Cyberpunk est mort, vive le Cyberpunk!

Ah it seems that we are in a state where this applies. The original cyberpunk movement, with it's roots extending deep back into the early origins of computer sciences (the late 60's), peaking around 1994 or so.

Those heady days for me, just after High School where the convergence of cultures created a hotbed for a social, political, and literary storm known collectively as 'Cyberpunk'. The popularity of fiction (Gibson, Stephenson, P.K. Dick etc) espoused a collective thought of dystopia, miasma and contrarily, a hopefulness brought about by enabling the common man access to heretofore unprecedented levels of access to information.

It was a time when 'Information Needs to be Free' was common, in the hearts and tongues of those of the movement. The movement is not dead, but sleeping. And lacks identity. Those in the movement have buckled down, gotten jobs, families, etc. They have not entirely abandoned their hopes, dreams and nightmares, but they have set them aside.

From 1 Corinthians 13:11
"When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things"

And much of this does indeed seem to be where the status of the 'movement' such as it ever was, rests.

However just a bit further down is this gem:

(1 Corinthians 13:12 'βλεπομεν γαρ αρτι δι εσοπτρου εν αινιγματι'
"For now we see through a glass, darkly."

Which is both more allegorical and certainly representative of a core principal of (at least in my mind) 'teh movement'. To me, this passage says, "We see where the world could be, in it's darkest reflection". And by that token means that those that do see it's darkest reflection, are the most well-suited to survive, thrive, and provide for others.

This is an open call. If you have ever used the term cyberpunk to describe yourself, (or one of the ancillary/alternate labels such as cypherpunk, phreaker, cracker, black-hat, white-hat, etc etc etc) then please remember why you got involved in the first place. Tell me what your philosophy is, where it has changed, where it has adapted.

I expect it has changed, as 'Cyberpunk' as a definition was certainly nothing more than a placeholder for something we all collectively felt but lacked the words to describe. If there is truly one consistency, it is that we believe in the organic and adaptive nature of any system that humanity comes into contact with.

Oh and please don't let the biblical quotes fool you; I am by no means dogmatic nor even particularly Christian. They just make excellent allegory.