Definition of reality by Philip K. Dick

In the speech "How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later" attributed to Phillip K. Dick (1978), he explains the motives that drove him to write, and a number of always current affairs:

It was always my hope, in writing novels and stories which asked the question "What is reality?", to someday get an answer. This was the hope of most of my readers, too. Years passed. I wrote over thirty novels and over a hundred stories, and still I could not figure out what was real. One day a girl college student in Canada asked me to define reality for her, for a paper she was writing for her philosophy class. She wanted a one-sentence answer. I thought about it and finally said, "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away." That's all I could come up with. That was back in 1972. Since then I haven't been able to define reality any more lucidly.

The Andromeda Strain in Macedonian

The previous post referring to Michael Chrichton's The Andromeda Strain prompted me to look up the ways this title has been translated by the Macedonian media. I reviewed several articles about Crichton, which appeared upon his recent and untimely death.

The novel has not been translated into Macedonian yet, and the translators who had no official yardstick to compare circled through various meanings of the English word "strain," failing to use the right one.

The word "soj" in Macedonian designates a breed, or lineage (of microorganisms). Thus, the proper Macedonian translation should be "Sojot Andromeda" (Сојот Андромеда). The book has actually been translated in Serbian several decades ago, as "Andromedin soj". The two South Slavic languages have the same word for this term, and Macedonia and Serbia were constituent parts of the Yugoslav federation then, making this issue accessible to Macedonian sci-fi fans at the time. But current translators display quite low level of general education, and probably have little experience with science fiction. Thus the translators from the Macedonian media translated "Andromeda Strain" as:

• Andromeda's Thread (Vest daily - „Нишката на Андромеда“)
• Andromeda Chain (TV M - „Ланецот Андромеда“)
• Andromeda's Pressure (Nova Makedonija daily - „Притисокот на Андромеда“)
• while the translators from Utrinski vesnik daily, and the Macedonian Science Fiction Portal "solved" the dilema by putting simply "Andromeda" as title of the book.
  

Fireballs, Satellites and Andromeda Strain

It turned out that the recent fireball that streaked across the Texas sky wasn’t debris from the satellite crash over Siberia, but a meteor.

In context, I recommend (re)reading The Andromeda Strain, a great novel by Michael Chrichton. The plot is about a cornered group of people trying to confront the danger due to a satellite crash. It's very quick read, fast-paced and up to the point.

A seasoned sci-fi fan can also view it as prototypical piece of work that influenced numerous copycats, to the degree of turning into cliché. The recently deceased Chrichton should be credited more often as a major influence on popular culture in general. Bellow: trailer for the 2008 TV-series based on the book.

The book was published in 1969 and it's also interesting to compare the visions and interpretations of some then-futuristic information and communication technologies, which are commonplace today, such as automatic biometric identification, voice recognition, and instant communication.

Classic Technophobic SF Movies

Terminator (1984) film poster

Art reflects, but also incites and strengthens social stances. Release of a number of especially popular technophobic movies followed the increased use of personal computers and computer games by the end of 20th century. In all of them, the technologies have some hidden or open fault, leading to danger and dehumanization. The sole exception is the firearms technology, which always functions flawlessly, while the displayed violence subliminally provides additional fodder to the feeling of fear.

Alien (1979, 1986, 1992) – developing various high technologies for space exploration will only enable some ugly monsters to devour us.

Mad Max (1979, 1981, 1985) – the future brings social decay, violence and nuclear holocaust, with a passion.

Blade Runner (1982) – extremely capable, humanoid robots turn into murderers when something irks them, like—for instance—their limited lifespan.

WarGames (1983) - teenagers + computers = end of civilization as we know it.

The Terminator (1984, 1991, 2003) – the computers are evil, robots are ruthless unstoppable killers, nuclear technology is disastrous. Run! Run!

Electric Dreams (1984) – home PC adopts demon-like role, trying to dominate the life of its owner.

RoboCop (1987) – even the most humane man can be turned into a machine. There's no turning back afterwards.

Akira (1988) – Mad Max on steroids, with added teenage angst.

The Lawnmover Man (1992) – using virtual reality leads to insanity and horror.

StarTrek: First Contact (1996) – members of the Borg civilization got too cozy with their computers. Now they want to make us do the same, or destroy us, whatever comes first.

The Matrix (1999, 2003) – the computers would not only enslave us and exploit us, they will also fix us in a way that the majority will be fine with it. Only God can save us.

The 6th Day (2000) – like in most science fiction movies starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, our future is bleak. This time, the guilty party is genetics.

I, Robot (2004) – technophobic antithesis of Isaac Asimov's Laws of Robotics (the title is the same as his most famous short story), as opposed to the Bicentennial Man (1999) which follows the original plot of a humanizing robot who fights for his human rights.

The Religious Experience of Philip K. Dick by R. Crumb

Philip K. Dick Fans website presents a Robert Crumb comics about Philip Dick's "Valis" experience, first published in Weirdo comic #17 from summer, 1986.

It is an interesting graphic interpretation of a series of events which happened to Dick in March of 1974. He spent the remaining years of his life trying to figure out what happened in those fateful months.

You will find all 8 pages of this story here. The file sizes are rather large (120-140K each) so that the text was readable and the detail visible.

Quake: Polygons, Monsters, and Censorship

The Beer Garden features a sordid tale about Quake I, II and III, including:

• Bizarre product tie-ins: for the release of the movie "Anaconda" Sony pictures released through their website an add-on level for Quake titled "Temple of the Mist" were you made your way trough an ancient temple searching for the altar that holds the key to escape. Obviously, before escaping you have to go mano a mano with the Anaconda itself...weird uh?
• The original Quake was supposed to have a medieval environment, but a few months before its release, most of the medieval-role playing aspects of the game were removed (i.e. one of the weapons was going to be a sword and there was a dragon to fight with) and the result was a game with guns but such enemies like the fiend or the death knight (these were included in the original project).

Marcell Mars on Sci-Fi

Marcell Mars, net.guru of Multimedia Institute (net.culture club mama) and Creative Commons Croatia fame, talks about the influence of Science Fiction on free culture in an exclusive statement for Science Fiction Observer.

The Matrix - a Family Tree

Cyberpunk Neuromancer Johnny Mnemonic Ghost in the Shell (^) + the New Testament	+ martial arts Snake in the Eagle's Shadow Bruce Lee The Karate Kid Ninja Scroll	+ some more science fiction Aliens (tunnels) Blade Runner (rooftops & coats) Men in Black (cool eyewear, dress in black, secret reality to be uncovered) Predator (machineguns) & The Terminator (ditto + evil machines + wreck corporate building; have chopper outside)
= The Matrix

Klingons - a Family Tree

Neanderthals Cranium of a Neanderthal	+ assorted "barbarian" or "savage" experiences	+ Japanese Samurai
= the Klingons