Philip K. Dick's Alternate America | Worlds of Speculative Fiction (lecture 10)
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- Опубліковано 24 жов 2016
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This is the tenth session in a new series of monthly lectures and discussions, featuring Dr. Gregory Sadler, and hosted by the Brookfield Public Library. The series focuses on philosophical themes in the works and world of selected classic and contemporary fantasy, science fiction, horror, and other speculative fiction genre authors.
We continue the series by focusing in this session on the classic science fiction author Philip K. Dick, discussing some of his works in which he sets out alternate visions of American history, culture, and society.
You can get the books we are discussing at the links below:
The Man In The High Castle - amzn.to/2DcA53F
Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said - amzn.to/2DgikRn
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? - amzn.to/2FCuoL1
A Scanner Darkly - amzn.to/2DsXsnm
Valis - amzn.to/2DsnU0q
Radio Free Albemuth - amzn.to/2Fwuunb
Authors we have covered in the series so far are J.R..R. Tolkein, A.E. Van Vogt, C.S. Lewis, Isaac Asimov, Frank Herbert, Roger Zelazny, Ursula K. Leguin, Michael Moorcock, Philip K. Dick, Mervyn Peake, George R.R. Martin, Philip Jose Farmer, Madeline L'Engle, Douglas Adams, Anne McCaffrey, Orson Scott Card, Iain Banks, H.P. Lovecraft, William Gibson, C.L. Moore, Octavia Butler, Jorge Luis Borges, Fritz Leiber, Robert Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp, Andre Norton, Arthur Clarke, Robert Howard, Gene Wolfe, C. J. Cherryh, Jack Vance, Edgar Allan Poe, G.K. Chesterton, Lewis Carroll, Tanith Lee, Gordon Dickson, August Derleth, Karl Edward Wagner, Aldous Huxley, Bram Stoker, Mary Shelley, China Mieville, Walter Miller, Cordwainer Smith, Liu Cixin, R. Scott Bakker, Stanislaw Lem, Neal Stephenson's, Philip Pullman, Olaf Stapledon, Veronica Roth, J.G. Ballard, Dan Simmons, Andrzej Sapkowski, Kim Stanley Robinson, N. K. Jemisin, Terry Pratchett, and Steven Erickson
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#Philosophy #Worldbuilding #SpeculativeFiction #Literature #Analysis #Books #AlternateHistory #PhilipKDick #ScienceFiction #Androids
PKD's Valis novel saved me from a really bad time I had in my life.
His more religious/spiritual works: faith of our fathers, mercerism in blade runner and radio free albemuth, transmigration of timothy archer on top of my personal favorite Valis really connected with me I didn't expect it to be mentioned as much as it was in this awesome lecture. I got myself a copy of the exegesis as well but feel hesitant reading PKD's personal letters. lastly my family helped fund the radio free albemuth movie I personally think it is hugely underrated maybe due to not enough action and featuring his more philosophical/spiritual themes. Again Thank you very much for this great analysis of one of my most admired authors and for letting me know about it :)
For me, the adaptation of "Scanner Darkly" comes closest to the experience of reading PKD. Robert Downey Jnr. seemed to be playing himself! The conclusion was suitably heartbreaking. Great to hear you speak on "Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said". It's underrated.
Great talk.
Yes, I'd say they kept as close to the actual Dick text as they could not hat one. Not always the case!
Beyond our finite perception lies the rest of the universe, the other, which are equal parts staggering insight and terrifying madness. We must strive to understand the difference. Our discernment is a razor's edge to define our reality.
I read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep about 2 months ago (I'm 20 and this was my first P.K. Dick novel) and I finished it in 3 days, something that I have never done before. It was such a good story with quite a lot to think about. Now I would like to re-read it in English ( I read it in Greek the first time) just to see the differences.
And then, there;s so much else you can read as well - he was quite prolific!
I'm not in the habit of commenting on UA-cam, but I wanted to say that I've been enjoying your talks and lectures for some time now, and I could easily listen to a 2 hour presentation on each of Dick's better works. Keep it coming!
Yes, down the line, I've got some plans to do more with Dick's works.
If you are wondering, Harnischfeger Industries: A recognized global leader in the manufacture and service of capital machinery. Building and servicing mining machines etc. Because knowledge is flour!
Great perspective. Also really impressed by how you opened up the floor to the audience. The discussion was great.
Glad you enjoyed it. We’ve got another PK Dick session coming up later this year
Absolutely love these talks. I love these authors and I love the deeper dive into their lives and thinking
I’m glad to read you enjoy them so much
@@GregoryBSadler huge thanks. Fascinating hearing more about the lives of Asimov, Dick, Huxley, Bradbury , Gibson etc
Your thoughts and philosophical take away are mentally nourishing.
Look forward to becoming more familiar with the other authors and lesser known works by my favorites! Many blessings
Fascinating talk as always, I've never been a big sci-fi reader but I have some free time coming and I'm gonna try out some of these authors.
Glad to read it
This is great especially the discussion after with the group just really thank you thank you very much professor
You’re welcome
A wonderfully insightful commentary.
Thanks!
57:38: Spurious/Pseudo Realities manufactured by very powerful people. "I do not mistrust their motives; I distrust their power."
thank you for the thourough discussion! I needed to know more about him;
You're very welcome
I've been trying to watch this for years, and chipping away ten minutes at a time when I can.
Great, really interesting. Would love to have a group of dudes like these near me.
Glad you enjoy it
@@GregoryBSadler I did indeed, thanks for sharing! I'll be super keen to see any further PKD content you might post too.... Or events (specifically in the UK).
Thanks for this little philosophy snack. I'm still working up to listening to your Hegel series... all in good time, I guess.
You're welcome!
He Discuss some perspectives on Hegel that were helpful for me.
What is reality? That sounds like a phenomenological question. Enjoying the lecture very much Dr. Sadler. PKD has been very important in my life since I was a teenager. I've learned from him much more than at any school or university I attended.
He's quite tapped in to philosophy
Thank you again.
You're welcome!
cheers, mate
1:09:52 There are tools like TES (Therapist Empathy Scale) and Accurate Empathy Scale. Those are used to assess the level of attunement of therapist towards a client. If I remember well they've been developed/stemmed from the Rogerian Person-centered therapy and proved to be quite reliable. Theoretically it's possible to observe/listen to someone and measure empathy level. Empathy apparently exists on a spectrum and is more of a process than a rigid state (Rogers 1959).
Yes, depending on which of the senses of "empathy" we're concerned with
It would be cool to break down the philosophical themes about "do androids dream electrical sheep?"
Yes, it certainly would
nice!
Thanks!
What this segment overlooks is that Dick was not only a "postmodernist" who deconstructed things but an Intuitive Mystic who RE-constructed them in a way that modern man has desperately needed since before Dick's time. He was one of the few to be able to alleviate our moral anxieties. The only disheartening thing about this seminar (which turned out delightful: to hear one of my favourite educators sing the praises of one of my favourite writers) was that it ended like The Last Jedi and The Empire Strikes Back: on a morally ambiguous down note. The truth is that Dick's moments of penetration (no vulgar Derridean puns intended) into the Real are so climactic (okay: there was a bit of a pun there.) that they leave you... well, there's a lot of them. Barris, Jory, and Belial are all OBJECTIVELY bad guys, and a man who walks away from one of his books in a greater sense of self-doubt and confusion than hitherto missed something. But perhaps that is the reaction of people unlike himself: people in power with the strong inclination to abuse it. My only lingering (and rhetorical) question is: for whom is he writing? For them? Or for me? My reaction has always been one of solace and peace. He corroborated all my Intuitions (when no one else would) and not only praised my Isolation but supplemented it with his own Insight, most of which was surely the product of his own Solitude. He is one of the least demoralizing writers I can think of. Ambiguity and Uncertainty are only ever starting points. It's not long before Zebra shows up on the scene. But on that note: Amazing lecture!! Had you not been so thorough I would not have been so bold. Rinzai.
It's a popular, introductory level talk. . .
Is Ray Bradbury on your list, Greg?
"Use the force, Harry." -- Gandalf
Dick often uses the concept of sacrifice in his stories. For example, the killing of the electric sheep by the replicant, Rachel. Also, the decaying skeleton in "Flow My Tears." The take away message is sacrifice is necessary to balance the forces of progress and its opposite, stagnation. Hence, the story of Jesus as a preserving mechanism of sacrifice.
I wouldn't read that message in myself.
Do you know if Dick read Heidegger? Do any of his stories seem to be Heideggerian? If so, which one(s)? I've only read Androids, Flow My Tears, and a number of his short stories. Just curious what you thought. I'm about to start High Castle.
I don't know if he read Heidegger, but many of Heidegger's ideas can also be found, framed differently, in other thinkers. That's typically the way it goes in philosophy
A very interesting insight at 55:29 - When the government distrusts its governed, it is a sign that the government has lost it franchise to govern but becomes a means for persecution. What is the Source for this? Where did Dick write this?
You're asking about a talk I gave years back.
I bet if you take the time to google the passage, you might find it
Dr. Sadler,
What do you think about the process of analyzing the works of geniuses? I mean, does it get us any closer to being geniuses ourselves? Can't people study Shakespeare, Dick, Kant, Hegel, etc forever and never get any closer to them, or any closer to producing anything of genius? It's like the gap is infinite, and, yes, we take one step towards it, but we are still just as far away from it as when we started. It makes me think of Heidegger's problem with the subject/object relationship. We think we can study (weigh, measure, categorize, quantify) another Rilkean solitude? Isn't that a pointless act? Isn't that the wrong approach towards one's own life? Sorry, I used to have this same conversation with colleagues about classes on Shakespeare and wanted to know what you thought. Thanks.
I don't think the goal is to become a genius. . .
The goal is to embrace human qualities!
this is a cool series! i went to this lecture first---- "Alternate America" - yes, a wonderful place>>>> the topic of drugs and writing is interesting; when i've done hallucin-gens in the past, my art and writing desinigrated. very bad. but the experience itself was - something that made life worth living.... stimulants are great for art for a while, until the person breaks down .... yeah. i definitely think of drugs when i read his work, though! i mean, it's good to bring up in context..... i;m really looking forward to this series. future--- Burroughs! ;) possible idea for drugs/sci-fi /america {thank you}
Yes - Dick has quite an ambivalent view on various drugs, developed in part through his own experiences and reflections
The worlds of science and philosophy will eventually catch up with PKD. More than Pynchon, he is THE chronicler of the mid-29th century.
Someday, I'd like to write a glossary of the many ideas coming from the various fields that end up in his works
@@GregoryBSadler Now that would be a mammoth task! German philosophy, gnostic "koine" Greek, many worlds theory, consciousness studies, the nature of belief, quantum reality.....
@@simonbean3774 Yes. It would be a book
Professor Sadler, there is NO such Philip K. Dick novel as "Through A Scanner Darkly."
Yep, when you're thinking about a lot of stuff, sometimes an extra word can creep in.
Anything to say about the actual content of the video?
As someone who has interviewed PKD, I found your talk a good overview of Phil and his work. And I think you mentioned "postmodern" only once. Bravo.
Frank Bertrand Wow you really interviewed PKD? If that's true I'd love to ask you some questions!
Yes, I did interview Philip K. Dick, in 1981. That interview is published in the Lawrence Sutin edited book The Shifting Realities of Philip K. Dick, Vintage Books, 1995. Also available at the website philipkdickfans.com, very ably run by Michael Fisher. More recently, I've been writing about PKD for the prestigious "serconzine" PKD Otaku, edited by Patrick Clark.
I like how Prof handled the guy who was like "the Exegesis is easy" (I'm smarter than you).
You get those types from time to time
I read few book of Dick, "Ubik'', ''The Penultimate Truth'' and ''Counter-Clock World'', but I don't get it. I think that Dick worlds are too embeded in American culture and way of life, to be easy understandably outside it. Yes, he use many philosophical themes, but he embodied it into american's examples, which are hard to translate into reality of my home behind East border of Germany. At least that way I see it now.
That may very well be the case - that his works draw heavily on not only American cultural references, but also an overall set of attitudes
57:38. Spurious/Pseudo Realities manufactured by very sophisticated people. "I do not mistrust their motives; I mistrust their power."
You seem to be pretty good at calling an end to your talks, but this video ended on a fade out. How much longer did everyone keep conversing for in this talk?
Not sure. That was about two months back.
Gregory B. Sadler gotcha. Hey just another question: if you do another series like this would you keep going on into the Dune series? I would have loved to see you get into Children of Dune in the Herbert talk.
SuperflyCLB We are continuing the series for another year, but we're doing different authors. gbsadler.blogspot.com/2016/11/worlds-of-speculative-fiction-lecture.html
Down the line, I might create some online classes about scifi/fantasy works, though
Who was the female author he was friends with? I don't get the pronunciation
If you're asking about who he went to school with, Ursula K Leguin
Could director David Lynch deliver us the true darkness of PKD?
He could deliver lots of weirdness, to be sure
You're a sick man Gerald..seek medical help. :)
Not a personal attack on anyone but it sounds like a lot of the people were confusing "reality" and "perception", as well as evidence and opinion.
the definition of a concept needs to be defined before one can talk about it.
These are popular talks. Even in the philosophy classroom, it's not the case that "a concept needs to be defined before one can talk about it". So, this probably isn't going to be to your taste
Oh no man, have enjoyed all of talk so far. Good discussions, good authors, and thought provoking.
I just have a pet peeve with the popular vernacular of "theory" and "reality" be so far from the scientific and academic meanings.
Also seeing the natural fallacy (always shows it's head when broaching AI and transhumanism) which the general puplic has.... same arguments against technology were made against the printing press.
Have been liking the video. Might not agree 100% all the time but you do support what you say :).
Looking forward to more. Have also been forwarding the links to this series to some friends.
So far I've only read Dick's short stories. I will read do androids dream of electric sheep and scanner darkly etc in the near future (reading fall of hyperion right now, will read snowcrasher or a book from gibson after this, also still need to finish brandon sanderson's the way of kings which I kinda stopped reading 30% in) after those I think it will be time for a Philip K dick book. However I am currently also reading through his short stories. 5 volumes of his collected short stories in one epub/kepub.
But I have to say. his writing is ... ok. it's super pulpy. Generally super predictable. But see there is the thing. He wrote much of this in the 40/60s or so. So it kinda explains why it's so pulpy. But more importantly, his short stories contain a ton of "twists" that any modern reader can easily see coming from a mile away. But I don't know if these were original ideas of him. Or new concepts for the time. Or if they were already established tropes (I hate the word trope so mch, Anita Sarkeesian ruined that word for me, like she damaged gaming and the gaming industry). Dick also has a great definition for sci fi. I don't remember the exact words but he basically says "sci fi should be grounded in reality, and basically think and look at how new technology etc could influence, change and affect society and people etc." But reading his short stories, many of them don't fit his concept of sci fi.
Like in one of his short stories this bounty hunter who has lives on the moon... among the ruins of ancient cities, and the dangerous monsters and creatures.... Uhh... I mean, I get that people knew less back then about space etc. I mean this was probably written before we even went to the moon. But ruins of ancient cities ... monsters and creatures on the moon? Not only that, the bounty hunter camps outside on the freezing cold surface of the moon.. seems to imply the moon has an atmosphere and oxygen.
This bounty hunter lives in 2070 or so ...
Anyway, this shady group hires him to send him back to the past to kill a man. This man starts some new ultra pacifist anti war ideology which spreads like wildfire and takes over much of the world. (philip was super anti war which is very obv from all his stories I've read so far). This shady group wants to end this pacifism. Because innovation and progress slows down due to the pacifists or something (been a while). So they sent the bounty hunter back to kill the guy. And they give him a skull that belonged to this man. The bounty hunter immediately notices that one of the teeth on the skull is crooked.
And if it wasn't clear by then that the bounty hunter is the one that will start this ideology. The fact that Philip mentions the crooked teeth spoils it. And worst is that it makes the bounty hunter look like an mbecile. Only near the end of the story does the bounty hunter suddenly remember he has the exact same crooked tooth lol.. And then he starts a pacifist movement by accident.
So... man sent back to the future to stop another man... that turns out to be him... Was that a concept that Philip came up with? Or were there other examples of the same thing? It's ok if he took inspiration or whatever. Just saying that if he was the one that came up with these things then many of his faults can be easier overlooked. Like how it's impossible to suspend your disbelief about a bounty hunter living on the moon, fighting moon monsters.
P.s. in the same story there is this 16 year old pretty girl. And the bounty hunter wonders if this young woman "is someone's mistress" already. And says that in the future she would have had practice marriages already or whatever. Which I found kinda weird and which also didn't make sense.
So within 100 years you go from regular 50/60's Murica to a Murica where girls do practice marriages.
ua-cam.com/video/GH5PhyPThpo/v-deo.html
@@GregoryBSadler Ouch doc, didn't think you'd even see the comment. I was just ranting lol (all my comments are very long, might be the adhd)
@@3choblast3r4 I see all the comments posted in my channel.
@@GregoryBSadler Ok, well, thank you for all the content and interesting videos.
Very Solzhenitsyn
Not an Alternate America..a Future America.
Check the dates
@@GregoryBSadler Dates are off
Dates of the narrative universes
@@GregoryBSadler not sure what you mean here??
@@DevastationMtrsports no idea what you’re confused about.
READ THE EARLY STUFF1111
I've read pretty much all of Dick's work at one time or another. No need to shout