The Comforts Of Cyberpunk | Escape Into Meaning
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- čas přidán 19. 08. 2022
- MY BOOK IS OUT NOW! GET IT HERE: bit.ly/3qJEbHT
BOOK FAQS:
Will the book be sold internationally? Yes, Escape Into Meaning should available for shipping to most places around the world where English-language books are sold. Amazon is your best bet, but local retailers can also order books from abroad (may just take a bit longer). I don’t have a full list of where it’s available, and I don’t control this in any way, so I’m sorry if you can’t get the hardcover where you live.
Will the book be translated into other languages? Escape Into Meaning is only available in English for now. Translated versions usually don’t happen unless there are significant sales. If this book gets translated, that means something went really right, but we won’t know that for some time. If there are going to be translations, I will let you know as soon as I do.
Is there an audiobook, and do you read it? Yes, there is an audiobook, and yes I read it (which was such a thrill to do). It is available on Audible here: adbl.co/3birfo9 And it’s also available from other platforms, all of which you can find at the Simon & Schuster master link: bit.ly/3cGnr0f
Will you be doing live events for Escape Into Meaning? Yes! I will be doing 2 in-person events. One at The Strand in NYC. Tickets here: bit.ly/3OOAOJf And I will be doing another at The Grove Barnes & Noble in Los Angeles. Tickets here: bit.ly/3cSjPIG
These will be the only live events I’ll be doing. I’m sorry if you don’t live near these cities - but I will be doing a livestream event that will be available for everyone. When I have the link and details for that, I will share it with you.
I will update this as more questions come in. Thanks!
ISBN 978-1-9821-6395-2 - Zábava
BOOK FAQS:
*Will the book be sold internationally?* Yes, Escape Into Meaning should available for shipping to most places around the world where English-language books are sold. Amazon is your best bet, but local retailers can also order books from abroad (may just take a bit longer). I don’t have a full list of where it’s available, and I don’t control this in any way, so I’m sorry if you can’t get the hardcover where you live.
*Will the book be translated into other languages?* Escape Into Meaning is only available in English for now. Translated versions usually don’t happen unless there are significant sales. If this book gets translated, that means something went really right, but we won’t know that for some time. If there are going to be translations, I will let you know as soon as I do.
*Is there an audiobook, and do you read it?* Yes, there is an audiobook, and yes I read it (which was such a thrill to do). It is available on Audible here: adbl.co/3birfo9 And it’s also available from other platforms, all of which you can find at the Simon & Schuster master link: bit.ly/3cGnr0f
*Will you be doing live events for Escape Into Meaning?* Yes! I will be doing 2 in-person events. One at The Strand in NYC. Tickets here: bit.ly/3OOAOJf And I will be doing another at The Grove Barnes & Noble in Los Angeles. Tickets here: bit.ly/3cSjPIG
These will be the only live events I’ll be doing. I’m sorry if you don’t live near these cities - but I will be doing a livestream event that will be available for everyone. When I have the link and details for that, I will share it with you.
I will update this as more questions come in. Thanks!
Sorry to plug, but I made a trailer for Neuromancer on my channel. Hope yall like it!
Is the Audible audiobook being released in other regions, such as the UK?
Also a big plus to cyberpunk dystopia is the synth sounds and music. Like nostalgia, melancholy, loneliness all in one!
Blade Runner would be much less than people think without it's music
@@nicktrousers I feel like blade runner’s score is so under appreciated. It was so difficult for me to find a vinyl of the score that actually stayed true to the one in the film because of drama behind the scenes.
So true!!
@@nicktrousers That’s one of the things I dislike about 2049. Love the film. Hate that they didn’t get Vangelis to do the music
@@afonsolucas2219 the film was trash. you know how i know? ive only seen it once and i already forgot it
For me cyberpunk is a product of the 80s and is very much tied to the sense of trying to find a place in a world where the bad guys have won.
It's definitely a product of the 80s. Reaganomics, War On Drugs, Laissez Faire Capitalism, and... most importantly, the Gaming Crash in the U.S. followed by the massive technological boom of Japan.
Best line ever: “It’s too bad she won’t live, but then again who does.” Similar nuanced meaning to the biography about Jim Morrison entitled “No One Here Gets Out Alive”.
To me I see it as a continuation of Roy Batty's line. We kind of all just merge into nothingness after death. Our physical being was alive at some point the materialness of us means nothing now. We might as well have been some dog in the street.
Bladerunner's main theme is about honoring life but cyberpunk worlds its just endless resource harvesting and consuming.
To me it was just another insinuation that Gaff knows Deckard is a replicant.
"I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive." - Hank Williams
The monologue at the end of blade runner is one of my favorites. When im feeling really sad i say it out loud and it makes me feel a little better.
Same!
Whilst it is one of my favourite movies the "tears in the rain" and dove bit was too cheesy. Ruined the whole scene for me.
Me too! It lifts up.
Did they make that speech up on the fly or was it actually in the script ?
@@kludgedude Rutger Hauer made it up on the fly.
You have perfectly encapsulated this feeling I've held for this genre but never could put into words.
I came here to write my reaction, and you captured it perfectly.
I'm a bit confused by the traces of the romantic Sublime here, applied on the one hand to interstellar Nature (disappearing into the enormity of the universe) but on the other into hyper-Culture, the late-capitalist city. Part of what is NOT supposed to be comforting about cyberpunk is that it is all the more transparently about our present-- it's a future in which little is futuristic, things are falling apart, there is a slow cascade into apocalypse. To feel comforted by any sequence in Blade Runner, you have to forget that the replicants are future slaves. Exploitation and domination have continued as the ways of future men and machines. Nope, no comfort there, thanks.
@@SuperRobertoClemente I don't think people subconsciously forget that the people in Blade Runner live mostly terrible lives. We might get lost in the ethereal soundtrack and cinematography of a neon metropolis, but other than for 'simple' escapism I never hear people say they wish to live in that world. That it's realistic, but far away (sort of, I hope) makes it comforting. Add that we find commonality in people like Deckard & Rachel, dealing with the same struggles as us, and we have a perfect few hours of dreaming. Do you just not find cyberpunk comforting, or are we not looking into the movie(s) deep enough? What emotions does Blade Runner evoke for you?
@@joegolike Same here : )
That closing line about "...the downpour of time." is pure art. Brilliant like your aforementioned stars in this video.
This little video hit me harder than a lot of things in recent memory. "The fight's over, and we lost." It's a sublime mix of despair and hope; there's no need to struggle anymore.
I want to explore a world where the struggle isn't over, even if "we've" lost. Something like the recovery from the fallout, or maybe the (attempted) aversion of the true, final fallout just before it's due.
The speech could seem trite but with Rutger Hauer's delivery and expressions sort of being perfect it gets elevated to something we still mention today.
And the fact that it wasn’t scripted makes it all the more precious.
@@hRt42kuo7jTtmk14 it still seems wild to me that someone could improvise that. Shoulda given him a writer's credit.
@@JohnGottschalk indeed. 100%. I think Ridley was probably tripping over himself when Rutger simply came out with that in total perfection. And then “Too bad she won’t live, but then again who does” encapsulates the whole essence of that moment and life itself bringing closure and acceptance to everything, both mortal and immortal.
@@hRt42kuo7jTtmk14 Rutger said he had something he wanted to do. As improvisation. They were over schedule and didn’t have much time. He had to convince Ridley for one more take. He said fine. He gave the speech, tenderly and with passion. It was a perfect moment. Beautiful.
Then Ridley said: Cut! Ok next one, move on!
It’s one of those things, you trust the people around you. You trust their talent and their vision of things to contribute to your own. But I find funny how at the time he just wanted to shoot the movie. I imagine his face in the editing room now realizing what he had. All the joy lacking in filming comes to you in the editing room.
Not only the fact that Rutger wrote that, but the way in which he delivered it created an indelible moment that will forever remain imprinted in our minds. He should have gotten an Oscar just for that alone.
!! This really articulates why I love big neon-soaked megalopolises. I loved strolling around Shanghai at night. The skyscrapers and the lights and the enormous crowds made me feel insignificant, and for once I could just enjoy the moment, I could exist outside of my worries for the future and anxieties of the past. I simply exist, just a transient speck of the vast human existence, passing each other without a thought, here today, gone tomorrow.
Thank you for this video.
I thought I was the only one that thought cyberpunk is cozy
When all hope of meaning and purpose is lost one must look to find meaning in the emptiness itself.
It's incredible to me how gazing a night sky can make me so calmed, since i remember nothing really matters that much. I wish I could do it more often
This is the sensation I feel from real life cities when visiting them as well. The older, the city, the more I feel it and am fascinated by it. When I visited Athens, Greece for the first time, I've noticed that throughout the city they deliberately have little slivers of glass flooring randomly placed. Below you can see ancient Athenian ruins. Quite the sensation when you're shopping at an international chain clothing store.
2:36 Captures very well my feeling yesterday. I was enjoying seeing the stars and thinking of how far they were and how small I was. While my partner wasn't keen because of "existential dread", I found it comforting to know I'm insignificant.
Omg I just made a comment about myself going through this exact same thing.
Except you aren't insignificant. There are at least a couple of people who you are important to and so are they to others. We matter. You matter. And in the end, the universe can't observe itself. Only you can.
I think that for the viewer, a cyberpunk setting is one in which you make yourself voluntarily lonely. Like you say, it's a setting where the war for a proper existence and humanising structures and behaviours is over, so the viewer voluntarily isolates itself. In effect, futility is accepted and there is a melancholic peace to it. But also on a more simple (and less depressive) level, sometimes being surrounded by sensation is oddly peaceful as they drown each other in a sea of light and sound. Because most of us are very far from the serenity of the countryside, a "white noise" silence from so much light and sound in an imposing city is the closest we can be to peace.
That's well said. I feel fortunate enough to have access to nature where I walk and walk for weeks without seeing any signs of Mankind.
For example, my body has done work all day walking. I'm physical spent, however. My mind is clear as mountain water. Before the sun sets, I know mosquitoes will engulf me, thus I get to bed. No artificial light, no worries or thoughts. It's not a choice, just my circumstances. My body rest in this routine whether I want to or not. When I wake up, I do so because the sun rises on the horizon. I'm not chased by external obligations. There's no clock that hounds me some days, but goes out of rythm on other days. Everything is as it should be - in tune. The morning is wonderful, but still a subtle thing. It's as if I'm meditating this routine, without actively meditating. As a result my existence is centered.
I feel it's similar to parachuting, in that your circumstances forces your mind to be where you physically are. You can't afford to drift your mind off into Narnia, but stay focused on the next 12 000 feet down to earth or not being eaten alive by blood suckers.
cyberpunk is empowering as well because there's always hope in those worlds, technology is usually the downfall, but still an unfailing source of hope. They're also grounded fantasy, a plausible future, but one that's usually entirely new to our minds. It's exciting. The protagonists are relatable and all of the characters have major flaws. It's refreshing, but not too dark.
"Meaning is found in real engagements with others which serve a real purpose that serves the evolution of the world."
_Greater Community Spirituality » Chapter 8: Who is Wisdom meant for?_
Thanks for this!
Similarly in Cloud Atlas, we get the brief phrase "And what is ocean but a multitude of drops?" What is small, what is a moment, what is commonplace is not insignificant. Only a part of a greater whole. Beautiful video as always.
this movie - this line - gets me every time. I don't think there is a movie i have watched as many times as Cloud Atlas.
"We are the cosmos dreaming of itself."
Good vid, though I'm gonna push back on the idea that "the fight's over, and we lost". It's true in a sense that the unimpeded march of technology and capitalism and the lack of human connection are the new normal in these works, and it can be perversely comforting to an outsider, the same way postapocalyptic stories are appealing because we imagine ourselves free of all modern obligations. But to the characters within those stories, the struggle is often just beginning. They provide us with the actual view from the ground; they are fighting to find the humanity within such crushing, soulless circumstances, fighting to return to something like what we have right now. If you empathize with them at all, there will be a tug-of-war inside you between wanting to resign yourself to failure and wanting to rebel against it with everything you have. This is the key theme of basically all cyberpunk: even if the battle might be lost, the war for mankind continues until the last human on earth remains, and maybe even beyond that.
yes and i also think that the battle doesn't have to be that grand, even a small personal victory to regain something valuable is enough
In that sense we can never truly identify with the protagonists of this reality. Not fully. Both you, and nerdwriter are right here. We observe the reality presented to us in the movies with a feeling of longing and relief - imagining we are plucked from our world and put into the new one in an istant. Inhabitants of this imaginery future, presented to us, however face their own struggles, much like we do in our own realities.
Reminds me of altered carbon, fighting for what was and what could be
there's a kind of freedom you get from being completely screwed, because you know things won't get any worse.
Blade Runner is still my favorite film to this day. Every time I put it on, I have a different experience than I have with most films. I'm just absorbed into the world of the film. It's like visual storytelling ASMR.
Never thought there were any words to describe my obsession with cyberpunk genre but here we are. Thank you for giving my feelings a name.
I feel the same way whenever I go on a backpacking trip with my buddies and it’s just you and the vastness of the forest. Once everyone’s asleep, I always look up at the sky and realize how insignificant I am. Last time, I was overwhelmed so much, that I actually began to cry. Not because I was scared or anything like that but because like you said, there is a sense of calm in knowing that all of this, even you, is so insignificant.
You just translated my feeling with ciberpunk,a felling that I could never express in words. "We have already lost"
You have just perfectly articulated how I have felt about science fiction for thirty years. Surrender. This video is really uncanny to me. I love your stuff, but this one speaks to me very personally. Looking forward to buying the book
Is it really surrender or just a over encompassing futility in trying to change or resist? It already is the the way it is, and that's just how it will stay.
Holy. Shit. So much about how I feel through Cyberpunk just clicked for me because of this video. I can't wait for your book
Roy's monologue is so powerful in such a personal way. It reminds me of my own humanity, delicate but real, often when I need it the most. This is probably my favorite corner in the immense world of film. I can't wait to read your book and see this world the way you do.
I had to come back here and comment because I am reading your book, specifically this essay. When you talk about the night sky and how small you feel but that blissful surrender... I would often lay on my bed and think about this when I was a kid and surrender to that feeling. It's been a very long time since then and I had forgotten how comforting it was. I needed to be reminded and I wanted to thank you. (I'm also super glad I saved this vid for after reading!)
I guess you can sum up cyberpunk’s appeal as “the future may be shit, polluted and run by megacorporations, but at least it looks cool.”
"the future"
Well at least the future figured out how to look cool
I want to thank you so much for doing this video. Over the last two years (and it's been worse lately) I've been feeling like I've been going through an existential crisis of sorts. I've been trying to figure out those big questions of what's my purpose and what does it all mean. My depression and anxiety over these feelings and thoughts have really been consuming.
Two weeks ago I went on a beach vacation with my family and one night I was sitting on the beach and stargazing. There were so many stars and the ocean was just a large dark void that went on forever. It made me feel so insignificant but in the most beautiful way. It made me realize that in the scheme of the universe, my problems are so small and insignificant. None of it really matters. And there was something so comforting in that.
When I watched this video, I cried. It was nice to hear that someone else had similar thoughts and feelings. Thank you.
The writing in this was phenomenal. I’ve been watching your videos since 2017 and your way with words have only gotten better. You inspire me. I’m buying your book immediately.
I received my copy of Escape into Meaning on Monday and already finished it (today is Wednesday). It was so enjoyable, I just kept reading until the end. This essay, the Comforts of Cyperpunk, was a highlight, and I'm excited to share it with friends and fam because the concepts discussed will provoke some interesting conversations. Congratulations Mr. Nerdwriter, you've hit the dream balance of entertaining/enjoyable writing style and thoughtful analysis!
best monologue ever, especially given the acting and the context (and the music). The moment is essentially Roy denying his programming and claiming his humanity.
You write in a way that I've aspired to for a long time. Have preordered, both because I love this channel, and because I hope reading your work will help me shape my own!
Great timing. I've been binging videos the Bladerunner and it's sequel the whole week.
Much excite!!! Pre-ordered the book as soon as it was available. I’m a voice actor and I can’t say how much more excited I am that YOU read this for Audible.
So happy for you, what an amazing line of demarcation in your life. Well done. 🥰
The soundtrack seals that feeling for me The ambient music swallows us up and feels like a release. Like you’re at a spa with that 432 Hz type music and suddenly you just give in to your surroundings. It helps show the acceptance you talk about in the blade runner reality
Last few weeks I've been pondering why I'm so obsessed with cyberpunk, and this sheds an interesting perspective.
I pre-ordered the book. Thank you for bringing me such joy with your thoughtful videos over these past years. They have turned into a sort of coffee with an old friend moment for me. It's hard to find friends or people that share these types of interest so thank you.
Coffee with an old friend, perfectly encapsulated.
❤️❤️❤️ my favorite topic with my favorite genre let's go!!
more so than the content of your writing, the form in which it is presented comforts me. Will you release a self voiced audio book version of your book? That would be wonderful.
He should! His voice is very soothing and evocative.
A NEW VIDEO! I love everything you’ve ever put out. Thank you for doing what you do!
Really nice video about thoses emotions we all kind of experienced or will some time in our lives, this bladerunner monologue is really powerful when you start thinking about our place in the vast universe or maybe just our place in our city
Didn’t know about your book before this video, but instantly pre-ordered. Looking forward to it, man.
Perfectly summed up what makes cyberpunk so special. Amazing video as always 👍👍
thanks for succinctly verbalizing why looking up at the vastness of the stars feels so great. looking forward to the book.
Whoaaa, three minutes and a whole new perspective unfolds. Thank you, I'm going to order your book now.
Well said.
Looking at the starfilled night sky as a kid evoked this "unique" feeling of happiness and melancholy. Feeling the grandness of the universe and my insignificance in all of it. Smiling with a heartache.
I think that is the beauty of Blade Runner and Cyberpunk.
wow, I loved this chapter. The way you described it is on point.
possibly some of your best work my guy. keep it up!
Yo this one was a really great one to watch bro. All the best
As years go by as someone who been subscribing to the genre of cyberpunk, we seem to really love this genre especially during nighttime because it feels like a different world, like moonside from earthbound, even people's mentality change out at night. Also our exposure to materials give slight expectations some revalanting event might happen tonight that puts yourself at center stage. And when the sun comes up, its a whole new world and you switch up with a new outlook. I enjoy the original Blade Runner ending and Gungrave game ending as years go by
I never feel more kindred with a CZcamsr than I do with you, when you talk about Bladerunner. I think it hit us on the same level.
I'm preparing a book about cyberpunk. This wonderful, insightful musing has provided me with new perspectives and guidance. Nerdwriter1 is, quite simply, one of the best general cultural channels on CZcams. As a fellow writer I can only admire you.
WOW!!! I loved this so much! Can’t wait to get your book.
Man, i kid you not, i was thinking about Helvetica this whole day. And now when i get home, i press play on a nerdwriter video and what do i see? Exactly.
This video is *chef's kiss* ❤️ keep up the good work, nerdwriterman
This video came right on time for me!
Play Cloudpunk people! It has such an awesome atmosphere!
Well made and beautiful video!!!! Keep up the great work!!!!
I can't wait to get my copy! Thank you for the excerpt, and good luck!
Pre-ordered the hardcover to boost your numbers for the bestseller list, and the audio book so I can hear it in your voice. Looking forward to both.
Sublime. Really looking forward to reading this book.
The Tears in rain scene still gets my heart racing when I watch. It's haunting, tragic and beautiful at the same time.
That was beautiful. Thanks for that.
Brilliant, preordered your book about 15 seconds after this video ended.
This was poeticly beautiful
As usual, so extremely well said!
Oh, maybe the real beauty of a such uplifting moments stands on strong understanding - everything could be a simulacrum so we have the one path of humility
I really enjoyed this little essay! I can relate big time! So then I felt compelled to pre-ordered the audio book version of "Escape Into Meaning" on Amazon,. so I did, and to my surprise I got it for free along with a second audio book free too with my Audible membership! Can't wait for August 30th to roll around so I can give it a listen. Good luck with your journey as an author, brother. I'm writing a book myself. Hope you'll feel compelled order mine when it comes out too.Thank you for the thoughtful words and wonderful inspiration you offer. Be well, brother.
A little while ago I saw a young athletic woman wearing yoga pants (with her phone a lump in the specialized pocket) and a skintight top with a Brazilian jiu-jitsu logo, talking via earbuds to someone while using a hoverboard and wearing a powered facemask.
I realised she could have come straight out of a cyberpunk book of the 80's.
Cyberpunk is THE genre for our contemporary age
Really solid video man
Le di like antes de verlo porque sabía que el mini video iba a ser bueno. Como todos tus video ensayos.
Explicas de forma tan poética la sensación que transmite Blade Runner, que me emociona. El monólogo final de la película realmente te llega al alma
Gracias por esto!
Roy Batty's speech is memorable and definitely one of my all time favorites.
It pretty much sums up how insignificant we are to the vast time and space that we live in.
Just like the lyrics of Linkin Park's probably most famous song: "but in the end, it doesn't even matter".
I've always found comfort in those neon cyberpunk scenes too but could never articulate why until now
Fantastic excerpt from your book!
great analysis, inspiring work
One of the best videos that i have ever saw
Life is plague by uncertainty. Cyberpunk is comforting to me because it gives me the aftermath of it.
Cyberpunk always kinda scared me as a genre. There is serenity and peace in the surrender but I don’t wish for surrender. I don’t wish to see capitalism ravage what’s left that hasn’t been ravaged by it yet. For consumerism and commercialism to take any and all. I wish for a brighter future
Beautiful, thank you
So well said!
Something you said here, about the fact that cyberpunk distills the anxiety of the information age into a *place*, that's doin' something for me. I've been trying to crack a cyberpunk story for years, always felt that the genre needed to modernize past Asian fetishism and pretty neon lights into...something else. Something more primal, that all cyberpunk shares, this pervasive fear of the future.
Framing it as this melange of STUFF that's inescapable and all-encompassing...I can work with that. That's usable.
It is Saturday and Nerdwriter1 uploaded 🔥❤️
I have missed your soothing voice! Can you do more movies? Love your work!
At the end screen of the video my first question was "Does Escape Into Meaning have an audiobook?", which was quickly answered by reading the video's description. I'm really excited to listen to this book because I think you give a density of meaning to your word choice that deeply compliments your spoken cadence. It's slow but it's not boring, which is hard to pull off.
This is very beautiful
This is rather timely because I just discovered and listened to neuromancer last week. I'm still confused how I had never heard of William Gibson before then. I saw Blade Runner when I was 13. I spent half of the viewing in the theater picking my JAW up off of my lap just astonished by the site's sounds storyline et cetera. It's been my favorite movie for 40 years now.
Beautiful essay. Thank you
The fact that Roy Batty edited the script and added his own words at the end of Blade Runner improvising that memorable line was amazing.
I am grateful someone has done this writeup on one of the essences of the genre. I'm saddened now that in it's modern resurgence, we finally had a chance for it to be portrayed properly in more popular media, but it basically got distilled down to neon lights and flashy people once again which is a damn shame.
Good luck with the book! I'd order it but you know, I don't really do that. I'm rooting for your success though
"Nothing makes me feel smaller than imagining the space between galaxies." Perfect... thats describe what I feel too!
Cyberpunk is the cinematic visual manifestation of what vaporwave evokes in the listener before vaporwave was even a thing imo
Picked up my copy of the book yesterday (somehow), so excited to dive into it!
How!?! I preordered on Amazon
@@SkyreeXScalabar ordered it through my local independent book store, they got it in Thursday and said to just come on in and pick it up!
Wow... i can relate so hard to this.
I believe the neon nightmare and claustrophobic Cyberpunk world, ad's vying for our attention and everything from vices to consumerism catered to, it hits home the importance of the human condition. That feeling of connection with someone in the messy hell that is a city drowned in corporations and nihilism. The feeling of being free from the struggle but also free to see people and their real motivations. The pure connection one has with either a choom or their significant other. If anything I see Cyberpunk worlds as a story of the human condition. That even though others may call the shots we are still in control of our own lives and that is enough to put me at ease. Also it's odd because it's about loving a world that actively hates you.
Thank you.