The rhetoric of escape velocity crosses cyberpunk science fiction with the Pentacostal belief in an apocalyptic Rapture, in which history ends and the faithful are gathered up into the heavens. Visions of a cyber-Rapture are a fatal seduction, distracting us from the devastation of [...]]]> Mark Dery in Escape Velocity: Cyberculture at the End of the Century:

The rhetoric of escape velocity crosses cyberpunk science fiction with the Pentacostal belief in an apocalyptic Rapture, in which history ends and the faithful are gathered up into the heavens. Visions of a cyber-Rapture are a fatal seduction, distracting us from the devastation of nature, the unraveling of the social fabric, and the widening chasm between the technocratic elite and the minimum-wage masses.

Shorter Dery: Go fuck yourself Ray Kurzweil.

Very disappointing to find out that the problem’s just that the women are all uppity and so now men [...]]]> When an article begins with the line “Modern women are turning their husbands into ‘male-female hybrids’…”, it really needs to be about an evil Doctress Frankenstein creating genetic monstrosities beyond the wildest dreams of Ursula Le Guin.

Very disappointing to find out that the problem’s just that the women are all uppity and so now men also feel the need to clean in formal wear.