The technological breakthrough of this era is an injectable neural device—called “emotes”—that allows wearers to share feelings with one another semi-telepathically. Parts of the narrative are devoted to exploring the social ramifications of such a device.
<aside> 💬 They were the inevitable end product of that striving for realism which began when men started to reproduce moving images and to record sounds… In the sagas, the illusion was perfect because all the sense impressions involved were fed directly into the mind and any conflicting sensations were diverted. The entranced spectator was cut off from reality as long as the adventure lasted; it was as if he lived a dream yet believed he was awake.
Arthur C. Clarke, The City and the Stars
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Diamond Age, Neal Stephenson’s Hugo-winning 1995 novel, is not as well-known as Snowcrash, but is more influential to us. The instigating event is a technological marvel (”A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer”) mistakenly falling into the hands of a street urchin named Nell. The Primer, though presented as a book, is actually an artificial intelligence that instantly infers the troublesome circumstances of her life—an abusive stepfather—and nimbly guides her out of her predicament, recruiting the comparably primitive toy dolls in Nell’s bedroom as companions in the journey, and infusing every device around Nell with a personality designed to keep her out of harm’s way.
Our story features a similar class of device, an “AI Minder Doll” called a Sibyl Companion. Min receives one early in the narrative, but it winds up in the sunken side of the city with Max in the opening chapter. The true nature of the doll and how he tries to leverage it is critical to the story.
Late-stage capitalism creates an illusion of choice, even the choice to reject capitalism. Our narrative features corporations with state-like powers, similar to Stephenson’s “franchulates,” and allows players to pledge loyalty to one. Or, they can opt out and subscribe to a pioneering anticapitalist streetwear brand.
<aside> 💬 According to Fisher, capitalist realism has so captured public thought that the idea of anti-capitalism no longer acts as the antithesis to capitalism. Instead, it is deployed as a means for reinforcing capitalism. This is done through media which aims to provide a safe means of consuming anti-capitalist ideas without actually challenging the system. The lack of coherent alternatives, as presented through the lens of capitalist realism, leads many anti-capitalist movements to cease targeting the end of capitalism, but instead to mitigate its worst effects, often through individual consumption-based activities.
[Capitalist Realism, Wikipedia]
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<aside> 💬 We may all end up in the distended bellies of a few somnolent titans that will sit facing each other across the desert of our poverty like giant Buddhas, too gorged to do more than gaze with blurred eyes at their own navels.
Louis Auchincloss
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The speed at which society changes is correlated with the dominant mediums of the time. In a world with hand-delivered mail, consensus is slow and change is gradual. In a world with Twitter, consensus is faster and we—at times—converge on social change rather abruptly. In a world where people can sync their limbic systems, how much societal whiplash is induced?