The protagonist was recruited to a government think tank as a child, but escaped after discovering the hidden agenda behind the group. A master programmer, he conceals his true identity under a variety of aliases - he's skilled enough that he can program a new persona into the net using just a phone screen. His ID hacking is safeguarded by a worm that circulates through the Net eliminating any traces of his previous identities.
At this point, you're probably thinking, "Okay, well, that's somewhat plausible, but not excessively imaginative."
It's more imaginative than you think. The Shockwave Rider was written in 1975 - for the children in the audience, the original IBM PC was released in 1981, one year before the introduction of the standardized TCP/IP system that allowed for the development of the Internet. On that basis, Brunner's novel is insanely prescient. Not only does he predict the global Net as an everyday part of life, he introduces the idea of viral worms that would circulate through the sea of interconnected data deleting information. (Not to mention being able to interface with the Net using a phone.)
And then he throws it all away by having the hero set up a referendum-like program that offers everyone on the planet the option of voting in favour of eliminating poverty, disease and inequity, and also having him create the tools to make that change possible.
Now THAT'S an unlikely prediction - unfortunately.
- Sid
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