
The Chemistry of William Gibson’s Neuromancer - sohkamyung
http://www.chemistry-blog.com/2018/04/16/the-chemistry-of-william-gibsons-neuromancer/
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pmoriarty
_Neuromancer_ gets a lot of attention because it was the first of Gibson's
Sprawl trilogy, but for my money _Count Zero_ is a far better book.

~~~
indigochill
Probably. I'm able to piece together a lot more of what happened and why in
Count Zero than I am from Neuromancer. But I still think they're both
"required reading". Neuromancer has its great bits that are worth reading and
mulling over.

I remember being blown away by the Rasta. Because even in a book that
predicted an information matrix connecting everything before the internet
existed, that character predicted the culture that would form on it.

He compares their internet to Babylon, which in Rastafari thought refers to
Israel's captivity by Babylon and is a symbol of oppressive foreign power. The
internet can be an oppressive place with the advertising and the tracking and
the pressures of social media.

But beyond just that, Babylon to someone like a Rasta also points back to
Babel, and the Tower of Babel was a massive structure built by humanity to
unite themselves and become like gods, but which led to their division instead
(a theme which is the core of Snow Crash as well).

The modern internet is definitely a massive structure, and on one hand
provides a previously unimaginable access to information (Snow Crash considers
the possibility that the Tower was built for astrological purposes, thus it
too is built for purposes of information). It can sometimes feel like being
virtually omniscient. But we've also seen that as people connect online, memes
which trigger strong negative emotions spread rapidly. People are once again
becoming divided, as we've seen with political developments in recent years.

It probably helped that I read it while dubstep (which originally spun off
from dub) was still sweeping the internet so that helped make the connection
all the more intriguing.

~~~
hnzix
_> dubstep (which originally spun off from dub)_

"Dub"step is something of a misnomer and did not spin off from dub. It evolved
out of 2-step garage as part of the UK Hardcore Continuum[0], which began in
the second summer of love in '88 [1].

[0] [https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/essays/the-
wire-300_sim...](https://www.thewire.co.uk/in-writing/essays/the-
wire-300_simon-reynolds-on-the-hardcore-continuum_introduction)

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Summer_of_Love](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Summer_of_Love)

~~~
empath75
Oh I would say this is a case of multiple inheritance. It evolved out of the
2-step scene primarily, but it has influences from dub, grime/hip-hop, d&b,
etc.

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twic
For some less realistic pharmacology in science fiction:

[http://sailsofoblivion.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/pharmacopeia-o...](http://sailsofoblivion.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/pharmacopeia-
of-imaginary-drugs-1.html)

[http://sailsofoblivion.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/pharmacopoeia-...](http://sailsofoblivion.blogspot.co.uk/2008/02/pharmacopoeia-
of-imaginary-drugs-2.html)

I remember there were lots of drugs in Bruce Sterling's 'Schismatrix'. I think
the cyberpunks were deliberately trying to imitate the Beats in their attempt
to create a new kind of writing.

~~~
pdkl95
> there were lots of drugs in Bruce Sterling's 'Schismatrix'

Like.... [see my username & profile]

# "Life moves in clades."

~~~
girvo
Sounds a lot like high dose LSD!

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twic
The article mentions MPTP, the street drug byproduct that caused a
Parkinson's-like condition. I learned about that at university while studying
neuropharmacology - those cases led to a huge leap forwards in Parkinson's
research:

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5345642/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5345642/)

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isthatart
Incidentally, I tried to use Neuromancer in a TED talk about artificial
chemistry. Also used a pseudo William Gibson quote from the excellent [0]. Too
nerdy! Slides [1] (js neded), script and story [2].

[0] [https://aphyr.com/posts/340-reversing-the-technical-
intervie...](https://aphyr.com/posts/340-reversing-the-technical-
interview#comment-2763)

[1] [https://chorasimilarity.github.io/chemlambda-
gui/dynamic/cfp...](https://chorasimilarity.github.io/chemlambda-
gui/dynamic/cfp.html)

[2]
[https://chorasimilarity.wordpress.com/2017/07/18/chemlambda-...](https://chorasimilarity.wordpress.com/2017/07/18/chemlambda-
for-the-people/)

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golergka
> Street amphetamine (crystal meth, or simply meth)

That's weird - I always thought that meth is methamphetamine, which, wild very
similar chemically, has distinctly different psychological effects.

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bman23
Street amphetamine != crystal meth, or simply meth

Methamphetamine = crystal meth, or simply met

~~~
girvo
In Australia, that’s not true. Actual amphetamine is relatively rare, and most
“speed” is in fact low grade methamphetamine

~~~
marssaxman
You sound like you're agreeing, not contradicting; or is this a regional
difference in the meaning of "speed", which I understand to mean
"methamphetamine"?

~~~
girvo
Regional difference. The common misconception here is that “Speed” is
amphetamine (of some salt)!

