Science Fiction, Reality, and Philip K. Dick

Has anyone seen any truly good science fiction movies lately? I’m not talking about the kind with all the special effects and graphics. This is about science fiction that makes you think about things. About the world; about society; about where we are headed.

One author who did this was Philip K. Dick. One of the best science fiction writers that ever wrote. In Valis, he created imaginary friends. The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch included space travel, mass hallucination, and global warming. Funny, considering it was written in 1965. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep also departed from the norm and switch between reality and fantasy.

Possibly his best was Man in the High Castle, which posed the idea of what the world would be like if the Axis powers had won World War II. 

Much of his work considered alternate realities. He made you think of what things could be like. He made you imagine alternate realities. Philip K. Dick made you consider the impact of artificial intelligence long before it became something to consider.

Something stranger than the strangest science fiction novel.

This painting sold for $43.8 million.

 

THE ULTIMATE INSULT TO SCIENCE FICTION FANS

How Not to Choose an Occupation

Ray Bradbury’s Illustrated Man has many interesting stories into which you can sink your teeth and rile your imagination. The Long Rain strands astronauts on Venus and the persistent rains that drove you mad.  The Veldt has murderous children kill their parents with virtual reality lions, and The Rocket Man, which prompted the desire in me to become an astronaut traveling the solar system.

The imagery did it to this ten year old who loved to daydream. In the story, dad read stereo-newspapers, the family rushed to town in a helicopter, and they had mechanical book readers. (He wrote it in 1951.) As I read I could feel the astronaut’s compulsion to go back into space. It made me feel as if that would be my career path. I craved an occupation that didn’t exist.

There was a cautionary line, “Don't ever be a Rocket Man… Don't let it get hold of you.” Nevertheless, the story created a yearning in me. Even when the astronaut’s ship fell into the sun, I felt that Rocket Man was the job for me.

One day I discovered that it just doesn’t happen as the story portrays. There are no Martian sunflowers. Rocket men just don’t get into spacecraft and return three months later. Alas, my dream fell to pieces.

What remained was my love of science fiction.

NASA IMAGE OF SATURN'S RINGS

UFO Entering Earth's Atmosphere?

What do you think?

Attention Swimmers

You jump in the ocean and see this. 

 Frilled Shark

What do you do?

Normal Creature, Alien, or Monster?

Not a raccoon, that’s for sure. 

 Visit the Montauk Monster Page

Robots with Human Cells?

What are the implications of this tidbit? Will we implant human cells into robots? 

What could possibly go wrong with this? Rotfl.

http://www.universityherald.com/articles/33879/20160710/stingray-robot-researchers-include-activated-rat-cells.htm 

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