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Who is the real Dice Man? The elusive writer behind a cult novel

theguardian.com

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Re: Who is the real Dice Man? The elusive writer behind a cult novel

#41

Post by Zhyl »

rebuilder wrote: post #12
Zhyl wrote: post #7

It's interesting to compare "Dice Man"[0] with "Yes Man"[1] (the book, not the Jim Carrey film adaptation). Both books are about people putting their decision making to an external force (Dice man with a die, Yes Man by accepting any offer or invitation that he was given). Dice Man embraces randomness which ultimately leads to Chaos and self destruction. Yes Man embraces positivity and most of the outcomes are positi…

I'm not sure I'd say "The Dice Man" encourages anyone to do what the Rhinehart character does in the book.

Maybe not, but it is pretty clear about what the author means by "dice living". I.E a somewhat zen-like destruction of self (or ego as the book puts it). This is also explored in the sequel (Search for the dice man, also the name of the article).

Yes man also outlines its philosophy pretty explicitly (the "yes manifesto"). As such, it's easy to contrast and compare the two philosophies on pretty like-for-like terms.

Dice man does approach it kind of nihilistically though, but also shows the consequences of that approach.

Re: Who is the real Dice Man? The elusive writer behind a cult novel

#42

Post by Zhyl »

Ntrails wrote: post #36
Zhyl wrote: post #7

It's interesting to compare "Dice Man"[0] with "Yes Man"[1] (the book, not the Jim Carrey film adaptation). Both books are about people putting their decision making to an external force (Dice man with a die, Yes Man by accepting any offer or invitation that he was given). Dice Man embraces randomness which ultimately leads to Chaos and self destruction. Yes Man embraces positivity and most of the outcomes are positi…

Counterpoint. The gig turns into a night out, which you don't really enjoy but heck you had to say 'yes'. Now you're tired, and you are snappy at a work friend, who takes offense and you miss out on an invite to some other thing you would have actually got value from... Basically saying _yes_ to everything isn't going to magically make you only have great experiences. It will just mean having different ones.

Counter lemma: saying "yes" to more opportunities [than one would normally say "yes" to] increases the surface area for happy coincidences (such as meeting the person at the gig) to happen which overall will outweigh the negative effects (annoying the friend and not getting the second invite) in absolute terms.

I.e. I think it's more likely you'll end up in a better place if you say yes more (saying yes to absolutely everything is impractical) rather than just ending up somewhere "different" but equal

Re: Who is the real Dice Man? The elusive writer behind a cult novel

#43

Post by greysylph »

bionoid wrote: post #6

I had not heard about this, but the title reminded me of a 90s UK travel show based on a similar concept, "The Dice Man" [0]. The host asks strangers for alternatives and throws the dice to decide what to do / where to go [0] https://diceman.co.uk/

Do I know you?

Re: Who is the real Dice Man? The elusive writer behind a cult novel

#44

Post by kthejoker2 »

cslawson wrote: post #28
rebuilder wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Illuminatus! by Robert Anton Wilson comes to mind.

Yeah that and The Dice Man are the two big ones that stand out to me. I heard of them both years back from everything2: https://everything2.com/title/Books+that+will+induce+a+mindf...

Whoa, someone replying about E2 on my post feels like a Dice Man-style event!

I was the lead developer there for a few years, after Jay Bonci split.

Re: Who is the real Dice Man? The elusive writer behind a cult novel

#45

Post by Ntrails »

Zhyl wrote: post #42
Ntrails wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counterpoint. The gig turns into a night out, which you don't really enjoy but heck you had to say 'yes'. Now you're tired, and you are snappy at a work friend, who takes offense and you miss out on an invite to some other thing you would have actually got value from... Basically saying _yes_ to everything isn't going to magically make you only have great experiences. It will just mean having different ones.

Counter lemma: saying "yes" to more opportunities [than one would normally say "yes" to] increases the surface area for happy coincidences (such as meeting the person at the gig) to happen which overall will outweigh the negative effects (annoying the friend and not getting the second invite) in absolute terms. I.e. I think it's more likely you'll end up in a better place if you say yes more (saying yes to absolutely…

Every yes has an opportunity cost. I have had plenty of evenings where more than anything I wished I had just said no and chilled at home with housemates.

I am a big proponent of infinite universes branched at every decision point, and I've no doubt that saying yes every time doesn't result in the happiest outcome possible.

Re: Who is the real Dice Man? The elusive writer behind a cult novel

#46

Post by fatnoah »

Zhyl wrote: post #7

It's interesting to compare "Dice Man"[0] with "Yes Man"[1] (the book, not the Jim Carrey film adaptation). Both books are about people putting their decision making to an external force (Dice man with a die, Yes Man by accepting any offer or invitation that he was given). Dice Man embraces randomness which ultimately leads to Chaos and self destruction. Yes Man embraces positivity and most of the outcomes are positi…

> You go, putting aside the fact that you're tired and were looking forward to some quiet TV. You meet someone who you end up dating for a few years.

This is literally how I met my wife. Mutual friends were going to a Billy Joel concert and one couldn't make the show, so I was invited. I was tired, had a long commute home, didn't particularly feel strongly about Billy Joel, and generally didn't really want to go. For some reason, I said yes and ended up sitting next to a nice young lady who laughed at my jokes and was fun to be around.

I always reflect on that when I'm feeling like saying "no" to things.

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