_UBIK_ (PKD) review

[D B Davis]

Dick, Philip K "UBIK" New York: Doubleday, 1969.

Keywords: 1939, psi, timetravel

Synopsis:

PKD wrote this novel in 1969, back when the year 1992 was decades
into the future. In _UBIK_ PKD imagines a future world of 1992 that
includes routine lunar travel, dead people in a state of cryogenic
"half life" who can talk to the living, and a relatively few people with
psi powers.
Two broad classes of psi powered people populate PKD's world. The
first class includes "teeps" (telepaths) and "precogs." They spy on
ordinary people. A second psi class consists of "inertials," who negate
the psi powers of teeps and precogs. Ordinary people hire talent from
either class as needed.
Glen Runciter co-owns Runciter Associates along with his deceased
wife Ella, who's in half life. Together they run the world's top
provider of inertials. Trouble starts when Glen receives word that
nemesis S Dole Melipone, the world's top teep, has disappeared. It's bad
enough that Melipone disappeared from right under the nose of three of
Runciter's inertials, but Melipone's only one of dozens of teeps and
precogs to disappear as of late.
All of the missing teeps and precogs are probably on the Moon. Sent
there to spy Stanton Mick's development of a revolutionary interstellar
drive. Mick's agent on Earth offers Runciter a king's ransom for the
services of eleven intertials to block the Lunar spies.
Besides himself, Runciter's group includes his top manager Joe Chip,
several anti-telepaths, an anti-animator, an anti-parakineticist, and
Pat Conley, the newest member of the firm. Conley can change the present
by changing what teeps saw in the past.
As events transpire, the most of the group finds itself on a trip to
the past, to the year 1939. One by one the group starts wasting away.
Their only salvation comes in the form of a product named Ubik.

Review:

Psi stories were getting a little long in the tooth by the time that
PKD wrote _UBIK_. So the notion of groups of psi powered people with
differing talents offers just enough spin to keep things interesting.
The time travel element hooked me, as expected. Present day readers
represent the future of 1939. Readers already know all of the details of
World War II, which makes readers feel omniscient relative to the
characters in the story. And it's a good feeling.
On the other hand, when readers know everything about a story in
advance it can become boring. That's where _UBIK_'s exotically plausible
new technology associated with half-life comes in. It makes things
enigmatic enough to keep readers guessing.
Despite its age, this story works for me. That's an expected outcome
given my skill at finding previously unread science fiction stories that
/do/ appeal to me.

Thank you,

--
Don

[D B Davis]

D B Davis <g...@crcomp.net> wrote:
>
> Dick, Philip K "UBIK" New York: Doubleday, 1969.
>
> Keywords: 1939, psi, timetravel
>

The retrocausality keyword is missing from my earlier post. My original
plan was to mention "Does Time-Symmetry Imply Retrocausality?" [1] in my
review.

That paper's now being digested by me /ex post facto/. Meanwhile,
consider the observer effect. [2] Does it enable a phenomenon's observer
to retroactively change the phenomenon?

Note.

1. https://arxiv.org/abs/1002.0906
2. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Observer_effect_(physics)

Thank you,

--
Don

[David DeLaney]

On 2017-10-12, D B Davis <g...@crcomp.net> wrote:
> The retrocausality keyword is missing from my earlier post. My original
> plan was to mention "Does Time-Symmetry Imply Retrocausality?" [1] in my
> review.
>
> That paper's now being digested by me /ex post facto/.

... and is doing so changing what you originally thought about the story?

> Meanwhile,
> consider the observer effect. [2] Does it enable a phenomenon's observer
> to retroactively change the phenomenon?

No. It's widely misunderstood... but it DOES allow the observer to become
aligned with the world that developed from the observed result of the
phenomenon, rather than any other result that could've been observed.

Dave, doo du, doo doo doo
--
\/David DeLaney posting thru EarthLink - "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
my gatekeeper archives are no longer accessible :( / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

[alie...@gmail.com]

On Thursday, October 12, 2017 at 4:45:59 PM UTC-7, D B Davis wrote:
> D B Davis <g...@crcomp.net> wrote:
> >
> > Dick, Philip K "UBIK" New York: Doubleday, 1969.
> >
> > Keywords: 1939, psi, timetravel
> >
>
> The retrocausality keyword is missing from my earlier post. My original
> plan was to mention "Does Time-Symmetry Imply Retrocausality?" [1] in my
> review.

The existence of entropy strongly suggests "no".

> That paper's now being digested by me /ex post facto/. Meanwhile,
> consider the observer effect. [2] Does it enable a phenomenon's observer
> to retroactively change the phenomenon?

I have no doubt that many people would like to run the last (few) Presidential elections' results through a quantum eraser, but I don't see it happening.

OTOH in another timeline I did...


Mark L. Fergerson

[D B Davis]

David DeLaney <davidd...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> On 2017-10-12, D B Davis <g...@crcomp.net> wrote:
>> The retrocausality keyword is missing from my earlier post. My original
>> plan was to mention "Does Time-Symmetry Imply Retrocausality?" [1] in my
>> review.
>>
>> That paper's now being digested by me /ex post facto/.
>
> ... and is doing so changing what you originally thought about the story?
>
>> Meanwhile,
>> consider the observer effect. [2] Does it enable a phenomenon's observer
>> to retroactively change the phenomenon?
>
> No. It's widely misunderstood... but it DOES allow the observer to become
> aligned with the world that developed from the observed result of the
> phenomenon, rather than any other result that could've been observed.
>

Unfortunately, it's impossible for me to answer your question about
whether or not the paper altered my original thoughts on the story. The
reason is because the people who are affected by retrocausality don't
remember the past that used to be. They only remember the past as it now
stands. :0)
Retrocausality actually plays a figurative role in politics. The day
after an election politicians act as if their constituency no longer
remembers campaign promises.
Meanwhile my mind's still keen to understand the retrocausality
paper [1]. It's quite a slog because it requires me to review the
polarization present second (third?) semester general physics. It then
requires further review of quantum mechanics present in modern physics.

[D B Davis]

It turns out that at least some members of Congress have a darned
good excuse to not remember their own campaign promises. Their meds may
make them forget what happened yesterday.

An old-school pharmacy hand-delivers drugs to Congress, a
little-known perk for the powerful
https://www.statnews.com/2017/10/11/pharmacist-congress-drug-delivery/

... Mike Kim, the reserved pharmacist-turned-owner of the pharmacy,
said he has gotten used to knowing the most sensitive details about
some of the most famous people in Washington.

"At first it's cool, and then you realize, I'm filling some drugs
that are for some pretty serious health problems as well. And
these are the people that are running the country," Kim said,
listing treatments for conditions like diabetes and Alzheimer's.

"It makes you kind of sit back and say, 'Wow, they're making the
highest laws of the land and they might not even remember what
happened yesterday.'" ...

Thank you,

--
Don