Andy Griffith Overdrive

The always-interesting Joel Garreau profiles William Gibson. An excerpt:

Thoughts turn to the future of Washington. Could Gibson have predicted that in 2007, two leading candidates for the presidency would be a white woman and a black man?

That's the problem with his game, he says. "If I had gone to Ace Books in 1981 and pitched a novel set in a world with a sexually contagious disease that destroys the human immune system and that is raging across most of the world -- particularly badly in Africa -- they might have said, 'Not bad. A little toasty. That's kind of interesting.'

"But I'd say -- 'But wait! Also, the internal combustion engine and everything else we've been doing that forces carbon into the atmosphere has thrown the climate out of whack with possibly terminal and catastrophic results.' And they'd say, 'You've already got this thing you call AIDS. Let's not --'

"And I'd say, 'But wait! Islamic terrorists from the Middle East have hijacked airplanes and flown them into the World Trade Center.' Not only would they not go for it, they probably would have called security."

And as the guards drag him out: "But wait! The protagonist of the book lives in Minnesota, has a job managing a Denny's, never spends so much as a paragraph thinking about AIDS or climate change or terrorism, and spends all his free time watching old TV shows...on a portable computer."

Comments

Andy Griffith | September 20, 2007, 12:30pm | #

I really dig those hyper-relavistic quasi-virtual speculations about singularities resulting from the hyper fractal synergies of cyberspace and globalism. Just the thing to think about while you're sittin' on the porch with a plate of crackers and some fine cheddar cheese. Mmmm-mm! Good!

Franklin Harris | September 20, 2007, 12:31pm | #

'But wait! Also, the internal combustion engine and everything else we've been doing that forces carbon into the atmosphere has thrown the climate out of whack with possibly terminal and catastrophic results.' [Emphasis added]

If I'm the editor, I still kick him out at this point.

Drawn Asunder | September 20, 2007, 12:32pm | #

But wait! Razors have 5 blades for an extra smooth shave!

Brandybuck | September 20, 2007, 12:40pm | #

But wait! Several states have legalized marijuana for medical use!

Episiarch | September 20, 2007, 12:43pm | #

But wait! Matlock can be seen 24/7 on cable and satellite TV stations for old people! There is no escape!

Grandpa Simpson | September 20, 2007, 12:54pm | #

MATLOCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Gray Ghost | September 20, 2007, 1:13pm | #

One of my favorite stories about the future being stranger than anything we can imagine is this one:

a tale is told of a prophet in Germany in 1919 who came to the attention of the authorities. Germany had just been defeated in the First World War. It’s territory had been cut in half, its Emperor was in exile, and its economy was in a shambles. Yet this prophet insisted that in 20 years Germany would be a great power again. Three years after 1939, its empire would span Europe.

The authorities were pleased. They remarked that 1959 would likely see the German Empire span the world.

No, the prophet said. In 1959, Germany would have been occupied by foreign soldiers and divided into two countries for more than a decade. Its capital, Berlin would be split in two. Germany would be a key flash point in an on-going struggle between two world-dominating blocs, a struggle based on weapons so terrible that they could destroy civilization.

The authorities were not pleased. They told the prophet that this probably meant that Germany - and the rest of the world - would be destroyed soon after 1959 - certainly by 1969.

No, said the prophet. In 1969, the western half of Germany would be one of the world’s most prosperous countries. Nearly everyone in West Germany would own a magical box that would allow them to watch as a man stepped out of a spaceship onto the moon.

The authorities locked up the prophet. He was obviously dangerously insane.

Warren | September 20, 2007, 1:27pm | #

But wait! There will be an international movement to combat all these problems and they will concentrate their efforts on the most prosperous countries that suffer least from disease and pollution, While exalting third world countries that suffer most and opposing advances in agriculture and medicine that could lift them out of poverty favoring instead perpetual assistance.

Postmodern Sleaze | September 20, 2007, 2:07pm | #

Heh, reminds me of the forward to the 20th anniversary edition of Neuromancer:

"So I didn't include the fall of the Soviet Union. Had I done that, I would have been executed for witchcraft."

Classic. I'm not a huge fan of Gibson's writing, but I'll give credit where credit is due; like Tyler Durden, it was on the tip of everyone's tongue, but he gave it a name.

Handsome Dan | September 20, 2007, 3:29pm | #

"But wait! The protagonist of the book lives in Minnesota, has a job managing a Denny's, never spends so much as a paragraph thinking about AIDS or climate change or terrorism, and spends all his free time watching old TV shows...on a portable computer."

James Lileks?

Jesse Walker | September 20, 2007, 3:33pm | #

James Lileks?

I can picture him managing a Denny's, or at least making fun of some old photo of a Denny's he found in a junk store. But I have a hard time imagining him going long without thinking about terrorism.

Accuracy in Internet Comments, inc. | September 20, 2007, 5:36pm | #

If I had gone to Ace Books ...

Man, I so fondly remeber Ace science fiction doubles from my youth. Back to topic.