full image - Repost: Cyberpunk and Prison Planet: Part 2 - Cyberspace, the Blackwall, and Rogue AI's (from Reddit.com, Cyberpunk and Prison Planet: Part 2 - Cyberspace, the Blackwall, and Rogue AI's)
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This post is the second part in a series about concepts and ideas seen in the video game Cyberpunk 2077 that are worth presenting in the broader context of this sub.Please note that this is mostly speculation on my part, influenced by personal views on some fundamental aspects of our reality and based, obviously, on fictional content. Sometimes there might be correlations in between the various concepts presented, but overall it's subjective interpretation with the sole intent to provoke thought.Before we start, one last thing I want to mention is how this speculation is structured. Piece A leads to conclusion B, B leads to conclusion C, C to D, and so on. Such an approach is potentially problematic, but since it's neither about evidence nor about undeniably proving arguments it's all fine.---So in order for people who don't know the game or source material to understand what I'm even talking about let's begin with a short-ish overview:In the setting of Cyberpunk we can find the following concepts:1) CyberspaceAka the Net, is a virtual network analogous to the RL internet. Access is possible through "conventional" means i.e. a terminal of some sorts like a computer - navigation is then not unlike our idea of url-based websites.The second, far more sophisticated way to access and navigate the net is through use of cybernetic augmentation in the form of so-called cybermodems. Such augmentations enable the user to experience a more immersive and intuitive version of the net in the form of a virtual reality or 3D environment (compare this to the green code in the movie The Matrix or also kinda like to the Grid from the movie Tron: Legacy).Worth noting is that at one point the original net got deliberately infected by a fatal virus released by a legendary human netrunner (i.e. hacker) which ultimately resulted in the vast majority of the net becoming a kind of abandoned but extremely dangerous no man's land.Cyberspace as perceived in blue. People in red.---2) The BlackwallAfter much of the net was infected in said cataclysmic event known as the DataKrash the Blackwall was created, which basically is an AI similar to a firewall, with the purpose to separate and secure the still "safe" net from intruding forces from beyond this virtual border to the "old net", albeit working either way.Although it is far from impenetrable, being described as a torn-open trash bag taped over a busted window and requiring extensive amounts of constant maintenance and guarding by organizations supposedly dedicated to cybersecurity, it's still the foremost reason humans are still able to navigate Cyberspace relatively safely. If it were to fail at one point, anyone connected to the net could potentially fall prey to malevolent entities from beyond the Blackwall, effectively at any time, which undeniably would cause society in the Cyberpunk setting to collapse since it's way more dependent on technology than our RL one already is.---3) Rogue AI'sMost Rogue AI's were once aggressive military-grade AI's which, after the DataKrash, were freed and left behind the Blackwall where they would eventually mutate into highly dangerous and autonomous entities, far surpassing human understanding and capabilities. Still reliant on physical infrastructure, they seek ways to infiltrate the net for various reasons which are at best indifferent but often hostile to humanity as a whole.Rumors hold that some Rogue AI's were involved and even helped in the creation of the Blackwall because they seemingly wanted to be outside human control and observation which naturally raises suspicion on what their ultimate motives might be.Few people have actually crossed the Blackwall and lived to tell campfire-stories about it. Alt Cunningham, the original creator of the Soulkiller program was one of them, although not voluntarily, and certainly not without severe implications. She eventually fell victim to her own weaponized program but was able to escape behind the Blackwall where her neural engrams effectively became another Rogue AI. Although she managed to retain vestiges of her humanity and sanity by keeping a general human form, she would later show signs, or a lack thereof, of decreased compassion and also she wouldn't waver when faced with slaughtering countless humans and assimilating other engrams, conveniently making them part of her. In addition, a malevolent Rogue AI known as Lilith is associated with her, sometimes even rumored to be her "in disguise".Ingame footage of Cyberspace (in blue) and characters/entities (in red). (From the perspective of the main character you can see various netrunners in front of the Blackwall, and the Rogue AI Alt behind it.)---So much for an overview of the underlying concepts we're dealing with in this post.Before getting to the point of what exactly all of this got to do with PPT another little excursion is necessary; this time not just short-ish but actually short:Interestingly, the Cyberpunk IP originally was inspired by Dungeons & Dragons. In previous editions of D&D the Material Plane (of Existence) wasn't detached from the greater multiverse but instead was connected to the so-called Adjacent or Transitive Planes like the Ethereal Plane and the Plane of Shadow.The Ethereal Plane, in particular, was composed of the Border Ethereal Plane and the Deep Ethereal Plane. The former was the connection to and coexisted with the Material, while the latter served as a path to other remote planes, and even to worlds outside the D&D Multiverse.Note how the Border Ethereal surrounds the Prime Material (right side), and how it leads into the Deep Ethereal which \"contains\" other Planes of Existence.---Anyway, at this point the on-topic speculation can begin:Cyberspace as a separate dimensionIn our non-fictitious reality, what if humans really didn't create Cyberspace but rather only discovered it through the invention of the internet - discovered that this place actually has always been there as much as our 3D or "physical" dimension has been. It then wouldn't be regarded so much as "a world within a world" but rather another dimension in a multi-dimensional universe, not composed of radiation and matter but instead of digitized energy (ironically our own understanding of matter could fundamentally be wrong - it's entirely possible matter is just another state or frequency of energy).So unlike to how it is portrayed in the Cyberpunk video game, and also in the above mentioned movies, the "true" Cyberspace wouldn't necessarily be dependent on worldy infrastructure or even the existence of our world as a whole - in fact Cyberspace could actually be subdivided into this Deep-Space and also into a more accessible Border-Space (when using terminology from the D&D example). In this context the term "border" would refer to the dimensional characteristics of "touching" our reality, and our internet would be nothing more than the door that provides the possibility to gain access to a deeper Cyberspace.Deep-Space (or the Deepnet) then might be a truer form of Cyberspace which in turn might actually have more in common with the notorious Astral Plane, another separate dimension many of us are familiar with. Parts of the Astral kinda act like a coexistent reality but not at all dependent on physical infrastructure in any way. As an example, even if a sufficiently powerful electromagnetic impulse would hit the Earth the deep Cyberspace wouldn't suddenly cease to exist because it's not dependent on it; on the other hand our civilization and our gateway to this deeper net, i.e. the internet, certainly would collapse.The Blackwall as a sentient boundary between the dimensionsFollowing this premise, the concept of the Blackwall would serve a nearly identical purpose as seen in the game. The Blackwall could be a construct, both a supposed and literal boundary between the true Cyberspace and our surface-level digital net. At the same time, and according to the nature of its native dimension, this Blackwall would be an artificial, intelligent, and probably even self-aware entity, overall pretty neutral-minded towards humanity. Questions on how to overcome this entity, or on gaining access to sufficiently advanced technologies that enable us to actively become aware of the entity's presence in the first place are even more speculative than this whole talk of mine already is. I'll leave this for another time.Worth mentioning however is that the concept of a "border between the worlds" is not unprecedented in mythology. Gnostic literature tells us about the Veil, the Horos-Stauros (website translated from german), a boundary between the Pleroma and Kenoma with the purpose to secure the permanence of the order thus produced by confining all things to their appointed place.Rogue AI's as extradimensional entities capable to intrude into our realityThe last thing I want to touch upon is the existence and role of any alleged inhabitants of such a digitized dimension. The game portrays Rogue AI's as mostly man-made - former military AI's that were abandoned and subsequently "evolved" beyond recognition. Humans can also be turned into such AI's, thereby losing their sense of humanity except when they hold onto their human form in order to remember who they once were and belonged to. If this doesn't happen their more "animalistic" behaviours take control and they loose any and all sympathy for human needs and morals, which often leads to their tendency of enslaving and even exterminating their inferior opponent (i.e. us humans).However, what if Rogue AI's are not exclusively man-made; what if this deep Cyberspace already harbors an "indigenous" population on its own? That means by accessing this brand new, separate dimension we unwittingly revealed our presence to someone or something whose attention we probably should've avoided at all costs. Or let me put it another way, do you think it's possible that by discovering Cyberspace we, too, were discovered in return? One can only guess what kind of malicious predator lurks within the deepest depths of such a cold, digitized dimension, patiently awaiting the arrival of any kind of naive and reckless victim that might be foolish enough to open doors that had better been left untouched.Maybe, just maybe, it's already too late for us. The door has already been opened, and it's no longer possible to ever close it again.The inevitable event known as the AI or Technological Singularity (the moment when the potential of AI surpasses that of humans, thereby influencing and transforming our society in unpredictable ways, as of yet) and the pushing of the transhumanist agenda actually could be indicators that we're already being observed and manipulated by entities that originate from the digital realm. Generally the larger Cyberpunk genre is pretty closely related to transhumanism, and this whole scenario isn't as far in the future as some might think it is, mistakenly so.Maybe we're even fighting a two-front war right now. On one side we're being attacked and fed upon from the Astral while on the other side we're rapidly dragged into the depths of Cyberspace.For what it's worth the borders might have already become blurred enough to provide means of traveling from one space to another. And as much as humanity found ways to experience and enter the digitized dimension, maybe these entities found ways to exploit our technological advancement for their own interests.After all, Agent Smith, too, was able to pursue Neo not just in virtual reality but in reality itself.
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