How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
"You can't even rez what Y.T. says," Y.T. says. (6.21)
It's true, the MetaCops Y.T. is talking to are too meat-headed to keep up with her verbal acrobatics, let alone catch all her slang. Speaking like a street punk doesn't automatically make you stupid.
Quote #5
"The belief in the magical power of language is not unusual, both in mystical and academic literature. The Kabbalists—Jewish mystics of Spain and Palestine—believed that super-normal insight and power could be derived from properly combining the letters of the Divine Name." (36.21)
If language is believed to have magical power, we shouldn't be too surprised that both glossolalia and programming languages are ways to hack people's brains in this book. Want to study stuff like this in college? A rhetoric degree just might be the thing for you.
Quote #6
"Babel led to an explosion in the number of languages. That was part of Enki's plan. Monocultures, like a field of corn, are susceptible to infections, but genetically diverse cultures, like a prairie, are extremely robust." (56.36)
According to Hiro's interpretation of history, Babel was an event planned by Enki (not God, as the Bible has it) in order to make humans more resistant to linguistic viruses. If the current linguistic diversity of the world is any indication, mission accomplished. Except that Snow Crash was manufactured to have a physical vector of transmission, too. Er. Not so good.