Bruce Sterling talks about J.G. Ballard:

“To me these late-Ballard pieces, these Shepperton pieces ? Cocaine Nights, Super-Cannes and so forth ? really seem like gentle chiding from somebody who?s recognized that his civilisation really has gone mad. They?re a series of repetitions that say, ?Look, we?re heading for a world where consensus reality really is just plain unsustainable, and the ideas that the majority of our people hold in their heart of hearts are just not connected to reality?. I think that may be a very prophetic assessment on his part. I think we may in fact be in such a world right now ? where people have really just lost touch with the ?reality-based community? and are basically just living in self-generated fantasy echo chambers that have no more to do with the nature of geopolitical reality than Athanasius Kircher or Castaneda?s Don Juan.”

Ballardian.

(via Notes from Somewhere Bizarre)