CHEAP TRUTH's promulgation of open principles was of dubioususe -- even when backed by the might of INTERZONE. Perhaps"principles" were simply too foggy and abstract, too arcane andunapproachable, as opposed to easy C-word recognition symbols, likecranial jacks, black leather jeans and amphetamine addiction. Buteven now, it may not be too late to offer a concrete example of thegenuine cyberpunk *weltanschauung* at work.
Consider FRANKENSTEIN by Mary Shelley, a wellspring ofscience fiction as a genre. In a cyberpunk analysis, FRANKENSTEIN is"Humanist" SF. FRANKENSTEIN promotes the romantic dictum thatthere are Some Things Man Was Not Meant to Know. There are nomere physical mechanisms for this higher moral law -- its workingstranscend mortal understanding, it is something akin to divine will.Hubris must meet nemesis; this is simply the nature of our universe.Dr. Frankenstein commits a spine-chilling transgression, an affrontagainst the human soul, and with memorable poetic justice, he is direlypunished by his own creation, the Monster.
Now imagine a cyberpunk version of FRANKENSTEIN. In thisimaginary work, the Monster would likely be the well-funded R&Dteam-project of some global corporation. The Monster might wellwreak bloody havoc, most likely on random passers-by. But havingdone so, he would never have been allowed to wander to the NorthPole, uttering Byronic profundities. The Monsters of cyberpunk nevervanish so conveniently. They are already loose on the streets. Theyare next to us. Quite likely *WE* are them. The Monster would have