve been doing that all [...]

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Will the “Geek Rapture” Nonsense Ever Stop?

by Singularity Utopia
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Recently I stumbled across an article about William Gibson’s Geek Rapture and Other Technological Musings. I’m not sure why alleged technological aficionados denigrate the Singularity but I often read about their hostility. It’s an odd situation where their notion of the Singularity is so provocative, so contentious.Some critics insist the Singularity constitutes a new religion for geeks, which is ironic because for me the Singularity is the opposite of religion. Instead of having faith in supernatural powers to create miracles, the Singularity is about having confidence in the powers of humans. Confidence in our human ability entails our skills in science and technology making our world a better place without Godly intervention. The Singularity makes Gods and religions redundant; it is the enlightenment of logic, intellectualism, the end of superstitions, prayers, and mystical incantations. If the Singularity must be categorised philosophically then it should [...]

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