In reading Snow Crash this week, I was preoccupied with placing myself in a world like the one described—a futuristic setting with a dual existence in reality and the Metaverse. While some of Stephenson's conceptions seemed outlandish and far-fetched at first, I found most of them easier to buy into as his preternatural ability developed to trace society in 1992 through to the future in when Snow Crash is set. (Example: “…the Metaverse is wide open and undefended, like airports in the days before bombs and metal detectors, like elementary schools in the days before maniacs with assault rifles.” p 351) I don’t believe Stephenson to be psychically predicting anything with this novel, but I did pose myself a series of questions in an attempt to imagine myself in this reality.
What would my personal avatar be like?
How could you develop an avatar to express emotion?
How can religious faith be expressed in numbers?
What level of technological proficiency will be basic common knowledge?
How could I reconcile two self-identities?
What would the difference be between human memory and computer memory?
What will be the Government’s role in digital/Metaverse regulation?
Though a lot of these questions hold no real weight in my self-identification now, they are interesting to think about as you read through Snow Crash and relate its reality to our own.
Where can I get Vitaly Chernobyl’s record?
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