One of the biggest themes in Snowcrash is privacy. There is virtually no privacy in the futuristic world in which the novel is set. Retinal scanners can capture even the minutest details of any passerby’s life. In class we discussed the implications of this lack of privacy, and how our world seems to be heading in that direction. What I found interesting, however, was that privacy still exists, it has just been relegated to the Metaverse, where your avatar can “look any way you want it to” (33). The lack of surveillance is evidenced by the fact that the Nipponese man challenges Hiro to a sword fight, not knowing that he is the greatest sword fighter in the world. In the real world, even in today’s world, everyone would know if there was a person as good at sword fighting as Hiro seems to be. Perhaps that’s the way our world is moving too. As privacy wanes we will find an outlet, a place to be anonymous: online. We can already see evidence of this in games like World of Warcraft, or even with bloggers and tumblr users. Maybe something like the Metaverse is a necessary escape from a world in which nothing is private.
I think the issue of privacy and surveillance in Snow Crash is a fascinating topic, and a critical component of both Snow Crash’s plot, and Neal Stephenson’s critique of society. Mark, I think you’re right to point out the fact that privacy is essentially non-existent in the real world of Snow Crash, and this lack of privacy is essentially the reason Y.T. and Hiro become involved in Lagos’ plan to defeat L. Bob Rife; the Mafia’s helicopter spots Y.T. deliver their pizza just in the nick of time, and the mafia implies that they had Hiro under surveillance for a long time—the reason he got a job as a pizza delivery guy—in attempt to bring him on to their plan to stop L. Bob Rife. In this sense, surveillance can be seen as responsible for bringing the characters together who helped to save California, and possibly even the world from L. Bob Rife’s mind control. However, the high level of surveillance in this society also had negative consequences in the book for some characters, including Lagos, and Y.T.’s mom. In the novel, Raven realizes that Lagos has him under surveillance, which leads to Lagos’ death; Y.T.’s mother, living a life of constant surveillance under the Feds, is forced to out her daughter’s role in the plan to stop L. Bob Rife.
Thus, I believe has mixed feelings about surveillance in our society today. On the one-hand, surveillance gives us the capability of catching criminals more easily, and even prevent crimes from happening, through the use of cc-TV, online, and cellular surveillance. However, at what point are we harmed, by surveillance, and what happens if those in control of our society’s surveillance use it for personal or manipulative purposes. There is also the question; to what extent do we have an inherent right to privacy?
Lastly, Mark, I think you bring up an interesting point, that like the novel, the internet/metaverse is a place of privacy for us in society today; however I think we may soon reach a point (or may already be at that point) where true anonymity and privacy no longer exist online. Will this drive us to create other means of privacy, or cause us to get off-line more in the future? I don’t know but it will be very interesting to see what happens.