Steve Jackson Games Forums - View Single Post - Cyberpunk, Space Travel, and Setting Design

Johnny1A.2 · 09-14-2022, 01:17 AM

Another theme of cyberpunk is that technological developments get used by people, in ways their inventors often fail to foresee.

"The street finds its own uses for things." I've never been a big fan of cyberpunk as a genre, but that line sticks in my mind because it's so true.

Another way of expressing it is that historically, among the first groups to adopt and adapt new technologies in clever ways tends to be the crooks. If a new tech has a shady application, you can bet it'll be spotted and used promptly. This goes back centuries.

Cyberpunk settings tend to be focused on that tendency.

09-14-2022, 01:17 AM	#49
Johnny1A.2 Join Date: Feb 2007	Re: Cyberpunk, Space Travel, and Setting Design Another theme of cyberpunk is that technological developments get used by people, in ways their inventors often fail to foresee. "The street finds its own uses for things." I've never been a big fan of cyberpunk as a genre, but that line sticks in my mind because it's so true. Another way of expressing it is that historically, among the first groups to adopt and adapt new technologies in clever ways tends to be the crooks. If a new tech has a shady application, you can bet it'll be spotted and used promptly. This goes back centuries. Cyberpunk settings tend to be focused on that tendency. __________________ HMS Overflow-For conversations off topic here.