Answer

The core elements, I believe, lie in the themes of the setting: the power of information, the grimy, dark part of our lives that we keep behind closed doors, the potential ramifications once machine intelligence crosses the singularity, transhumanism. am attracted to cyberpunk for many reasons. Firstly, the intrigue, and the layered settings - I don't know of any genre with such a focus on the intricacies of the world and how every entity affects each other. Sadly, I can't think of any source material that specifically does this well, but it's probably my poor memory. Another thing that attracts me is the numerous facets of morally gray. In most settings, being a morally gray protagonist is due to sheer apathy. I've seen this prospect taken much more interesting places, mostly in this genre. An example of this would be The Red Strings Club - the protagonist tasks himself with stopping this company from publishing a software update to their cyberware that alters emotion, and believes he is in the right when doing so (despite the numerous flags that the update is a societal good) because of his personal experiences and belief that it's some sort of mind control. Although I feel The Red Strings club has its issues, it portrayed that aspect nicely. Lastly, I have always loved media dealing with identity, and that ended up being what drew me into cyberpunk. No other genre I can think of will go into the aspects of the self as thoroughly as cyberpunk. An example of this would be my favorite movie of all time, GiTS, which explores the ideas of the protagonist not being comfortable in her own body, not understanding where the code ends and her soul begins, and empathizing more with the city she lives in than the people surrounding it. Not only does GiTS deal with this, but it also provokes questions about the value of individuality compared to superior awareness and intellect when the Puppet Master enters the film. I could write an essay on the topic, though, so I'll stop myself there.