America and the Cyberpunk Counterculture

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History has evolved through a series of counter-cultures, contraries to a community's subjective, shared system of beliefs that provide meaning to objective reality. Timothy Leary has defined the evolution of countercultures that range from the beatniks of the early fifties, the hippies of the sixties and seventies to the present day cyberpunks and new breeds (Vitanza 365). These groups have been met with resistance over the years as a result of their expressive attitudes and tendencies to break the molds of conformity which their culture had previously set. I will focus of the latest stage of evolution, the cyberpunk. The cyberpunk counterculture has encountered mixed reviews over the years. Many people feel as though it is a movement that is made up of no good troublemakers who pose a threat to the computer world. On the contrary, I feel that cyberpunks are taking a lot of heat from a small number of hell raisers who roam the data-highways looking to cause havoc. For the most part, cyberpunks have contributed to society in beneficial ways. As computer technology is rapidly increasing everyday, the issue is becoming relevant to society as a whole. We are all affected by its presence and therefore should become more aware of what lurks in the cyberworld.

In the late twentieth century, two words cybernetics and punk were merged together to form a term that would label the art of combining the science of communication, with an anti-social or rebellious attitude. An ideology was established that included an infatuation with high-tech tools and disdain for conventional usage of them (Elmer-Dewitt 59). Many descriptive phrases have been connected with the cyberpunk culture. An activist in the movement calle...

... middle of paper ...

...is becoming all too familiar with. So let us join in and ride the trails of cyberspace, our new Final Frontier.

Works Cited

Elmer Dewitt, Philip. "Cyberpunk." Time. 8 Feb. 1993: 58-65.

Haussman, Sook Elsie. Cyberpunks: Friend or Foe. 1996. 28 Jan. 1997. gt984a@prism.gatech.edu.

Leary, Timothy. "Evolution of Countercultures." CyberReader. Ed. Victor Vitanza. Mass: Allyn & Bacon, 1996. 364.

Neil, Easterbrook. "The Arc of Destruction: Reversal and Erasure in Cyberpunk." Science-Fiction-Studies. Nov. 1992:378-394.

Pientras, Jamie. "The Brainy Bunch." U.Magazine Fall 1998: 16. 6 Nov.1998 www.umagazine.com.

Rayl, A.J.S. "Secrets of a Cuberculture." Omni. Nov. 1992:58-67.

Sterling, Bruce. "Cyberpunk in the Nineties." Writings About Cyberpunk. (1995): 6-9. 5 Nov. 1998 http://www.streettech.com/bcp/BCPgraf/Manifestos/CPInThe90's.html.

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