Popular Culture Review Vol. 12, No. 1, February 2001 | Page 147

Machines for Ultimate Questions

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lives pulses at 180 and more beats per minute. The model of society to which they
belong is already a ‘raving society’, which implies ecstasy, performance, perception
at extreme frequencies, a high energy level, and the speed associated with it,
exponentially intensified inner rhythms of the body, trance. Their goal is to organise
the day as the whole of life, i. e. to stuff it with events which can be transformed
into aesthetic experiences. In H eavy Weather we find the following description of
Jane’s object of desire: “Jane loved the Train. That elemental torrent of noise hit
something inside her that was as deep and primal and tender as the pulp of her
teeth. It did something to her that was richer than sex. A rush of pure aesthetic
battle Joy rocketed up her spine and she felt as if she could Jump out of her skin and
spread wings of fire.” (Sterling 1994: 109)
The experiences of modern man/woman as homo aestheticus, which are often
intensified with regard to ecstasy and synaesthesicity (as in The Neiiromancer''3.n
aching taste of blue” fills the mouth of the character. Case), are extreme especially
when they are supported by the advanced technology of smart machines: “Now,
belatedly, Alex’s clear left ear - the one outside the headphones - heard a sudden
muffled rumble of faraway thunder. He was hearing in stereo. His ears were ten
kilometers apart. At the thought of this, Alex felt in the first rippling, existential
spasm of virch-sickness.” (Sterling 1994: 81)
The sensations of the extraordinary are intensified (techno also implies stepping
into ludic culture) by games sustained by technological devices, smart machines
and gadgets, which realise the transition from simulation to stimulation; modern
machines begin to stimulate directly cognitive functions. The paradigm techno
embodies a superstructure of perception tha t goes beyond natural boundaries. It
represents a transition to the subject whose body, we can say, is not limited by skin
but extends into and is connected with external technical organs and nets, as
prostheses which enhance it.
This is an individual who feeds on stimuli at extremely high or low (and
therefore unnatural, even counter-natural) frequencies; an individual in the state of
ecstasy, who, rather than undertaking long and exhausting Journeys in exotic
landscapes at the end of the world — turns to the interior of the self, to internal
times and spaces, to the metaphorical landscapes, which are explored in highadrenaline and high-morphine actions.
This is a person, who writes/speaks/imagines in the language of science fiction
and technoscience (from artificial life and genetics through to chaos theory), yet s/
he does tie to the ground his/her visions, programmed according to the current
hype\ s/he combines cyberpunk high-tech horizons with the horizons of traditional
science fiction. After being ejected to the utopic Freeside, s/he desires actual
grounding—Just as Frankenstein’s m on ster longs for a bride, identity, traces in
‘firm’ reality. Thus the persons in the paradigm of techno—i.e. individuals as high-