The three philosophies underlying most Cyberpunk characters and plot points

What??

The cyberpunk culture is by and large about

1. Technology (Especially AI)

2. Mind (Enhancement/Upliftment)

3. Reality (Transformation)

4. Values (Affected by new perspectives on mind & reality)

Most of the literature/films revolve(s) around how things could go (horribly) wrong; it won't sell otherwise, oui?

Reply to Bret Bernhoft I always thought Cyberpunk was over exposed and that everything was footnotes to Blade Runner and William Gibson. It's really just the tropes of film noir overlaid with speculative sci-fi. I think those themes are definitely present (also the failures of capitalism and the state) from what I've seen, but the peak of Cyberpunk was 30 plus years ago, wasn't it? Do the kids still dig it?

Reply to Bret Bernhoft
There is still some new cyberpunk being written buy it has become wider. However, this has been going more in the direction of post apocalyptic and steampunk. This is probably because the post apocalyptic touches upon the issues of a possible end to civilisation as we know it. Steampunk looks at the blending of the idea of the animate and machine as well as merging aspects of the past with futurism. These developments are reflections of changes in the underlying concerns which are pressing in the human imagination and philosophy.

If possible to stimulate the thread, I' say, with regard to the human - machine relationship,

1. Body (99% replaced by machines)
2. Mind (50% replaced by computers that can do logic)
3. Heart (Hard to say how much of our feelings can be reduced to an algorithm and will it be genuine? Maybe there's another way)

The percentages are very rough estimates, people may disagree.

What happens when, these percentages touch 100%? The so-called technological singularity is mostly viewed as a mind affair (intelligence, 2), but there's more to being a human than just our rationality. Intriguingly what if AI splits into 3 species:

1. Physical/Workers (think excavators, bulldozers, cranes)
2. Mental/Thinkers (think Newton, Einstein)
3. Emotional/Feelers (weak sentimental fools)

?

Humanity, till date, has seen workers and thinkers, but feelers, no mention of them in the records unless artists, poets, romantics, are them.

I haven't read William Gibson or much else in the genre, so you should be highly sceptical about what I'm about to say.

Quoting Bret Bernhoft

After engaging with as much Cyberpunk media as I could find, I have been researching the intellectual and spiritual infrastructure that makes up these stories.

Quoting Bret Bernhoft

Those three philosophies are

Quoting Bret Bernhoft

ideals/philosophies

Quoting Bret Bernhoft

paradigms

It's interesting that you choose not to go down the literary route, where you would identify themes rather than ideals, philosophies, and paradigms. It's as if your analysis is "in-universe". So, you're looking at the stories from the point of view of the protagonists, or in terms of their motivations, rather than analyzing the stories as stories. This means that "whether any given force ... is working to support or destroy these ideals/philosophies" appears to be something merely incidental, something that gets in the way of the philosophies, but if you were analyzing the stories as works of fiction, in terms of themes, you would identify the theme of conflict as central--particularly between those who are denied cognitive liberty (etc) on one side, and high-tech capitalism, the faceless corporations, or whatever it is, on the other side.

Having said that, the "paradigms" or "philosophies" look good, and could stand as literary themes themselves.

Quoting Bret Bernhoft

I would love to hear everyone's feedback on this observation. Does this make sense?

For me, the major themes I've always gotten from cyberpunk are nihilism and despair. For that reason, I tend to avoid them. The only books in that genre I've enjoyed in the last few years are those by Paolo Bacigalupi, especially "The Windup Girl."

Reply to jamalrob

Thank you for your reply and feedback. You are correct that I'm looking at any given Cyberpunk universe from protagonist's perspective within the story; from their first person perspective. This, I believe, is where the spirituality of Cyberpunk exists most plainly and profoundly. Although I could be wrong about that.

Reply to Bret Bernhoft I think it makes sense, given that science fiction, including cyberpunk, is primarily about ideas.

Quoting jamalrob

I think it makes sense, given that science fiction, including cyberpunk, is primarily about ideas.

I agree. When I was in my teens, I read the first three books of the seven book "Foundation" trilogy. I was blown away. I can still feel the intellectual impact those ideas had on me. I went back and reread "Foundation" about five years ago after I gave it to my son for Christmas. It kind of stinks from a purely literary point of view. Asimov wasn't all that great as a writer, but the ideas still work.

Reply to T Clark Yes, it was similar for me. The only difference is that when I read them again decades later, the ideas didn't have anything like the same impact, and likewise the unbeautiful writing was more noticeable. I remembered that I'd been particularly blown away by one scene, but didn't remember any of the details. I never found that scene in my later reading.

Quoting jamalrob

The only difference is that when I read them again decades later, the ideas didn't have anything like the same impact,

I think the idea of psychohistory opened up my mind to what science could be. It was the scope of the books. The power of the technology. I can still remember that feeling.

Reply to Bret Bernhoft

First of all, why are you asking? Second, have you bothered to try to get answers from the horse's mouth, original authors, et al?
Third, a case can be made that much of the dystopian content is already here. Monoculture, Oligarchy, corporations more powerful than governments, dwindling resources.