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ISSN 2278-9529

Galaxy: International Multidisciplinary Research Journal

www.galaxyimrj.com

www.the-criterion.com The Criterion: An International Journal in English

ISSN: 0976-8165

Beyond Bionic Beings: Cybernetics as an Extension of the Human: A Study of

William Gibsons Neuromancer
Aruna Bhat
Research Scholar
Department of English
University of Jammu
Science fiction as a literary genre has come a long way from Verne's search for the center of the
earth and Wells' travel through time in his time machine. Contemporary science fiction is more
willing to challenge the limits of possibilities and more eager to push the boundaries of human
imagination. More importantly, science fiction often acts as a precursor to scientific thought, and
forebodes new research; projects such as Google Glass can be traced to similar ideas presented
much earlier in print fiction and other media. Science fiction thus consists not only of flights of
idle fancy, but is in fact an indication of human endeavour to investigate new ways to enhance
and improve the quality and duration of human life. An example of this tendency towards an
improvement over nature's perfection can be seen in the concept of the digital superhuman,
which is an extension of the human self into the digital world. Power dynamics have shifted, so
that today the information superhighway has become the new dimension in which the battles of
power and control are played out, and whoever controls this new realm of knowledge controls
access to the means of production and consumption.
An exemplary depiction of this trend is portrayed by William Gibson in his
Neuromancer, his multi-award winning novel, which set the tone for cyber dystopias and the
elevation of the struggle between good and evil to the digital world. Gibson paves the way for
the discussion of the cyber-cowboy, the new superhuman who acquires tremendous power
because of his integration into cyberspace, to the extent that the boundary between man and
machine is erased, and what emerges is a harmonious blend of man and technology, an advanced
existence that transcends the limitations of the human condition, a being that is the outcome of
natural evolution coupled with cybernetic progression. This paper will analyze Gibson's concept
of the cyberhuman, the fusion of the hacker with cyberspace, and the ethical and moral
considerations that accompany such a transformation. It will also evaluate Gibson's predictions
for the shape that this progression might take, and will investigate the possibility of his dystopia
coming to life, and whether this superhuman is indeed human in its conception, rather than the
prisoner of the very technology he assumes to be the master of.
A popular catechism asserts that there is nothing constant in this world except change. At the
rapid pace at which modern life is moving, this might well be considered the Agnus Dei of the
twenty-first century. The connotation of being human has been diversified, and the term now
extends beyond its earlier implications. Supplicating this trend towards expansion of the human
into variations which are often coalesced with contradictions, science fiction as a literary genre
gives impetus to this thought and gives a platform to ideas and new perspectives to take shape
unrestricted by considerations of what is and is not possible at the present time. Innovation and
adoption of technology now occurs at a faster pace than ever before, and science fiction

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empowers minds to take flight beyond the boundaries of the physical world. Cyberpunk, a subgenre of proper science fiction takes up a direct question in its scope, by connecting man and
machine, and by exploring the intricate relationship that exists between the two. Technology has
become the new subvention by which a transcendence is being attempted into the superhuman,
and the evolution of this interdependence is becoming increasingly complex as contemporary
existence is becoming more and more synonymous with reliance on digital devices. With the
advent of social networking and the proliferation of devices that keep man connected to the
internet ad infinitum, modern man leads a virtual existence that is almost independent of the real
world, and often the two personas subsist in parallel to each other. In the case of many people,
the allure of this virtual existence becomes irresistible, to the point where it takes precedence on
their real existence, as the virtual world gives them the opportunity to become anything and
everything they desire without repercussions and without consequence. William Gibson, in his
ground breaking novel Neuromancer discussed the concept of a virtual world, which he termed
as Cyberspace, which allows people to lead virtual, parallel lives without the encumbrance of
physical, social, moral or other codes of conduct which direct normal human existence. The
enticement of leading such a life is so invigorating that many characters in the novel choose to
abdicate their real lives for esoteric subsistence. Henry Dorsett Case is one such character, who
prefers his virtual self to real existence, and he likes to play the role of the console cowboy, the
rebel on the information highway who makes a living as a hacker without moral scruples, and
gradually become so involved in the virtual realm that it became an addiction for him, and a
severance from Cyberspace became equivalent to death. Deborah Lupton describes the hackers
body as physically repugnant, and points out this frailty in the real world as one of the reasons
for their penchant for assuming virtual existences. She says that hackers and computer nerds,
the very individuals who are frequently represented as spearheading the revolution into
cyberspace and the information superhighway,' may be admired for their intellectual capacities
(that is, for their brain or software), but the common representation of such individuals
usually suggests that their bodies or wetware leave much to be desired (425). According to
her, this stark variance is inextricably linked to their obsession with computers (426). Lupton
here points out that hackers clearly want to stay in their element, where they can fully utilize
their assets to their best advantage, which is their intellectual prowess, and it is thus one of the
significant reasons of their preference of the virtual over the real. Margaret Morse says in this
regard that for surrogate travellers of cyberspace [] an organic body just gets in the way
(86). The aim here is thus to eliminate physiological existence altogether, and to transform
oneself into a purely digital persona. Gibsons Neuromancer addresses this disillusionment with
the physical self in the character of McCoy Pauley, which exists only as a ROM image, with no
physical counterpart in the real world.
The novel also discusses the concordance of man and machine, in such a way that the
machine becomes an extension of mans own self, an appendage that gives him eugenic
convenience and transforms him into a post evolutionary being with powers that might even
seem incoherently decisive, and their extent seemingly inconceivable. The synthesis of man and
machine brings with itself new and unprecedented power, but along with this power comes a
plethora of questions that need to be answered, questions that are ethical, moral, social, political
and humanistic, and Gibson in his works, notably in the Sprawl Trilogy and others as well raises
these issues, but whether he manages to arrive at a substantial and incommutable answer remains

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doubtful. Like the parallel that the Internet has with Gibsons Cyberspace, the bionic extensions
that are a remarkable feature of Cyberpunk fiction have their precedent in contemporary medical
and otherwise available extensions, such as prosthetic arms and limbs, as well as artificial
organs, and body modifications. Body modification and radical self transformation was already a
significant appurtenance of Punk subculture, but in Cyberpunk it becomes elevated to another
level altogether.
The attempt to find answers to these questions must begin with a simple step: a definition
of man, machine and the difference amongst the two, must be contemplated which would be
used as a foundation for further analysis and discussion. However trivial the task may seem, it is
not entirely so. For instance, neither man nor machine is reducible to an explanation within a few
words. In either case, a best effort estimate can be made, and in this case might suffice for the
present study. According to The American Society For Cybernetics, Cybernetics can be
described as the study of systems and processes that interact with themselves and produce
themselves from themselves (quoted in Targowski 68). This has an important connotation, in
that it is the study of systems capable of self replication and regulation. Any system designed to
be functional without human intervention can come under the purport of this study. Bionics, on
the other hand, is a subset of cybernetics that interfaces with human life. It is the closest practical
example of the amalgamation of man and machine. A bionic arm, for instance, would be a
mechanical apparatus that could be controlled with a generic instruction set over a unified
command interface, and without regard to low level system functionality, which would be taken
care of by the system itself; in other words, it would be moved by thought, much like a real
appendage, without the user paying any attention to, or even being aware of, the mechanics
involved. A bionic extension can thus be described as a cybernetic implant, which may be a
substitute for missing or damaged functionality, an improvement or upgradation of existing
capabilities, or an entirely new ability altogether.
Bionic extensions are not uncommon in science fiction, and can be found in abundance
from Jules Verne to contemporary works in this genre, although the complexity and capabilities
have undergone a drastic transformation to reflect advances in technology, lifestyle and social
and cultural mores. Popular depictions in this context include references to super human strength
and elevation of the senses to extraordinary levels through the use of surgical implants or
replacement of parts of the body itself. Fiction of this kind often revolved around the creation of
superhuman warriors or soldiers, who could save their fellow man from doom, either
metaphorical or literal. The amalgamation of man and machine often manufactured monsters as
well, who had as a peculiar distinction that in their case the fact that the human element in them
was overshadowed by artificial affliction, and without emotions, empathy and affect that are
generally considered to be the hallmark of the human condition, the monsters were depicted as
cold, lifeless and evil.
With the onset of Cyberpunk and Cyberdelic countercultures, this perspective changed to
reflect the change in modes of conflicts in the real world. Cyberpunk fiction regards information
as the most significant commodity, and one that is the most precious in a world perennially and
perpetually connected to a central information database, on account of the fact that whoever
controls information has enough power to manipulate almost every aspect of modern civilization,
and thus in Cyberpunk fiction, it is information that is the treasure sought by the bad, and

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protected by the good. Cyberpunk protagonists are cyber cowboys, hackers who, with their
penetrating eyes forever on consoles and terminals, fight turf wars on the information
superhighway in hexadecimal bit code, their weapons being buffer overflows and unpatched
exploits in code that are overlooked not because of carelessness, but because computer code will
forever be as imperfect as the programmer who wrote it. William Gibsons Neuromancer deals
with exactly such a predicament. In typical Cyberpunk fashion in a near-future dystopia, the plot
revolves around the attempts of a super artificial intelligence, Wintermute, to merge with its
counterpart system Neuromancer, to create a super AI, which would be invincible and
impossible to stop. Henry Dorsett Case is a computer hacker hired by Wintermute for this
purpose, and his programming skills along with his talents as an underworld operator are utilized
to achieve this end. The novel also features a hacker gang who is hired to carry out cyber attacks
on mega corporations; Gibson also uses the motif of attacks on computer systems as a backdrop
for historiographic events in the novel as well, depicting a character named Armitage as a former
military operative who was involved in hacking activities against the Soviet Union.
Gibson uses several concepts in his novel which have real world parallels in much the
same context, one of which involves Cases primary objective in the novel. He has to use a
powerful icebreaker program to hack into Cyberspace to break fictional Turing codes that govern
the creation and operation of AI system. The icebreaker program is clearly analogous to firewall
in contemporary computer technology, and with the increasing focus on network security,
firewalls are becoming increasingly complex and complicated, and hackers today use more and
more sophisticated methods of breaking into computer systems. Everything from ARP spoofing,
packet sniffing and manipulation of routing tables to port scanning and exploitation of
vulnerabilities in these networks find mention in Gibsons Cyberspace, although in different
forms. The focus is thus on the collection, dissemination and manipulation of information, and
thus as is exemplary visible in this novel, any bionic modification and extension involves access
and control of data, and Cyberpunk-netics is thus simply a structural paradigm that integrates
data models with access interfaces that directly converge with cognitive clusters. In other words,
bionics in Cyberpunk provides better and more closely integrated methods for accessing data in
its various forms. Data is not a physical entity, and cannot be represented in the real world as an
independent persistence, as it does not exist without reference and context. Any interface with
data or information thus requires a shift from the concrete towards the abstract, and thus begins
the need for virtual representation of the individual self, so that data and cognition can be
elevated to the same plane, reducing the difference between them to that of degree rather than
kind. Gibsons Cyberspace fills exactly this void, and through virtual representation of
individuals, he minimizes the distinction between animate and inanimate, making synonymous
mans existence and his essence, his trace in the physical world.
This shift in mental set about the role of technology in human life in contemporary
science fiction with particular reference to Cyberpunk from physical to cognitive demonstrates
the new wave of sci-fi literature that envisages as its core an agglomeration of man and machine
on an intellectual level, a super cognition that encompasses within itself a consciousness that is
so grand in its scope that it is incomprehensible without a Gestalt overview of the system in its
entirety. The culmination of cognitive extension is Cyberspace itself, which can be considered to
be a consciousness on an enormous scale, a vast and infinite mind that incorporates within itself

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all information known to man, a collective compilation of the human civilization, encompassing
all knowledge, past, present and future, and including the ability to process, manipulate and
operate upon this knowledge, while retaining the capabilities to seek for and discover new
sources of information. Thus, the entire Cyberspace can be compared to an infinite and
boundless mind, to which individual minds are connected when they jack into Cyberspace, thus
becoming a part of a collective whole. Gibsons bionics thus include new and innovative ways in
which his characters can interface with Cyberspace, and Cyberpunk-netics thus extends in its
scope from man to the representation of his virtual self, while including everything in between.
Both Cyberspace and the tools that enable users to connect to it are included in Gibsons
cybernetics. From simple keyboards and terminal consoles to bionic implants, all instrumentation
is equally relevant in this context. In Gibsons world, neurological implants like microchips
implanted in the brain stem provides direct access to Cyberspace, at once extending beyond
boundaries human cognition and consciousness. In Neuromancer brain implants serve many
other functions as well, for instance providing superhuman vision and enhancing other senses,
increasing memory and other aspects of cognitive functioning, and in traditional science fiction
fashion to provide superhuman strength as well.
Virtual reality had long been envisioned as the next step of evolution in man-machine
interaction, but Gibsons novel gave it a definite direction, and painted in clear terms what was
until now a vague and futuristic conception. In other words, Gibson brought the concept of
virtual reality from the future into the present. His book ushered in an era of unprecedented
interest in technologies that would soon find its way into mainstream culture and trickle down
slowly but gradually into products and software that people would use every day. Rosanne Stone
puts the novel in context with the simultaneous revolution in the Silicon Valley as thus:
During this period, when Neuromancer was published, virtual reality acquired a
new name a suddenly prominent social identity as cyberspace.' The critical
importance of Gibsons book was partly due to the way that it triggered a
conceptual revolution among the scattered workers who had been ding virtual
reality research for years: as task groups coalesced and dissolved, as the fortunes
of companies and projects and laboratories rose and fell, the existence of Gibsons
novel and technological and social imaginary that it articulated enabled the
researchers in virtual reality or, under the new dispensation cyberspace to
recognize and organize themselves as community. (443)
Gibson not only predicted the course that the development of technology would take in the
future, he also anticipated the consequence of this development as well. In Neuromancer he talks
about mega-corporations which viewed technology as a weapon, and the information
superhighway as a battlefield, and who hired hackers and coders to help them control
information, which would in turn bring financial gains and the power to secure them from future
loss. Stone reiterates that Gibsons predictions about the consequences of technological evolution
were surprisingly accurate, and that this fact provides ample food for thought about what the
future might have in store for a generation now completely dependent on information, and
continuously connected to the internet, in particular to services provided by companies which are
strikingly similar to Gibsons mega-corporations: The major thrust of the industrial and
institutional commitment to cyberspace research was still focussed on data manipulation just as

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Gibsons zaibastu did in Neuromancer. Gibsons cowboys were outlaws in a military-industrial

fairyland dominated by supercomputers, artificial intelligence devices and databanks. Humans
were present, but their effect was minimal. There is no reason to believe that the cyberspaces
being designed at NASA or in Florida would be any different (444). Gibsons vision of
Cyberspace revolves around the concept of jacking in to the virtual world, or simply put,
transferring active consciousness into an alternate reality, artificially created, one which does not
follow the laws of physical existence. Reality is nothing but a combination of sensory reception
at any given instance, and the consequential perception that follows through the interaction of
sensory data with preset attitudes and previous experience of the individual. Subsequently, it
naturally follows that reality for an individual is not a static entity, but a dynamic one, and that
reality is not crystallized, but fluid and subject to change. Although reality in a given context
follows an estimable prediction model, this model is not fixed by definite rules, but rather
arbitrarily construed mores which are themselves subject to change. The world which is
conceived as real is merely the perceived reality at that particular moment in time, and this
concept of reality changes from one moment to the next. Gibsons concept of Cyberspace derives
from exactly this, and jacking into Cyberspace implies detachment from physical reality and
attachment to an artificially crafted alternative dimension, which is perceived in exactly the same
manner as its predecessor, as sensory data that previously formed the basis for this perception is
received in much the same way, the only difference being that this data is now being artificially
generated. In Neuromancer jacking into Cyberspace is done with the help of electrodes that are
surgically implanted in the brain. The foundation of Gibsons virtual reality thus involves bionic
implants that serve as a bridge between the real and virtual worlds, as a sort of linking interface
between hardware and software. An interesting aspect of cybernetics in Neuromancer is that
bionic extensions are additions rather than replacements, and that they are voluntarily sought
after for the additional functions they provide. Rather than a substitute for lost limbs, for
instance, Gibsons bionics are active rather than passive agents, and are significantly influential
in shaping the Cyberpunk subculture and lifestyle. These extensions become indispensable in
Gibsons world, so much so that without them existence becomes exceptionally difficult. Henry
Case, who after he was caught stealing from his employers, was as punishment rendered
incapable of jacking in to Cyberspace, by means of a neurotoxin. Case, however, becomes so
helpless without respite in the virtual world that he begins to search frantically for any cure that
would take him out of his predicament and return to him the ability to access Cyberspace again.
Without the capability to jack in, Case dejected that he turns to drugs and even thinks about
ending his life. He becomes so addicted to this virtual reality that he prefers it to the real,
physical world. The bionic implants thus become much more important for him than his actual
body parts, in that they had become such a significant part of him that without them he cannot
envisage his life. Cybernetics in Neuromancer thus become more human than human, becoming
important and indeed indispensable for life, and with regard to Cases situation, becoming life
itself, as he cannot live without it. Gibsons bionics thus become so integrated with their human
component that the line between man and machine gets blurred, to the point that any boundary or
demarcation becomes irrelevant. Just as an individual would become distressed at losing a part of
their body, in a similar way bionic implants become a native part of the body, and in Gibsons
world, perhaps even more so, because of their chiefly cognitive nature.
Gibsons cybernetics are not merely physical, like the bionic implants mentioned above.

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He goes a step further, and disintegrates mind and body altogether, thereby creating cognitive
images that can be transferred to new physical entities, human, bionic, real or virtual. In the
novel, the entire consciousness of McCoy Pauley, an expert hacker, was uploaded to virtual
storage devices called ROM modules, so that it can be later sent into virtual existence in
Cyberspace, or utilized in some other manner. Cybernetics here acquires another dimension
altogether, as instead of being extraneous additions to human life, bionic components become
replacement for the entire human physical essence itself. The cognition being the same, Gibson
completes the transformation from real to virtual, from human to digital, and from nerve endings
to transistors, capacitors and circuit boards, and Pauley becomes immortal, a cognition free from
the burden of physical existence and capable of dynamically adapting to any new form provided
to it. At the end of the novel, Pauley is depicted as freed from his virtual restraint in the ROM
module to exist freely as a pure citizen of Cyberspace without a counterpart in the real world.
Rather than a representation of a real person in the physical world, Pauley is now a purely bionic
being, a digital entity that exists on its own without any dependence on or any relation to a real
physical object. Pauley is first of Gibsons new digital denizens of Cyberspace, immortal beings
who have been given a new kind of afterlife, one constructed through technology. Stone opines
in this context that much of the work of cyberspace researchers, reinforced and perhaps created
by the soaring imagery of William Gibsons novels, assumes that the human body is meat
obsolete, as soon as consciousness itself can be uploaded into the network, and that the
discourse of visionary virtual world builders is rife with images of imaginal bodies, freed from
the constraints that flesh imposes. She sums up the idea of a purely virtual existence thus:
Cyberspace developers foresee a time when they will be able to forget about the body (452).
Gibsons cybernetics thus extend much farther beyond mere physical modifications, and include
aspects of cognition that evolve independently of physical essence, and ultimately detach
themselves from physical existence altogether. His concept of extraction and transference of
consciousness in turn presents another interesting line of thought: it is essentially the memory
signatures that incorporates within themselves all aspects of cognitive subjectivity, and
transference of memory can in effect clone or move consciousness from one medium to another.
This is similar to how life is composed of in the physical world as well. As there is DNA, the
smallest unit of genetic information that makes up the unique identity of the individual, and is in
fact a footprint of the physical essence of the individual, in an almost analogous manner memory
signatures contain cognitive footprints, and Gibson in this novel suggests that it might be
possible to retain these memory signatures after physical death, so as to conserve the cognitive
essence of an individual, giving him life after death as a virtual citizen in Cyberspace. Stelarc
says that The fundamental freedom is for individuals to determine their own DNA destiny
(457). Virtual reality provides a platform where it is possible to create personas with tailored
DNA, in accordance with the whims of its creator. However, although the consequential
personality would be virtual rather than real, it would still exist in a reality which it itself would
envision as real. This garners that the same ethics which apply to research in Genetics or cloning
applies to cyberspace research as well. Science fiction writers from Philip K. Dick to Isaac
Asimov to Gibson have talked about ghosts in the machine or flaws or features in software
which give the machine the ability to feel.' As suggested by director Steven Spielberg in his
iconic motion picture AI: Artificial Intelligence, in which a child android is provided with a
strong emotional attachment towards its mother. Due to a misunderstanding the android is

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perceived as a threat to her real son, and so the mother, who never takes a liking to the machine,
abandons it in a dump site. Scared and alone, the android spends the rest of the movie looking for
its mother, and finally gives its life in return for spending an entire day with her. With great
power comes great responsibility, and cyberspace is no exception to this rule.
Stelarc further says that the human body has become obsolete, since it is neither a very
efficient nor a very durable structure. It malfunctions often and fatigues quickly; its performance
is determined by its age. It is susceptible to diseases and is doomed to a certain and early death.
Its survival parameters are very slim (457). Survival is the game of the fittest, goes the popular
saying. Man evolved to use tools, and quickly became the dominant species on the planet.
Technology has provided man with tools to walk into the future, and it is only natural that
Science Fiction, and particularly Cyberpunk fiction emphasizes this fact more than anything else.
Stelarc gives a roadmap of body modifications which amplify its capabilities, including brain
waves (ECG), muscles (EMG), pulse (PLETHYSMOGRAM), and blood flow (DOPPLER
FLOW METER) (459). This thought echoes throughout science fiction, and in a similar vein
finds expression in Gibsons work as well. Gibsons cybernetics not only prolong and perpetuate
life, but make it eternal as well, completely independent and isolated from any affiliation to any
object in the real world, with freedom of form, which is freedom to modify and mutate the
body (Stelarc 459). Much like extraction of consciousness, Neuromancer also has other
instances where bionic additions have direct contact with cognitive systems, such as the Simstim,
which is a way to record and play back memories. Pauleys case is directly related to it, as
Simstim is a small scale version of the same cybernetic technology. In this context it is pertinent
to note that Gibson also mentions cloning in the novel, as in the case of Lady 3Jane, who is the
third clone of the original Lady Jane.
Because Gibsons cybernetics have implications beyond mere physical modifications, and
since these involve changes that are irreversible, a study of his bionics as laid out in
Neuromancer and other works, primarily The Sprawl Trilogy, requisites a consideration about
the moral and ethical questions that are raised by the use of this technology, not to mention legal
issues that would be encountered if such technology finds mass adoption. The most significant
aspect of this line of thought is one that has plagued man since the dawn of civilization, but is
one that is yet to be answered in a satisfactory manner: what is the value of a human life? This
eternal question becomes at once infinitely more complicated when we add to it the additional
fact that in Gibsons virtual world, the very definition of what is and is not human has come
under scrutiny. The first issue that results from this intimate blend of human and bionic
components is that the distinction between man and machine has become blurred. The question
to be answered here is that where should the line be drawn that can segregate the human from the
bionic; from the unanswerable nature of this question arises a plethora of ethical and moral
implications that cannot be resolved themselves until an answer for this issue has been found. In
the novel, Pauleys consciousness is stored in the ROM module, and towards the end of the
novel, at his own request, the ROM module is erased. This raises an important question: what is
the nature of death? Death has no single definition, and the most agreed upon description would
be the cessation of active thought, or the end of consciousness. After the loss of conscious
ability, biological systems may still function, but if an individual is declared as brain dead, what
remains is merely considered to be a vegetative state. In the present context, the ROM module

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containing Pauleys memory is erased; can this be regarded as death? For one, he was already
dead before his consciousness was transferred on to the module, and one cannot be thought to die
twice. Second, his consciousness was copied on to Cyberspace, where Gibson hints that he lives
on as an independent being, which can grow and evolve rather than being imprisoned as he was
in his ROM module. Nevertheless, transference of consciousness posits an interesting dilemma
when it comes to the question, of life and death.
Another legal and ethical question arises regarding clones. In the novel, Lady 3Jane is the
third clone of the original Lady Jane. An important question that suggests itself is that if human
cloning is initiated, should the clones be given equal rights as human beings? Should their life be
given the same sanctity that is given to human life? Most of all, the primary and most significant
issue that stands today as the main obstacle before human cloning is this: should man be allowed
to play God? These are ethical issues with no definite answers, and Gibsons bionics further fuel
the fire that these debates have caused, but present no specific answers.
William Gibsons Neuromancer takes the fusion of man and machine to another level,
and his version of Cyberpunk-netics revolves around information, its value as a precious
commodity, and the extent to which people are willing to go to for its control. At the same time,
Gibson highlights some key issues that need to be tackled before these technologies can even be
considered for mass adoption. Innovation is not impossible, but the consequences have to be
taken into account as well, before embedding any new technology so deeply into our lives that
we begin to depend upon it for our basic needs. The time has already arrived when technology
has so deeply penetrated our lives that no modern nation can survive without it, and already
Gibsons dystopia is coming to life. The future is not here yet, however, and mistakes from the
past if rectified can yield a better tomorrow; Gibson ends the novel on a hopeful note, that man
and machine exist in a balanced harmony, but whether this prediction comes true remains to be
seen.
Works Cited:
Gibson, William. Neuromancer. New York: Penguin, 2000. Print.
Gibson, William, and Andrew Brown. Working with Qualitative Data. SAGE, 2009. Print.
Henthorne, Tom. William Gibson: A Literary Companion. New York: McFarland, 2011. Print.
Lupton, Deborah. The Embodied Computer/User. The Cybercultures Reader. Eds. David Bell,
and Barbara M. Kennedy. New York: Psychology Press, 2000. Print.
Morse, Margaret. What do cyborgs eat?: Oral Logic in an Information Society. Discourse 16.3
(1994): 86-123. Print.
Stelarc. From Psycho-Body to Cyber-Systems: Images As Post-Human Entities. The
Cybercultures Reader. Eds. David Bell, and Barbara M. Kennedy. New York: Psychology Press,
2000. Print.
Stone, Allucquere Rosanne. Will The Real Body Please Stand Up?: Boundary Stories About
Virtual Cultures. The Cybercultures Reader. Eds. David Bell, and Barbara M. Kennedy. New
York: Psychology Press, 2000. Print.
Targowski, Andrew. Cognitive Informatics and Wisdom Development: Interdisciplinary
Approaches. New York: IGI, 2010. Print.

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