Lanier - The Final Chapters.

            Finally. At last this manifesto has been completed and I have never been happier. Upon reading the last two parts of Lanier's manifesto, I am more confused than ever. Lanier has an, how should I say, interesting style and approach to his writing, chalk full of contradictions. After cutting through all of his technical jargon and trying to decode his meanings and philosophies about life I am still left wanting a justified reason as to why he wrote this book. In his final two parts he goes into a description and rant on neoteny, singularity, computationalism, cybernetic totalism and a whole list of other things that are new and foreign to me. In the opening to part five of his book, Lanier confesses that the appeal of cybernetic totalism is "undeniable", when earlier in his manifesto he defined cybernetic totalism as "a cataclysm brought on when computers become ultra-intelligent masters of matter and life.". Following Martin's blog title "People Like Lanier Are Responsible For Skynet", I'm completely agree. Lanier's whole criticism of people and the Internet was that people were becoming to absorbed in the whole wonder that is the Internet. He criticised the masses for following blindly and giving "too much credit" to the Internet that is and was designed by humans for humans, not machine for machine. So in the terms of a troll, WTF Lanier? How can you say that a cataclysm brought on by computers is appealing? Has James Cameron taught us nothing?

        For all my criticisms and harsh words about Lanier, I do have to give them man credit for what he has accomplished in his lifetime. Going from being a goat herder and midwife (I couldn't make that up people), to the father of Virtual Reality, the man's accomplishments are staggering. In the final few parts of his book, he describes, in detail, just how the creation of VR happened and through his description you can see just how passionate this man is about his work. I can see now that through all the bullshit that he confused us with and all his grievances about the Internet, he is almost a caring father, wanting to see his son become interested in what he himself likes. He only wrote this book because he cares, and the fact that he wrote this manifesto, with his background, is good enough reason as to why we should respect what the man has to say, regardless of how we feel about him or his views. I may not agree with everything that the man says but I do respect him for his accomplishments and what he has done to facilitate the growth of VR and the Internet itself.