Alex Blechman? Ray Bradbury? Neal Stephenson? Mark Zuckerberg? Abe Murray? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: Science fiction is filled with cautionary fables and dystopian visions such as the murderous HAL 9000 computer of the movie “2001”, the relentless T-800 robot of the movie “The Terminator”, the disorienting cyberspace of the short story “Burning Chrome” by William Gibson, and the frenetic metaverse of the book “Snow Crash” by Neal Stephenson. Oddly, the current generation of technologists seem intent on bringing these visions to life.
Apparently, a humorist once described a joyful technologist who was celebrating the creation of the “Torment Nexus” even though the “Torment Nexus” was originally the frightening subject of an alarming science fiction story. Would you please help me to find a citation?
Reply from Quote Investigator: On November 28, 2021 writer Alex Blechman transmitted the following acerbic tweet. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1
Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale
Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don’t Create The Torment Nexus
Alex Blechman’s profile on X-twitter stated the following as of January 2025:2
Writer, game designer x Staff Writer @TheOnion & @ClickHole Stuff for Jackbox Games, High On Life, Starship Troopers: TC, Saints Row, other places
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1977 the prominent science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon wrote the introduction to a futuristic novel. Sturgeon credited another SF luminary, Ray Bradbury, with a cogent comment about the purpose of fiction:3
In a discussion of 1984, Bradbury pointed out that the world George Orwell described has little likelihood of coming about—largely because Orwell described it. “The function of science fiction is not only to predict the future,” Bradbury said, “but to prevent it.”
A separate Quote Investigator article “Quote Origin: I Do Not Want to Predict the Future. I Want to Prevent It” is available here.
In 1992 the influential science fiction author Neal Stephenson published the novel “Snow Crash” with the main character Hiro Protagonist. Stephenson used the term “metaverse” to refer to a technology he envisioned which combined virtual reality, augmented reality, and a social network. Stephenson’s “metaverse” was polychromatic, frenzied, extreme, and dangerous:4
So Hiro’s not actually here at all. He’s in a computer-generated universe that his computer is drawing onto his goggles and pumping into his earphones. In the lingo, this imaginary place is known as the Metaverse. Hiro spends a lot of time in the Metaverse.
In October 2021 Mark Zuckerberg employed the word “metaverse” when he discussed the future direction of his company which he renamed from “Facebook” to “Meta”:5
The next platform will be even more immersive — an embodied internet where you’re in the experience, not just looking at it. We call this the metaverse, and it will touch every product we build.
A separate Quote Investigator article titled “Quote Origin: In the Lingo, This Imaginary Place Is Known as the Metaverse” is available here.
In November 2021 writer Alex Blechman tweeted the following as mentioned previously:6
Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale
Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don’t Create The Torment Nexus
In December 2023 investor Abe Murray tweeted a reaction:7
I’ve been tempted to write a short story titled “Don’t Create The Torment Nexus” so that when folks bump into this classic and references to it they’ll find my glorious work.
Plot twist: the story will be about doomers trying to prevent the creation of the torment nexus, which actually provides abundant free energy to society.
Abe Murray’s profile on X-twitter stated the following as of January 2025:8
General Partner @Alley_Corp | Deep Tech | Founder · Builder · Eng | Android · Google AI · Verily · k12 dropout | Stoic techno optimist
In conclusion, Alex Blechman deserves credit for the comical message he tweeted in 2021. SF author Ray Bradbury and others have pointed out that humanity should actively prevent the negative scenarios depicted in science fiction.
Image Notes: Depiction of a mysterious crystal sphere from Drew Beamer at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to anonymous person whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration.
- X-Tweet, From: Alex Blechman @AlexBlechman, Timestamp: 5:49 PM, Nov 8, 2021, Text: Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus. (Accessed on x.com on January 14, 2025) link ↩︎
- X-Tweet Profile, Handle: Alex Blechman @AlexBlechman. (Accessed on x.com on January 14, 2025) link ↩︎
- 1978, World Soul by Mikhail Emtsev and Eremei Parnov, Introduction by Theodore Sturgeon, Quote Page viii, Note: Translated from Russian by Antonina W. Bouis, Macmillan Publishing Co., New York. (Verified with hardcopy) ↩︎
- 1993 (1992 Copyright), Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson, Chapter 3, Quote Page 24, Bantam Books, New York. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
- Website: Facebook Company (Renamed Meta), Article title: Founder’s Letter, 2021, Article author: Mark Zuckerberg, Date on website: October 28, 2021, Website description: Social media company. (Accessed about.fb.com on October 30, 2021) link backup link ↩︎
- X-Tweet, From: Alex Blechman @AlexBlechman, Timestamp: 5:49 PM, Nov 8, 2021, Text: Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus. (Accessed on x.com on January 14, 2025) link ↩︎
- X-Tweet, From: Abe Murray @abemurray, Timestamp: 11:14 AM, Dec 27, 2023, Text: I’ve been tempted to write a short story. (Accessed on x.com on January 14, 2025) link ↩︎
- X-Tweet Profile, Handle: Abe Murray @abemurray. (Accessed on x.com on January 14, 2025) link ↩︎