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Philip K. Dick Speaks (Sorta)

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the well-assembled dept.

futileboy writes "Erik Davis put together this posthumous interview of Philip K. Dick from some tapes he found (he explains how it came together in his introduction to the interview). It comes off pretty clean."

7 of 251 comments (clear)

  1. Sad news ... Philip K. Dick, dead at 53 by sulli · · Score: 5, Funny

    I just heard some sad news on talk radio - Sci Fi writer Philip K. Dick was found dead in his Berkeley home. There weren't any more details. I'm sure everyone in the Slashdot community will miss him - even if you didn't enjoy his work, there's no denying his contributions to popular culture. Truly an American icon.

    --

    sulli
    RTFJ.
    1. Re:Sad news ... Philip K. Dick, dead at 53 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      What if I didn't read the article? Then when did it happen?

  2. The L. Ron Hubbard Inteview was .... by Usagi_yo · · Score: 5, Funny

    Abrubtly cut short when he was asked about the marked improvement in his writing style and ability since his death.

  3. Re:Insulting to PKD and his fans by gad_zuki! · · Score: 5, Informative

    Also here's the skepdic entry for electronic voice phenomenon.

    If anyone is really interested in PKD (on of my favorite authors) they can check out this great PKD fan site.

    If you like what you see, get a copy of "A Scanner Darkly," you won't regret it.

  4. Thoughts on Philip K. Dick, The Matrix, Mysticism by Nova+Express · · Score: 5, Informative

    Personally, I'm not offended by the obviously fictional framing device (lame though it may be), but it would only be fair to have references to all the interviews that these replies have been lifted from. After all, "fair use" implies that you're using the materially fairly. Not providing credit where credit is due isn't fair at all.

    Also, the comment about Dick's ideas infusing The Matrix is true as far as it goes, but misses one important point. Dick was an SF writer firmly grounded in the field, and would never have made as obvious and asinine mistake as violating the Second Law of Thermodynamics the way The Matrix's idiotic "humans as batteries" backstory does.

    Finally, the "spirit voices" tap shtick is especially lame considering the very sophisticated Gnostic sources and theories Dick turned to after his mystical "pink light" experience in 1974. Dick may have been wrong in the later mystical leanings that informed works like Valis, but he was never a believer in the type of fraudulent spiritual hucksterism that continues to rip off "new age" believers even today.

    Suggested reading: Philip K. Dick: The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Ubik, Time Out of Joint, and (after you've read the rest) Valis and In Pursuit of Valis: Selections from the Exegesis.

    --
    Lawrence Person (lawrencepersonh@gmailh.com (remove all "h"s to mail)

    http://www.lawrenceperson.com/

  5. What a wierd article. by quinkin · · Score: 5, Insightful
    What a wierd article.

    It kind of goes to prove that old adage (variously attributed to C.S Lewis or Aurthur C. Clarke) science fiction is the only genuine consciousness expanding drug. (Trust me, I have checked).

    Mind you, I think someone should have told P. K. Dick that before 1982.

    Favourite Quote: "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."

    Q.

    --
    Insert Signature Here
  6. Re:Insulting to PKD and his fans by JoeBuck · · Score: 5, Interesting

    If you think that PKD's writings are "strongly rationalist", you haven't read much of him.