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dystopia radio
Feb. 22nd, 2005 10:25 amThere is an eerie resemblance between Philip K. Dick's "Vulcan's Hammer" and Isaac Asimov's UNIVAC stories. They're the same story, essentially: A supercomputer is running the world because humans can't be trusted to run it anymore, but the person who feeds data into the computer is withholding information from it because he's subconsciously working for the rebel group that wants to smash the computer. The entire thing is basically a psychological logic problem. However, Philip K. Dick and Isaac Asimov have very different ideas what this type of logic signifies. Asimov's view of logic is that it's a means to an end, a perfectly linear series of steps which anybody, given the correct information, enough time, and a pencil and paper, could figure out. PKD's view of logic is that it's some kind of mental trap, a web of nihilistic absurdity warping the world and leading its user to insanity.
This is probably because of the very, very different worldviews of the two authors. Asimov was rational, mechanistic, and atheistic; his worlds all have strict, reality-based laws and consequences. His characters are, for the most part, perfectly sane. PKD was paranoid, delusional, and, towards the end, a religious fanatic (granted, his religion involved satellites, pink laser beams, and Nixon as the Antichrist). His worlds are based on completely ridiculous principles, and even his token sane characters are neurotic.
I could do a thesis paper on this stuff. I think I will.
ETA: I just threw up in the sink. I don't think this has anything to do with supercomputers. Or logic. Oddly enough, I feel much better than I have since around the 5th. That's when I started getting sick. I'm fairly sure it's psychosomatic.
It occurs to me that nobody who I've ever really, really cared about has died. I think the closest thing I got was my great-grandmother, when I was in 3rd grade. That's kind of worrying. Is there some kind of perspective I don't have that can only be gained by a severe loss? And if that's the case, do I want that perspective?
This is probably because of the very, very different worldviews of the two authors. Asimov was rational, mechanistic, and atheistic; his worlds all have strict, reality-based laws and consequences. His characters are, for the most part, perfectly sane. PKD was paranoid, delusional, and, towards the end, a religious fanatic (granted, his religion involved satellites, pink laser beams, and Nixon as the Antichrist). His worlds are based on completely ridiculous principles, and even his token sane characters are neurotic.
I could do a thesis paper on this stuff. I think I will.
ETA: I just threw up in the sink. I don't think this has anything to do with supercomputers. Or logic. Oddly enough, I feel much better than I have since around the 5th. That's when I started getting sick. I'm fairly sure it's psychosomatic.
It occurs to me that nobody who I've ever really, really cared about has died. I think the closest thing I got was my great-grandmother, when I was in 3rd grade. That's kind of worrying. Is there some kind of perspective I don't have that can only be gained by a severe loss? And if that's the case, do I want that perspective?
