schubert@jumbo.UUCP (09/25/87)
With all this talk about the earliest cyberpunk repesentation, does
the Lensman quailify? The `lens' on his hand was intelligent in nature
(at least theat's the way I remember it...). I thought the lens was a
type of amplifier but having other capacities as well.
Info please?
Ann Schubert
schubert@src.dec.combrothers@who.rutgers.edu.UUCP (09/27/87)
You guys don't seem to understand that cyberPUNK is more than the
technology of jacking into a computer. The stories I would classify as
cyberpunk all take a very rough-edged view of the moderately near
future, basically taking a strong stand against "niceness" in all its
reprehensible forms. Gibson, for example, and his imitators, are
almost Chandleresque in the brutal description of the worlds they
envision.
Kim Kinnison, however, is the very avatar of niceness (well, nice to
everyone except zwilniks, there is a limit...). Similarly, many of
the characters in True Names are much too nice to be real people
(remember, "nice" <> "compassionate"; being nice means having the
*appearance* of being compassionate).
The cyberprep movement (such as it is, ha ha) takes as its motto:
"Whatever you do, remember, be polite".
On the other hand, cyberpunk seems to have nothing to do with
the punk movement itself, so....
--
Laurence R. Brothers
brothers@paul.rutgers.edu
{anywhere}!rutgers!paul.rutgers.edu!brothers
"One life -- one arrow."bart@speedy.UUCP (09/27/87)
In article <946@jumbo.dec.com> schubert@jumbo.dec.com (Ann Schubert) writes: > > With all this talk about the earliest cyberpunk repesentation, does >the Lensman quailify? Argh! The Doc Smith stuff is fun, but it's pure Lone Ranger. It's so squeaky clean and upright that Ronald Ray-gun could be cast as a Lensman. It's about as punk as the Bill Cosby show. --bart miller uw-madison cs dept bart@asiago.wisc.edu ...!uwvax!bart