References to Science and technology
The show has a lot of varying obscure references to terms science and technology, both explicitly and implicitly. I'll be covering some of the important ones here that I haven't outlined in detail. A lot of people need to understand that SEL as a piece of media is a direct product of the Y2k era, where three technologies, namely nanotech, biotech and Infotech were beginning to take shape. Although biotech and nanotech still have a long way to go, info tech has dominated the course of the last 20 years of human society. Thus, a better understanding of the show necessitates a better understanding of the state of the world around the y2k era, namely the years 1995 to 2000. There are plenty of non-fiction books published in that era dealing with this sort of stuff.
Artificial life
'Flocking', one of the earliest experiments in A-Life, meant to simulate bird flocks
Artificial life is a field under artificial intelligence where scientists try to simulate the systems and mechanisms governing life in a computer environment. Many early experiments in artificial life as a domain led to the foundation of programming techniques such as genetic and evolutionary algorithms. The old A-Life definition from 'alife.org' can be seen in the background of Layer 11.
Lain herself, having originated on the Wired as a neural network, may be considered the highest form of "artificial life".
OSI models
In SEL, figuring out the show requires that one view the specific episodes named layers in a very non linear fashion. This is probably modelled after the OSI (open systems interconnection) model, where the network of communication is abstracted into several "layers" that communicate with each other.
Chaos theory
Chaos theory, to briefly put it, is the science of finding regular patterns in previously thought to be random phenomena. What looks to be a random, unpredictable sequence of events may, under the surface, actually seem to connected and even predictable by a pattern or formula. Chaos theory is extensively mentioned in the bibliography section of Cyberia by Roushkoff, a book that seems to be a key influence on Konaka and the show. In SEL, the show is chaotic and random and yet seems to have an underlying series of events that connected in a logical manner.
Serial connections
Serial connections are those which directly communicate data between a sender and receiver, as opposed to a parallel connection. Thus, "serial" in serial experiments lain may refer to the slow process of the way experiments are performed on Lain one step at a time. The manifesto that Konaka drew up before the show ends with the words "serialize thyself", which may mean that instead of serial communication, Konaka may be referencing a series connection in an electronic circuit.
Companies associated with Apple
Apple makes a huge cut of the references included in SEL, and its associated companies are no exception, especially in the show's typography. 'Be inc' , a computer company founded by a former apple employee in the 1990's, makes its appearance in the show's "To be continued" spaces. Steve Job's second computer company "neXT" also makes its appearance in the show's branding slogan, "Close this world, open the neXT".
Gaia theory
Gaia theory is the idea that the earth is a living, "thinking" organism. The idea was proposed by James Lovelock and was named after the Greek Godess of Earth Gaia.
Similar ideas abound in the work of Gregory Bateson, Nietzche and the French Duo Deleuze and Guattari's geophilosophy, whereby they propose the path for a "new earth, and a new people". One of the chapters in their magnum opus "A thousand Plateaus" is aptly named "Who does the Earth think it is?", a reference to their ideas built on the basis of animism, cybernetics and complex systems theory