As I was reading this novel, I kept thinking about how I do not like works of science fiction to be set in the reality of the time it was written in, as was done in Pattern Recognition. If a science fiction story is supposed to be set in reality, then the author will have to incorporate markers of the present reality into the story to give the readers a sense of when it is taking place - in the case of Pattern Recognition, one way in which this was accomplished was constantly dropping brand names and products. I think that it is especially problematic for science fiction works focused on technology to be set in reality because the piece of work will be quickly outdated. Now, I realize that I’m probably just being way too picky because the story can still function in spite of it being dated in some ways, but for me, I would prefer science fiction works to be set in alternate realities. Here, in Pattern Recognition, Gibson tries to have his story so connected to reality that he kind of misses it in the process. As someone said in class, when he talks about the technologies of today, it seems like he does not have a full understanding of what is going on, which, at least for me, detracts from the novel. One example of this is early on in the novel when he is talking about activity in the F:F:F forum. At one point, Cayce sits down in front of Damien’s computer,
“…opens F:F:F and sees that the posts have indeed been flying. But also, to a certain extent, that the shit has been hitting the fan.

Parkaboy and Mama Anarchia are flaming one another again.

Parkaboy is de facto spokesperson for the Progressives, those who assume that the footage consists of a work in progress, something unfinished and still being generated by its maker.

The Completists, on the other hand, a relative but articulate minority, are convinced that the footage is comprised of snippets fro ma finished work, one whose maker chooses to expose it piecemeal and in nonsequential order, Mama Anarchia is the consummate Completist.” (Gibson, 49)

I thought this whole sequence was pretty laughable. His dramatic announcement that shit was hitting the fan because Parkaboy and Mama Anarchia are “flaming” each other came off as just ridiculous to me. First off, “flaming” is such an archaic and cheesy term – that’s like a term that was used in the beginning stages of the internet and online chatting circa 1998 or something. To top it off, he gave that sentence its own paragraph to emphasize the gravity of the situation. Next, the idea that some people are so involved and tied up in a simple forum to warrant the serious proclamation that the “…shit has been hitting the fan” also reeks of someone who is ten years behind in internet culture. I think at one point, the internet was seen as this almost mythological place, a whole another world where anybody could talk to anybody, but nowadays the internet is so integrated into daily life that I don’t think forums hold the mystical power that they once did. Thus, the idea that argument within a forum would cause this much distress seems off. Also ridiculous is the premise that there is a serious war being raged online between two intense internet gangs. I don’t know, maybe it’s just because of my own personal bias against the internet that I cannot take anything from it seriously. In the end, I would prefer for science fiction to take place in alternate realities. When the story takes place in an alternate reality, the author cannot really miss with anything because he or she is creating all the rules for the world. However, when the story takes place in reality and the author speculates about various technologies, he or she runs a very high risk of screwing something up, and if that happens, it can detract from the story.