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How to build a universe that doesn’t fall apart two days later (1978)

urbigenous.net

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Re: How to build a universe that doesn’t fall apart two days later (1978)

#21

Post by defrost »

SideburnsOfDoom wrote: post #7

Ironic, given that a hallmark of a "Phildickian" work is that the protagonist's reality can fall apart before the end of the work. https://philipdick.com/literary-criticism/essays/phildickian...

In PKD's own words, in the linked article:

    However, I will reveal a secret to you: I like to build universes which do fall apart.

    I like to see them come unglued, and I like to see how the characters in the novels cope with this problem.

    I have a secret love of chaos.

    There should be more of it.

    Do not believe — and I am dead serious when I say this — do not assume that order and stability are always good, in a society or in a universe.

Re: How to build a universe that doesn’t fall apart two days later (1978)

#22

Post by trumbitta2 »

"But the problem is a real one, not a mere intellectual game. Because today we live in a society in which spurious realities are manufactured by the media, by governments, by big corporations, by religious groups, political groups — and the electronic hardware exists by which to deliver these pseudo-worlds right into the heads of the reader, the viewer, the listener."

I love his work. His mind.

Re: How to build a universe that doesn’t fall apart two days later (1978)

#23

Post by nonethewiser »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #8
Physkal wrote: post #4

This might be my first request for a chatgpt summary.

Not to get too confrontational but why? The point of reading text by a talented author is to read his/her words in the way they wrote it. Otherwise it's all "14 year old girl wanted to test if her boyfriend would really get upset if she died, faked her death, it goes horribly wrong"

> Not to get too confrontational but why? The point of reading text by a talented author is to read his/her words in the way they wrote it.

Or, you want the information. If so, compressed is better.

Re: How to build a universe that doesn’t fall apart two days later (1978)

#24

Post by nonethewiser »

_hzw wrote: post #18
Physkal wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Time investment? There is also no context? Fiction, nonfiction? As a reader how would I know what I am getting myself into? and how would I know on first click this a talented artist.

There's no adventure if you know what lies ahead. But I suppose some are fine without adventure in their lives.

Is this the sole source of adventure? Windy but stylish online articles?

Re: How to build a universe that doesn’t fall apart two days later (1978)

#25

Post by Ensorceled »

Physkal wrote: post #12
lifeisstillgood wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to get too confrontational but why? The point of reading text by a talented author is to read his/her words in the way they wrote it. Otherwise it's all "14 year old girl wanted to test if her boyfriend would really get upset if she died, faked her death, it goes horribly wrong"

Time investment? There is also no context? Fiction, nonfiction? As a reader how would I know what I am getting myself into? and how would I know on first click this a talented artist.

From Wikipedia…

> Popular films based on his works include Blade Runner (1982), Total Recall (adapted twice: in 1990 and in 2012), Screamers (1995), Minority Report (2002), A Scanner Darkly (2006), The Adjustment Bureau (2011), and Radio Free Albemuth (2010).

If you’ve not heard of P.K. Dick before it’s kind of weird to be worried about “is this a talented artist”… you really need to push your boundaries in any way possible.

Re: How to build a universe that doesn’t fall apart two days later (1978)

#26

Post by Ygg2 »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #8
Physkal wrote: post #4

This might be my first request for a chatgpt summary.

Not to get too confrontational but why? The point of reading text by a talented author is to read his/her words in the way they wrote it. Otherwise it's all "14 year old girl wanted to test if her boyfriend would really get upset if she died, faked her death, it goes horribly wrong"

Did you read the article? It's still Philip K. Dick. It's absolutely bonkers. It starts normal, story about a dog biting the garbage man from PoV of the dog, story about surgeons discovering reality altering tape in a man, the question of what is reality, then descends into PKDs ramblings about being stuck in Satan's Tesseract Labyrinth, that it's actually AD 50 and people wearing pisces are real Jesus' followers, that his son is reincarnation of a prophet, and so on.

Here are these gems:

   The answer I have come up with may not be correct, but it is the only answer I have. It has  to do with time. My theory is this: In some certain important sense, time is not real (snip) it, specifically, is the period immediately following the death and resurrection of Christ; it is, in other words, the time period of the Book of Acts.

   “I am a fisherman. I fish for fish.” Christopher, at four, had found the sign I did not find until I was forty-five years old.

Re: How to build a universe that doesn’t fall apart two days later (1978)

#27

Post by Ensorceled »

nonethewiser wrote: post #23
lifeisstillgood wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to get too confrontational but why? The point of reading text by a talented author is to read his/her words in the way they wrote it. Otherwise it's all "14 year old girl wanted to test if her boyfriend would really get upset if she died, faked her death, it goes horribly wrong"

> Not to get too confrontational but why? The point of reading text by a talented author is to read his/her words in the way they wrote it. Or, you want the information. If so, compressed is better.

Actually, now I’m interested in how ChatGPT will compress this.

Reminds me of that M.A.S.H episode where Hawkeye and B.J. are mocking Readers Digest… “A Tale of a City”

Re: How to build a universe that doesn’t fall apart two days later (1978)

#28

Post by practal »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #6

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” Great quote. So great I even posted it to my twitter account (my other bookmarking service) But the paste dropped the end quote mark and added a comma to the front. HN did not and did the above paste just fine. It bothers me, and I don't know why.

I love that quote too, used it for the last chapter of my PhD thesis 15 years ago.

Re: How to build a universe that doesn’t fall apart two days later (1978)

#29

Post by nonrandomstring »

nonethewiser wrote: post #23
lifeisstillgood wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Not to get too confrontational but why? The point of reading text by a talented author is to read his/her words in the way they wrote it. Otherwise it's all "14 year old girl wanted to test if her boyfriend would really get upset if she died, faked her death, it goes horribly wrong"

> Not to get too confrontational but why? The point of reading text by a talented author is to read his/her words in the way they wrote it. Or, you want the information. If so, compressed is better.

> you want the information

There is no information. A piece like this by P.K Dick cannot be tokenised and reduced to a minimal takeaway wrap sans the experience.

It was written to be read.

Sometimes you just have to jump into the rabbit hole and enjoy the fall.

Re: How to build a universe that doesn’t fall apart two days later (1978)

#30

Post by Luc »

lifeisstillgood wrote: post #6

“Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn’t go away.” Great quote. So great I even posted it to my twitter account (my other bookmarking service) But the paste dropped the end quote mark and added a comma to the front. HN did not and did the above paste just fine. It bothers me, and I don't know why.

What operating system were you using?
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