I believe that the national adventure you now propose is of quite extraordinary importance. Historians of the future – provided good dreams prevail – will view this as having been far more crucial to the survival of democracy in the United States than rural electrification or the space program.
Predictor: Gibson, William
Prediction, in context:In a 1993 speech for the National Academy of Sciences Convocation on Technology and Education in Washington, D.C., author William Gibson makes the following remarks: ”I look at the proposals being made here and I marvel. A system that in some cases isn’t able to teach basic evolution, a system bedevilled by the religious agendas of textbook censors, now proposes to throw itself open to a barrage of ultrahighbandwidth information from a world of Serbian race-hatred, Moslem fundamentalism, and Chinese Mao Zedong thought. A system that has managed to remain largely unchanged since the 19th Century now proposes to jack in, bravely bringing itself online in an attempt to meet the challenges of the 21st. I applaud your courage in this. I see green shoots attempting to break through the sterilized earth. I believe that the national adventure you now propose is of quite extraordinary importance. Historians of the future – provided good dreams prevail – will view this as having been far more crucial to the survival of democracy in the United States than rural electrification or the space program.”
Biography:William Gibson published the influential book “Neuromancer,” in which he coined the term “cyberspace,” in 1984. Through the early 1990s, he was asked to comment regularly on the coming age of the Internet despite the fact that he claimed to use it rarely, if ever. (Author/Editor/Journalist.)
Date of prediction: May 13, 1993
Topic of prediction: Global Relationships/Politics
Subtopic: Democracy
Name of publication: National Academy of Sciences
Title, headline, chapter name: Literary Freeware: Not for Commercial Use
Quote Type: Direct quote
Page number or URL of document at time of study:
http://www.eff.org/Net_culture/Cyberpunk/William_Gibson/sterling_gibson_nas.speeches
This data was logged into the Elon/Pew Predictions Database by: Anderson, Janna Quitney