51–60 of 121 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
From 'do robots dream' to 'how do we make them stop'
“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” is a must-read for fans of Blade Runner and the cyberpunk genre. Also, it’s interesting that in 2023, we can reasonably definitively answer that question for any definition of “dream”.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” is a must-read for fans of Blade Runner and the cyberpunk genre. Also, it’s interesting that in 2023, we can reasonably definitively answer that question for any definition of “dream”.
"Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Gaslight You into Thinking They Are Totally Real Even Though They Have a Dozen of Eyes" doesn't have the same ring to it though.
Source: studied Akkadian for two years in University.
Translation is mostly wrong, it completely made things up. Source: studied Akkadian for two years in University.
As others have noticed, the translation is hilariously wrong. Even if your only method for gauging the correctness of the so-called "translation" were googling, you will easily find Leichty's [0] or Borger's [1] editions with translations. So to be very clear, saying "a translation is lacking" is thoroughly incorrect. It betrays a lack of familiarity with the subject and its reference works. Moving back to when I fir…
Earlier quoted context omitted.
From 'do robots dream' to 'how do we make them stop'
“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” is a must-read for fans of Blade Runner and the cyberpunk genre. Also, it’s interesting that in 2023, we can reasonably definitively answer that question for any definition of “dream”.
It’s not just Androids. In another book he comes up with this fascinating idea of an alternate history where Japan and Germany won WWII. And then it turns out astrology is real and everyone is obsessing over it. Just why?
I’m sure everyone will say actually astrology is fascinating, or you need to look past that to get the real meaning of the book. But I prefer the books that don’t meander into meaningless dead ends. There are plenty of them out there.
Yet others may say Dick was enormously influential and inspired many other brilliant authors. Ok, I’ll read those authors then.
Overall I’d rate the books I’ve read by Dick as 2 stars. And only because the premises are so fantastic.
as a starter the example of the author is wrong: 𒈨𒂗𒀀𒈾 spells out me.en.a.na
Even the word lugal has an unexplained "an" added
Earlier quoted context omitted.
It is. Here's a professional translation for this [0]: ...they made bricks. I razed that small palace in its entirety, took a large area from the fields for an addition, and added (it) to it (the palace). I laid its foundations with limestone, strong stone from the mountains, and raised the terrace. I summoned the kings of Ḫatti and Across the River (Syria-Palestine) Baʾalu, king of Tyre, Manasseh, king of Judah, Qaʾ…
Right? > 51. ki-ma a-tar-tim-ma ul-tu lib3-bi_a-sza3-mesz_ ab-tuq-ma Is translated as: > 51. Like the Apsû, it rose up from the heart of the earth. But 'Apsu' isn't a reading in any of those words?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
“Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?” is a must-read for fans of Blade Runner and the cyberpunk genre. Also, it’s interesting that in 2023, we can reasonably definitively answer that question for any definition of “dream”.
I might be one of the few people who didn’t like this book. Philip K Dick (the author) manages to come up with some of the most incredible premises. And then somehow the plot meanders into some boring, meaningless corner that left me mystified. How could the person who thought of this premise also have written this plot? It’s not just Androids . In another book he comes up with this fascinating idea of an alternate h…
Dick was always obsessed with a few core themes ("what is real?", "what is human?") plus a ton of personal and psychological issues. It was always erratic in his production, and while I like his works, I would generally agree that the way he developed his own premises could often be "disappointing" at least in the case of novels.
Short stories are usually much better, IMHO.
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[1] here is my take on it, if you want to know a bit more about I-Ching: https://pa-mar.net/Lifestyle/I-Ching.html
Some people have been "strengthening" Chat GPT by re-running the same query several times, then combining the various outputs. I asked GPT 4 to translate one of the linked snippets twice , pasted in the original plus the variants, and told it to merge all three into an improved translation. I also gave it metadata and context from the page. Without that, it complained that an isolated snippet of Sumerian or Akkadian…