Cyberpunk Society and Our Society: Present and Future Drugs

I’m drunk and I want to make a drunken post on, what is currently, a Monday night. Living the dream right here. That may sound sarcastic, but there are few things I love more than drunken writing. Anyway, as I’ve probed my mind for things to talk about, in my drunken stupor, it has occurred to me that I rarely touch upon drug use. Come to think of it, have I ever even mentioned drug use? I can’t think of a single instance in which I remarked on it. The fact that my blog was inspired by Cyberpunk fiction, and the fact that drug use is rampant in said fiction, makes it glaringly clear that something is missing from my blog discussions. How could I have neglected such a thing? After all, cyberpunk is “high-tech; low-life” and all low-lives have one thing in common, they like drugs. When your life is in the gutter, what better way to find that shred of happiness than through either biological augmentation or the bottle? It is a sin for this blog to exist while not having a single post about drug use, namely, the future of drug use. And that’s what I want to talk about here, the drugs of our present and our future, and the drugs that reflect our lives and our culture. But what do I mean when I say “the drugs that reflect our lives and our culture”? Let me explain.

Mainstream drugs reflect mainstream cultural issues and challenges. The primary drugs in use reflect the era. They are both a consequence and cause of the era or, more accurately, the culture of the era. The 60’s and 70’s, the era of free love, mysticism, and music, had LSD, marijuana, and Mescaline. The 80’s, the era of parties, late nights, and disco, had cocaine and amphetamines. The 90’s, the era of seeming hopeless and despair, had heroin.

And what are the drugs of the new millennium? Necessarily, these drugs must reflect the issues, culture, and challenges of the new millennium. These drugs are marijuana, alcohol, nicotine, caffeine, and Adderall (cocaine, too, makes the occasional appearance). Is it any coincidence that over half of these drugs are stimulants? Is anyone really surprised?

It seems every few weeks we are greeted with a “shocking” and salacious report about college students using stimulants like Adderall, Ritalin, and Vyvanse. Again, why are we so surprised? I think the better question is, why do people pretend to be so surprised? Stunningly enough, people who are put into a vice, day-in and day-out, look for a means to cope with that vice. Either they drown their worries in booze and party or, alternatively, they endeavor to beat their overscheduled lives by taking heavy-stimulants. The drugs we use reflect the culture we live in. And those drugs go on to shape our culture.

The modern era is a rush. Everyone rushes to get somewhere for some reason and for some end, only to find the final end in the ground. Humans are bombarded with information as never before in the history of the world. We’re overstimulated. We need to ingest booze or other depressants just to slow down for a moment of recovery. Our poor minds, in order to not overload, need to erect filters. Indeed, even with these filters, our minds are filled to burst with information. Never before have humans had so much information crammed into their heads, yet, the average person has so little control over that information.

Where am I going with all this? I’m about to introduce another, completely legal and widely distributed, drug offered in our present, by our media and our technology. That drug is information. A recent study suggested that people would rather stimulate themselves with electric shock than be left alone with their own thoughts. People would rather inflict pain on themselves than be disconnected from the world of information. They need the stimulation even if that stimulation is a painful electric shock, such is the degree of their addiction to information. Do the results of this study support my idea of information being the drug of the future? If there is still doubt, let’s take a look at the beast itself, social media.

Literally billions of people enjoy the fruits of social media websites and forums. Facebook, Twitter, Pintrest, Tumblr, Flickr, Youtube, Instagram, and, yes, even Blogger. And don’t forget all those “news” sites, magazines, “studies”, surveys, and articles that get linked to those social media sites. And all those comment sections and share “buttons” and up-votes/down-votes. All spreading, spreading, spreading. Sharing…sharing…sharing. Sharing…what? You guessed it, information! Did you get your information fix today by reading this post? Don’t shy away from it. Embrace it. Own up to it. I’ve got no problem admitting I have an addiction to information. It’s the drug of the future. Presented in a way no other drug has ever been distributed, virally by electric fire! Flashing images, gripping sounds, byte-size quotes to thesis-size rants. Information is intoxicating. And it’s all at our finger-tips, provided you have a computer of some sort. You can get your information fix at, pretty much, any time; just like the gentlemen in the image above.

I’ve said that the drugs society uses both reflect and reinforce mainstream culture. The information drug is the perfect supporting example of this claim. Our culture is all about that information. It’s all about being in-the-know. Being privy. Being knowledgeable. Being hip and savvy. So it isn’t shocking that information has become our go-to drug. And, for the second part of my claim, how does the information drug shape our culture? The information drug creates the addiction, an addiction which must be satisfied. How is it satisfied? More information is created, produced, and distributed. Yes, another vicious cycle. Our culture created the information drug and the information drug created more need for the information drug within the culture, which creates more sources of information. There are so many vicious cycles in this future of ours. How appropriate that most cyberpunk fiction takes place in dystopian societies. We have our own cyberpunk dystopian society filled with a drugged-out populace looking for their next information fix.

You may say the information drug isn’t unique to the 21st century; people have been craving the information drug since, at least, the 50s: the television era. This is true. In fact, the information drug has been on the market for at least as long as humans have existed. People have always craved information in one form or another. What makes the 21st century unique is that humanity now has the capacity to overload itself with the information drug, to form a serious addiction, and to propagate that addiction to no end.

Is there any hope for us information-riddled addicts? I think there is some hope even for the most craven and depraved of addicts. As the old saying goes, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The best way to beat information addiction is to never become an addict. But what about those billions who are already addicted? If they are going to beat their addiction, they need to come to terms with the fact that they don’t need to be up-to-date on the latest news, “study”, gossip, or information. They need to take a step back, take a deep breath, and just let go.

It’s important to note that some people are more addicted than others. I’m addicted, but not nearly to the degree as the average teenage girl or the average Facebook user. I don’t seek help for my addiction because I can control it within reason. I even enjoy my addiction, as far as an addiction can be enjoyed. I understand that I am the one in charge of my life and I accept responsibility for my addiction.

In our society, this addiction can’t really be avoided, but it can be easily controlled with a little intelligence and a little willpower. So, the one question that remains is, “Will you accept responsibility for your own addiction?”

 

Thank you for choosing this blog to satisfy your information cravings.

Information: Please Learn Responsibly.