PaycheckPresentation

By Ryan Clement

Background Art:Neutron Spark by “Neutrix”

http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2010/023/e/d/Neuron_Spark_by_neutrix.jpg

Philip K. Dick’s

Two years! Two years of his life, gone forever. It didn’t seem possible. He had still

been considering, debating, when he stepped into the elevator. Should he

change his mind?

Quote“ “

-Dick 355-356

• Background on Philip K. Dick• Comparison to other Science Fiction• Relation with other Class Readings• Conclusions• Discussion Questions

Outline

• Philip K. Dick (1928-1982)• Family Life• Mental Health Issues• Science Fiction Author• Philosopher• Popular Culture Legacy

Background

I have never yielded to reality. That's what SF is all about. If you wish to yield to reality, go read Philip Roth; read the

New York literary establishment mainstream bestselling writers….This is why I love SF. I love to read it; I love to

write it. The SF writer sees not just possibilities but wild possibilities. It's not just 'What if' - it's 'My God; what if' - in frenzy and hysteria. The Martians are always coming.

On Sci-Fi““

-Dick, www.philipkdick.com

I am a fictionalizing philosopher, not a novelist; my novel & story-writing ability is employed as a means to formulate my perception. The core of my writing is not art but truth. Thus what I tell is

the truth, yet I can do nothing to alleviate it, either by deed or explanation.

On Philosophy“

“

-Dick, www.philipkdick.com

Legacy

• Dualism• Identity Conflict• Memory loss• Commodification• Dystopia

Themes

Jennings smiled. ‘I had no idea he did anything. I underestimated him. His protection was

even-’‘Who are you talking about?’

‘Myself. During the two years. I use the objective. It’s easier.’

Dualism“

“

-Dick 379

‘I can’t believe it. Even if it is my own writing.’ He folded up the paper, his jaw set.

‘Something was done to me while I was back there. I never would have agreed to

this.’

Identity Conflict“ “

-Dick 357

The he of those years had known things that he did not know now, things that had been washed away when the company cleaned his mind. Like

an adding machine which had been cleared. Everything was slate-clean. What he had known

was gone, now.

Memory Loss“

“

-Dick 361

’Fifty thousand credits.’ Jennings smiled. He felt a little better, now that the sum had been

spoken aloud. Maybe it wasn’t so bad, after all. Almost like being paid to sleep. But he was two years older; he had just that much less to live. It

was like selling part of himself, part of his life.

Commodification“

“

-Dick 356

The big economic forces had managed to remain free, although virtually everything else had been absorbed by the Government. Laws that had been eased away from the private person still protected property and industry. The SP could pick up any given person, but

they could not enter and seize a company, a business.

Dystopia“

“

-Dick 362

Other Sci-Fi

• Similar themes• Jennings has vacuum of memories versus Johnny’s excess of memories• Jennings knows less dolphins

Johnny Mnemonic

• The Bag of Trinkets• Memory Wiping• The Time Scoop

Other Readings

• “a pocket full of miracles from someone who knows the future (Dick 366).”• Mnemonic device• Hyponesis• Techne

Bag of Trinkets

• Recollection• Noise• Jennings identity is a product of techne• Pharmakon

Memory Wipes

• Hypermesis• Mediated Memories• Linear• Never forgets• Doomsday Weapon

The Time Scoop

• The Individual vs. The Collective• Memory as Time• Memory as Self• Memory as Techne

Conclusions

1. How is Dick’s equation of memory to self-identity problematic? How does it relate to patients with dementia?

2. Why are questions regarding memory and technology so prevalent in science fiction? What does popular discourse tell us about their relationship versus what we have read in class?

3. How does Jennings’ bag of trinkets function or not as a mnemonic device? How does it function as hyponesis?

4. Is the “original” Jennings destroyed by the process of the Memory Wipe? Is he merely altered or did he even exist in the first place?

5. How does memory operate as a commodity in Paycheck? Is this simply the knowledge economy gone to its logical extreme?

6. Would you sacrifice years of your life to achieve an uncertain goal? If not, why are you in Grad School?

Questions