Terminally Online

The neo-futurist concept artist Syd Mead (Blade Runner, Aliens, or Tron) called science fiction “reality ahead of schedule.” In the digital age, that train travels faster than ever, and its terminally online passengers are speeding along the frontiers of an experience that folds together the virtual and the real. Physical space is reduced to a grid where human interactions occur and are interpreted through the lens of massively multiplayer online role-playing games. Pat Benatar said love is a battlefield. She was right, but we call it a PVP zone now. It’s all fun and games when you Do Numbers but not so much when it dawns on you that your entire mental frame of reference is plugged into the internet, that you’ve constructed a cognitive prison with invisible walls that beckon you to plaster them with memes. Why escape a cell that was built for you by you? In 2023, ARX-Han published INCEL: A Novel, which gets at some of these themes, namely, social alienation. It follows a young man who is suicidally depressed and decides, one day, that if he cannot lose his virginity by his next birthday, he’s going to commit seppuku by picking a fight with the biggest guy he can find. Ross Barkan praised it as “remarkably ambitious, plenty unsettling, and mordantly funny” in The Mars Review of Books. Although I hadn’t finished it by the time I got to talk with Han, I can confirm that assessment, which is evident from the first page. In this episode, we talked about why he wrote INCEL, the nature of various online subcultures, and strayed a little into the political. Han also publishes DECENTRALIZED FICTION, where you can find his reviews along with his insightful and amusing cultural musings. He’s a very gifted observer and a powerful wordcel. I hope you’ll enjoy this one and check out INCEL. Support Contra and become a paid subscriber today. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.readcontra.com/subscribe