Solar Lottery
The year is 2203, and the ruler of the universe is chosen according to the random laws of a strange game under the control of Quizmaster Verrick. But when Ted Bentley, a research technician recently dismissed from his job, signs on to work for Verrick, he has no idea that Leon Cartwright is about to become the new Quizmaster. Nor does he know that he's about to play an integral part in the plot to assassinate Cartwright so that Verrick can resume leadership of a universe that is not nearly as random as it appears. Winner of both the Hugo and John W. Campbell awards for best novel, widely regarded as the premiere science fiction writer of his day, and the object of cult-like adoration from his legions of fans, Philip K. Dick has come to be seen in a literary light that defies classification in much the same way as Borges and Calvino. With breathtaking insight, he utilizes vividly unfamiliar worlds to evoke the hauntingly and hilariously familiar in our society and ourselves. From the Trade Paperback edition.
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- If that doesn't work, they'll fingerprint your thoughts.
Oh well, Philip K Dick enters the chat again. With Solar Lottery this time.
- The first time I read "Solar Lottery" by P. K. Dick I thought "there's no way this lottery system could work for selecting authorities."
But as I read on, the Minimax system sounded surprisingly similar to some real scientific concepts, so I investigated and realized it wasn't such a stupid idea - just one with no chance of being implemented.
Now I'm reading about it here, thank you for reminding me of that concept!
- In total, I count 14 books with titles chosen by the publisher/editor:
Among his notable works, the only titles PKD came up with were The Man in the High Castle, VALIS, Flow My Tears, Palmer Eldritch, and A Scanner Darkly.Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Dr. Bloodmoney The Simulacrum Ubik We Can Build You Martian Time-Slip The Transmigration of Timothy Archer The Divine Invasion A Maze of Death Counterclock World Radio Free Albemuth Solar Lottery The Zap Gun [1] The World Jones MadeSo. Yes, most.
Editors changed his shorts, too. I love the title "I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon", but PKD wanted to call it "Frozen Journey".
[1] This one was unusual in that the editor gave PKD the title and asked him to write a plot around it.
- When I vote for a representative in the current system, their political sway only matters if they gained a majority
Consider instead where everyone in the running got through, only their votes were multiplied by the number of votes they received. Suddenly there's a much higher value to high voter turnout (because winning by a large landslide matters for voting against opposition from opposing landslides, & one doesn't need the majority of votes for their vote to have weight)
Aside, the idea of selling your vote is explored in Philip K Dick's Solar Lottery
- Hah, Philip K. Dick explored this a bit in "Solar Lottery." In the book it's a bit absurd, but still an interesting take on a "randomized" government.
- It's the plot to P.K. Dick's first published novel "Solar Lottery".
> The operating principle was random selection: positions of public power were decided by a sophisticated lottery and when the magnetic lottery bottle twitched, anyone could become the absolute ruler of the world, the Quizmaster.
> But with the power came the game – the assassination game – which everyone could watch on TV. Would the new man be good enough to evade his chosen killer? Which made for fascinating and exciting viewing, compelling enough to distract the public’s attention while the Big Five industrial complexes ran the world. Then, in 2203, with the choice of a member of a maverick cult as Quizmaster, the system developed a little hitch…
