Nice to see the subject of collapse being discussed here.
I think a sober look at climate, energetic, economic, and political trends from a systemic pov shows a clear inexorable direction. Most of the difficulty for people seems to be the ability to take that sober look and clear assessment of the situation to make a rational analysis.
I hope to see more of this type of content being discussed here and will definitely check out the books!
I read the most recent one ("Agency") the week it came out. In which AI *****'* ****** * Skynet **** ****** ** **** because *** ** *** ***** *** **** **** (spoilers).
I too had noticed the Gibson universe was front running "the jackpot" apparently coming down IRL with eerie echoes shortly after The Peripheral came out-
I wonder if Gibson explains why the elites would care enough to build a time machine to fix (at least ‘communicate with’) the past seeming it all works out for them more or less (from your description alone). There is this constant assumption by elites (‘the clerisy’) that they can steer society for the best. Most of us don’t get to comfort ourselves with that illusion.
It's not really a TIME machine. More like a machine for communication between time lines.
You can't go back in your OWN time line. If you go there, you've changed it & wherever you went is then not the timeline leading to your "now" any more.
Good meditation on Gibson's idea. I've been thinking of it frequently as a version of the polycrisis gone much worse.
Incidentally, Gibson got the idea from Robert A. Heinlein, "The Year of the Jackpot," way back in 1952.
Nice to see the subject of collapse being discussed here.
I think a sober look at climate, energetic, economic, and political trends from a systemic pov shows a clear inexorable direction. Most of the difficulty for people seems to be the ability to take that sober look and clear assessment of the situation to make a rational analysis.
I hope to see more of this type of content being discussed here and will definitely check out the books!
I read the most recent one ("Agency") the week it came out. In which AI *****'* ****** * Skynet **** ****** ** **** because *** ** *** ***** *** **** **** (spoilers).
I too had noticed the Gibson universe was front running "the jackpot" apparently coming down IRL with eerie echoes shortly after The Peripheral came out-
Lifelong Gibson superfan, just finally read the Jackpot books. Lots of thoughts, working on a post. This was good inspiration.
http://www.weylmann.com/The_Year_of_the_Jackpot.pdf deserves a re-read in this context
I wonder if Gibson explains why the elites would care enough to build a time machine to fix (at least ‘communicate with’) the past seeming it all works out for them more or less (from your description alone). There is this constant assumption by elites (‘the clerisy’) that they can steer society for the best. Most of us don’t get to comfort ourselves with that illusion.
They don’t. The ability to interact with the past is mainly used for entertainment, as a simulation game but with real people.
That tracks. Thank you.
It's not really a TIME machine. More like a machine for communication between time lines.
You can't go back in your OWN time line. If you go there, you've changed it & wherever you went is then not the timeline leading to your "now" any more.
Great essay, I hope you share your thoughts in Agency as well in time.
Oiii ... depressingly plausible.