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person1984–present

Neal Stephenson

Disciplines:
science fiction
science fiction/speculative fiction
technology analysis/technology forecasting

Summary

American science fiction author known for long, densely researched novels about technology, cryptography, and civilization — whose Snow Crash coined the term 'metaverse' and whose work influences Silicon Valley entrepreneurs.

Core Contribution

Created the concept of the metaverse (in Snow Crash) — the immersive virtual reality internet successor — which has directly shaped how technologists from Second Life to Meta have conceptualized the future of the internet.

Key Spikes & Highlights

  • Prescriptive Science Fiction (writes novels that are so technically detailed and predictively accurate that they function as technology roadmaps — Snow Crash was a design document for Second Life and later Meta — making his fiction an influence on actual technology development)

Notable Works & Achievements

Snow Crash

The Diamond Age

Cryptonomicon

Anathem

Seveneves

Fall; or, Dodge in Hell

Historical Influences

William Gibson Thomas Pynchon Bruce Sterling

Intellectual Lineage

Cyberpunk Science FictionWilliam Gibson's InfluenceAmerican Speculative Fiction

Contemporaries & Peers

William Gibson Kim Stanley Robinson Cory Doctorow

Minds Influenced

Silicon Valley culture Virtual reality industryCryptocurrency culture

Intellectual Posterity

Metaverse Snow Crash Cryptonomicon

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