From: M. E. Smith (mesmith@rocketmail.com)
Date: Mon Sep 27 1999 - 10:04:17 MDT
Hello, again. It's me, the guy who every six months or
so posts a message related to understanding what Neal
Stephenson is really saying through his novels.
Usually, I start a thread and go away for several
months. I'm quite harmless, despite having a somewhat
obsessive nature on this subject. I just think it's
odd how many other Stephenson fans miss it. It's as if
I was talking to a bunch of people who loved Charles
Dickens but failed to notice the social commentary.
The first time I posted on this subject, I was drawing
attention to the way "The Diamond Age" seems to
portray a future in which true AI turns out to be
impossible, as preposterous as that may be. I
supported this interpretation with passages from the
novel, and left unasked the question of whether or not
Stephenson actually believes this.
I can't remember all of the responses (the thread
quickly digressed from anything having to do with
Stephenson's writings), but I seem to remember a lot
of people dismissing it as an oversight or a mere plot
device.
Recently, through the new search engine Google
(excellent! and I love the way the main page doesn't
waste your time with a lot of graphics!), I found a
page I'd never found before. It is:
http://www.hotwired.com/talk/club/special/transcripts/95-01-19.stephenson.html
and, yes, it's weird that I never found this one
before; it's an interview from 1995.
The page pretty much makes my earlier efforts
unnecessary, because in it Stephenson (who is being
interviewed) comes right out and says some of the
things I thought he was saying through his novels.
For example, on the subject of AI, in response to a
question about whether the Primer in "The Diamond Age"
could become sentient, he says:
"Depends on what theory of mind you subscribe to. If
you are a materialistic monist who believes that the
mind is a big digital computer, then the answer is
yes. I don't happen to subscribe to that theory
myself."
His reference to the term "materialist" in this
context strongly implies that he disagrees with
scientific materialism, the philosophy that the types
of energy and matter dealt with in contemporary
physics are all that exists. This sort of
anti-materialistic stance is typical of people who
disbelieve in AI (regardless of Occam's razor).
Other parts of the interview also reinforced my more
recent point about Stephenson's low regard for
contemporary American culture. In particular, he comes
write out and says that these issues are intentional
themes in his writing:
Question to NS: "Your British spooks in The Diamond
Age rap on about hypocrisy and moral relativism. Is
this just a narrative device or a serious theme you
develop?"
NS's answer: "Well, if anything it's the central theme
of the book. I'm pretty comfortable with moral
relativism myself, as are most people of my
generation, but it seems to be destroying the country
and so it's hard not to find that thought-provoking."
So, to wrap it up, Neal Stephenson is a complex guy,
and there is definitely social and philosophical
commentary in his novels, some of which is at odds
with attitudes common among some Extropians.
Let the flaming begin…
=====
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M. E. Smith
mesmith@rocketmail.com
http://members.home.net/mesmith/
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