Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson was published in 1992 a full
seven years before Al Gore claimed he invented the internet. In that
context it’s very fitting that Stephenson would claim he invented the word
Avatar so many years in advance of the necessary technology. Although
Stephenson recanted, after he discovered that he had not actually invented the
word Avatar. Nevertheless, he filled 500
pages with other important ideas about Avatars and the Internet. Almost
20 years later, Ernest Cline's great novel, "Ready Player
One", would capitalize on both concepts in mega fashion resulting in a
blockbuster movie with Stephen Spielberg producing along with a sequel,
“Ready Player Two”. Some quick research reveals Snow Crash may finally
find its way onto the screen as a mini-series now some 30 years. I can’t wait, but I also digress…
Thus, make no mistake, Snow Crash is an important
book. The most important Chapter is 56 if you want to cut straight
to the chase. In it, Stephenson brings the entire "Metaverse"
of his creation into the concept upon which the book has been based.
Specifically, all human reality, at least the part we make sense of in our
consciousness, is only possible through the language imbedded in our main
processor, our brain. Consciousness does not exist without language. Let’s remember this is called science fiction,
and I note, some of the critical remarks made about Snow Crash, specifically
refute this particular claim. This is an
unfair critique for multiple reasons, not the lease of which, perhaps, is to
note that all current advances in evolutionary biology, and all current
evolutionary biologist, owe their science to perhaps one book, “The Origin of
Consciousness in the Breakdown of the Bicameral Mind”, by Julian Jaynes. This book, although not a novel, or science
fiction, has been heavily divorced of any real tie to science or biology,
nevertheless, it remains at the forefront of the science of “What if?”. And the questions still remain. I mention Jaynes because Stephenson indicated
that his book was an influencing factor upon which he based some of his fictional
speculation. Now as off as Stephenson
could be with regard to the notion that language programs our consciousness, he
is not wrong that language programs our computers. Not human language however, machine
language. The language of “one’s” and “zero’s”
that are used to program a computer.
Unfortunately, Stephenson isn’t perfect there either, but the analogy is
strong enough. What if?
What this means, then, is that just as a hacker can hack a
computer with the right injection of malicious code, someone intent on brain
washing a human, need only hack them in the right language and inject their
malicious message straight into your brain.
But just like a hacker doesn’t attack the source code, or the multitude
of potential higher-level languages we use to program computers, the adroit
hacker attacks the operating system, the code embedded on the hardware in the
brain of the computer, it’s processor.
Stephenson correctly reaches into the basic of Neuro-Linguistic
Programing, or NLP which is to many charlatans, the source of their magic
power. NLP can be studied in the book “The
Structure of Magic” from 1975, by Richard Bandler.
What follows is a powerful saga. Ninja-come-hacker pizza delivery boy meets
skate-boarding-message-delivery girl (safe-space trigger warning, she’s 15
years old) in a coming-of-age story across the baren landscape of a suburban
environment undergoing economic collapse where the only respite from hard work
and religious assimilation is the escape into the Virtual Reality of the
Metaverse. It wasn’t a quest for the
“keys” to solve the puzzle as in “Ready Player One” but a quest to find the
source of the drug “Snow Crash”. A drug
so powerful that it reprograms your brain simply by looking at the code. Their epic journey together takes the reader
deep into a re-envisioned Mafia, where the God Father is a grandfatherly figure
whose only real concern is making sure his pizzas are delivered on time, and
deep into the heart of Sumerian culture where human language, as we know it,
was both invented and destroyed.
Invented, when everyone spoke the same language, and destroyed at the
Tower of Babble, when many languages emerged and no one could communicate. Seems like they didn’t have a very good open
standard or set of APIs back then, or in their future, either.
Stephenson explored more than his virtual Metaverse. He explored artificial intelligence with
“Daemons’ being useful servants in the Metaverse, in particular his speaking librarian
who could answer any question but couldn’t understand certain context is right
out of Google. He explored robotics both with the prosthetics that helped the
disabled navigate reality while in virtual reality, and of course his lovable
“Rat-Things” which were simply reimagined dogs akin to the robotic animals of
Philip K. Dick’s “Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep” from the sixties,
except Rat-Things are a lot faster.
In the end the book is too long and it was difficult for me
to read. In fact, the first time I tried
to read it was in 2015 and bailed after the first 90 pages. I reengaged during a recent drive to Florida,
and then one to Ohio, did I mention it’s a long book, where I turned up the
narration to 1.5X. At that speed it was
fast moving and engaging. But still took
forever. It is an important book packed
and repacked with concepts we will always return too. Start with 5-Stars for “Snow Crash” and
this epic and important entry into the world of VR novels. Deduct 1-star for strained an obtuse language
struggling to be entertaining…and his Asian Rap lyrics. Horrible and most likely a bit politically
incorrect these days. Deduct 1-star for
the audacity to claim ownership of ideas that came before him. Add 1-star back for his undeniable love of
dogs. He calls them doggies. And when doggies live in Virtual Reality,
they run on endless beaches, eat steak, and catch frisbees. I want a rat-thing of my own.
No comments:
Post a Comment