Wintermute And Neuromancer: A Scene Analysis

Neuromancer by William Gibson is a novel about a team who goes on a mission to accomplish a goal set out by Wintermute; an artificial intelligence (AI) built by the Tessier-Ashpool company. It does not have a personality, therefore it must imitate the form, speech patterns and behaviors of other characters in the novel to communicate information. Wintermute’s goal throughout the novel is to penetrate into Neuromancer’s terminal and merge with the AI to become one powerful system. In order to achieve its goal, he put together Armitage’s team. Armitage, also known as Colonel Willis Corto, is a personality created by Wintermute to take care of its dealings.

In the article, “You Are Already Living Inside a Computer” Ian Bogost informs his audience of how technology is advancing at a very rapid rate and is affecting our day to day lives. Bogost is fearful because he suspects people are becoming so addicted to technology that they want to form into it. He quotes “newer dreams of what’s to come predict that humans and machines might meld, either through biohacking or simulated consciousness.” (Bogost 5). When new technology comes out people become excited and want the newest version right away.

Carr is effective in his argument by sharing his fears and personal experiences to have an effect on the audience utilizing pathos and ethos. Not only does he include his own experience, but he also includes other people’s point of views. He goes on to support his claim of how technology

Moor: “Should We Let Computers Get Under Our Skins?” In the argumentative essay, “Should We Let Computers Get Under Our Skins?”, Moor argues that the era of cyborgs-part human and part computer-is coming whether we like it or not, but we should accept a policy of “responsible freedom” along with it. He argues against the thoughts of not allowing cyborgs. He thinks that instead of trying to fight and go against this coming of computer help, we should accept it but be aware of the things that come along with it. We should approach it with having the freedom to be able to decide whether we want computer implants or not, but also by being responsible in knowing the harms that could come with it.

Nicholas Carr wrote this essay to let the upcoming generations know about the danger effect of the Internet overuse by using ethos, logos, and pathos and also some other rhetorical strategies. He starts his essay with a scene that was takin by Stanley Kubrick’s A in 2001: A Space Odyssey at the end of the paragraph saying, “I can feel it.’’ And after that he started his next paragraph with the same words, “I can feel it.’’

The message that too much technology is not good for people is the main theme of the story. Both the children and the parents experience effects from using the machines to do everything for them. Also, the children are so spoiled from unlimited technology that they can’t live without

Nicholas Carr is “an American journalist and technology writer” who attended Dartmouth College and Harvard University. Over the past decade, Carr has examined and studied the different impacts that computers have on our life and the “social consequences” of this new technology (Carr 123). In “A Thing Like Me” by Nicholas Carr, the author claims that technology is overpowering and dominating our lives. Carr expands on this idea further by defining it as people using “tools that allow them to extend their abilities” (Carr 124). To help with his argument, Carr uses a historical narrative about the creation of computer software, named ELIZA.

Nicholas Carr, What the Internet is doing to Our Brains The Shallows (2010) asserts that, “The price we pay to assume technology’s power is alienation.” He supports this assertion by saying, “They both ultimately achieve their mental and behavioral effects by shaping the synaptic organization of the brain.” Also by, “ We long to keep it activated.” The writer concludes in order for people to improve their thoughts, they will have to cope with the new technology and how they think. Carr believes that technology is taking over how people interact with each other.

Technology and Its Control Over Society In many of his pieces, writings, and novels, Ray Bradbury reflects the immense reliance and close connection that humanity has with technology. He also depicts the dangerous effects that could come from having this relationship, such as a loss of independency and self-control over one’s mind and actions. If humanity were to continue to allow technology to have this disastrous power and control, society’s downfall is certain and destined to come.

Our way of thinking is beginning to change to the way that computers do. Advancements are made everyday. These new advancements are attempting to make life in general easier for everyone. Nicholas Carr makes the claim that, “as the internet because our primary source of the information it is affecting our ability to read books and other long narratives.” Carr suggests that using the internet is altering the way that our minds operate.

Stephen King’s thrilling short story “Word Processor of the Gods” focuses on how technology can affect someone’s sanity. When given the chance to change their life, people take advantage of that and abuse it. Technology has taken over our lives and it could take our sanity if we let it. Some people are strong, but others are weak because they are full of envy. The dynamic character Richard was one of the weak ones because he was envious of his brother Roger.

Technology serves as the core of Case’s identity; he is the medium and when he finally returns to being the medium he gains the satisfaction and optimism that was missing when he was crippled. This futuristic look on what society could be in Gibson’s time has come true in the postindustrial and neoliberal age, people are defined by what technology they possess, it defines where you stand in society as a symbol of economic and social status. The most identifiable item of this trend is the upgrades on cellphones where each year there is a new generation to the iPhone. People feel the need to buy the newer and better version to shows how cultural savvy they are. This concept demonstrates how technology and identity have a massive interdependency, people buy the newest version, which then leads to an endless cycle buying and updating.

Far too often, humans are checking out of real life and checking into a virtual world. In the article, The IRL Fetish, written by Nathan Jurgenson, there are many negative references to the effects that technology has had on our world in this day and age. Face to face conversations are currently seen as something special instead of something that occurs in everyday life. When people are not scrolling through social media, they are constantly thinking about who could be online and what they could possibly post next. There is an ongoing problem with human infatuation with the online world and all that it entails.

Bradbury focuses on technological advancement to symbolize humankinds’ reliance on technology. Also, Bradbury using the poem by Sara Teasdale is symbolic to the story, as it was written as a warning to humans that nature will always survive over humanity. The short story is not hesitant in critiquing machines that take the place of human emotion and thought, which is very common element to many other of Bradbury’s

Television show, Black Mirror focuses on the effects that technology have on individuals and society itself. Nosedive, an episode of Black Mirror, displays how society dedicates itself to maintaining a good image through extreme social media use. The story follows Lacie Pound, an individual who obsesses over her social media rating and does whatever it takes to increase her score. People living in this technological society rely on their online score to appear in their best light to others. The highest rating one can get is up to five stars.