Cyberdelic (from "

cyber- Internet-related prefixes such as ''wikt:e-, e-'', ''wikt:i-, i-'', ''wikt:cyber-, cyber-'', ''wikt:info-, info-'', ''wikt:techno-, techno-'' and ''wikt:net-, net-'' are added to a wide range of existing words to describe new, Internet- or computer ...

" and " psychedelic") was the fusion of

cyberculture Internet culture refers to culture developed and maintained among frequent and active users of the Internet (also known as netizens) who primarily communicate with one another as members of online communities; that is, a culture whose influence ...

and the psychedelic subculture that formed a new

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

in the 1980s and 1990s. Cyberdelic art was created by calculating

fractal In mathematics, a fractal is a Shape, geometric shape containing detailed structure at arbitrarily small scales, usually having a fractal dimension strictly exceeding the topological dimension. Many fractals appear similar at various scale ...

objects and representing the results as still images, animations, underground, algorithmic music, or other media. Cyberdelic

rave A rave (from the verb: '' to rave'') is a dance party at a warehouse, club, or other public or private venue, typically featuring performances by DJs playing electronic dance music. The style is most associated with the early 1990s dance mus ...

dance parties featured psychedelic trance music alongside laser light shows, projected images, and artificial fog, while attendees often used club drugs.

Advocates

Timothy Leary Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from "bold oracle" to "publicity hound". Accordin ...

, an advocate of

psychedelic drug Psychedelics are a subclass of hallucinogenic drugs whose primary effect is to trigger non-ordinary mental states (known as psychedelic experiences or "trips") and a perceived "expansion of consciousness". Also referred to as classic halluc ...

use who became a cult figure of the

hippies A hippie, also spelled hippy, especially in British English, is someone associated with the counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture of the mid-1960s to early 1970s, originally a youth movement that began in the United States and spread to dif ...

in the 1960s, reemerged in the 1980s as a spokesperson of the cyberdelic counterculture, whose adherents called themselves "

cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...

s", and became one of the most philosophical promoters of personal computers (PC), the Internet, and immersive virtual reality. Leary proclaimed that the "PC is the

LSD Lysergic acid diethylamide, commonly known as LSD (from German ; often referred to as acid or lucy), is a semisynthetic, hallucinogenic compound derived from ergot, known for its powerful psychological effects and serotonergic activity. I ...

of the 1990s" and admonished bohemians to " turn on, boot up, jack in". In contrast to some of the hippies of the 1960s who were

antiscience Antiscience is a set of attitudes and a form of anti-intellectualism that involves a rejection of science and the scientific method. People holding antiscientific views do not accept science as an objective method that can generate universal k ...

and antitechnology, the cyberpunks of the 1980s and 1990s ecstatically embraced technology and the

hacker ethic The hacker ethic is a philosophy and set of moral values within hacker culture. Practitioners believe that sharing information and data with others is an ethical imperative. The hacker ethic is related to the concept of freedom of information ...

. They believed that high technology (and smart drugs) could help human beings overcome limits, that it could liberate them from authority and even enable them to transcend space, time, and body. They often expressed their

ethos ''Ethos'' is a Greek word meaning 'character' that is used to describe the guiding beliefs or ideals that characterize a community, nation, or ideology; and the balance between caution and passion. The Greeks also used this word to refer to the ...

and

aesthetics Aesthetics (also spelled esthetics) is the branch of philosophy concerned with the nature of beauty and taste (sociology), taste, which in a broad sense incorporates the philosophy of art.Slater, B. H.Aesthetics ''Internet Encyclopedia of Ph ...

through cyberart and reality hacking. R. U. Sirius, co-founder and original editor-in-chief of '' Mondo 2000'', became a prominent promoter of the cyberpunk ideology, whose adherents were pioneers in the IT industry of

Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is a region in Northern California that is a global center for high technology and innovation. Located in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area, it corresponds roughly to the geographical area of the Santa Clara Valley ...

and the

West Coast of the United States The West Coast of the United States, also known as the Pacific Coast and the Western Seaboard, is the coastline along which the Western United States meets the North Pacific Ocean. The term typically refers to the Contiguous United States, contig ...

. In 1992,

Billy Idol William Michael Albert Broad (born 30 November 1955), known professionally as Billy Idol, is an English singer, songwriter, musician, and actor. Idol achieved fame in the 1970s on the London punk rock scene as the lead singer of Generation X ...

became influenced by the cyberdelic subculture and the

fiction genre. The result of his passion for the ideals behind the culture resulted in his 1993 concept album, ''

Cyberpunk Cyberpunk is a subgenre of science fiction in a dystopian futuristic setting said to focus on a combination of "low-life and high tech". It features futuristic technological and scientific achievements, such as artificial intelligence and cyberwa ...

'', which Idol hoped would introduce Idol's fans and other musicians to the opportunities presented by digital technology and

. Timothy Leary and other members of the cyberdelic movement were contacted by Idol, and participated in the album's creation. The album was a critical and financial failure, and polarized online

communities of the period. Detractors viewed it as an act of co-optation and opportunistic commercialization. It was also seen as part of a process that saw the overuse of the term "cyberpunk" until the word lost meaning.alt.cyberpunk: Frequently Asked Questions
project.cyberpunk.ru (2004) Alternatively, supporters saw Idol's efforts as harmless and well-intentioned, and were encouraged by his new interest in cyberculture.

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After the

dot-com bubble The dot-com bubble (or dot-com boom) was a stock market bubble that ballooned during the late-1990s and peaked on Friday, March 10, 2000. This period of market growth coincided with the widespread adoption of the World Wide Web and the Interne ...

of the late 1990s burst in 2000, the

techno-utopianism Technological utopianism (often called techno-utopianism or technoutopianism) is any ideology based on the premise that advances in science and technology could and should bring about a utopia, or at least help to fulfill one or another utopian ...

that prevailed in the cyberdelic counterculture waned while technorealism grew. Most cyberpunks realized that the PC, the Internet, and other new technologies did not really bring the radical social, political, and personal changes they thought they would, specifically the " cybersociety" - a postpolitical, non-hierarchical society made possible by

cyberware Cyberware refers to technology that integrates directly with the human nervous system, typically through implants or interfaces that enable communication between machines and the body. Once largely a concept within ''science fiction'', cyberwar ...

, in which the computer-literate, super-intelligent, open-minded, change-oriented, self-reliant, irreverent free-thinker is the norm and the person who is not internetted and does not think for themself and does not question authority is the "problem person". Disillusioned, R. U. Sirius condemned cyberdelic

escapism Escapism is mental diversion from unpleasant aspects of daily life, typically through activities involving imagination or entertainment. Escapism also may be used to occupy one's self away from persistent feelings of depression or general s ...

References

External links

Beyond Cyberpunk!:The Web Version
, by Gareth Branwyn. (''ca'' 1991) An online version of the original

HyperCard HyperCard is a application software, software application and software development kit, development kit for Apple Macintosh and Apple IIGS computers. It is among the first successful hypermedia systems predating the World Wide Web. HyperCard com ...

stack about cyberdelic culture. Was updated in '93 with new material. ;Media
Tim Leary and the Cyberpunks
, Allan Lundell, ''YouTube'', February 11, 2009. Timothy Leary describes the cyberdelic/cyberpunk movement in context of the ''

'' album, by Billy Idol.
Timothy Leary Interviews Billy Idol - In Concert with The Ramones
(1993), an interview discussing the cyberpunk counterculture for the ABC television show, '' In Concert'', hosted by the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

.
Lecture for the Whole Life Expo in Los Angeles
(November 1989), a Timothy Leary lecture on connections between psychedelic and cybernetic cultures, hosted by the

. {{Cyberpunk and derivatives Computing culture Counterculture Cyberpunk culture Cyberpunk themes Psychedelia Subcultures Counterculture of the 1980s

Advocates

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See also

References

Further reading

External links