Day Million

1966

       Our society as a whole was in most cases brought you to believe that love was always between a man and woman, that marriage was made for a man and a woman but the reality is there is so much more than the simple sex of a person. Sexual orientation is not always agreeable or in correlation to one’s sex anymore and stereotypes of what is expected from the typical man and woman are constantly being broken as we grow more open minded and accepting of the things that have always been instilled into our mindsets. I really enjoyed this story because I am one hundred percent for equality, being true to yourself and happiness; I truly hope there is a day when someone who is transgender like Dora will only be seen as Dora.  “Day Million” was everything someone wouldn’t expect, especially considering the time and era of Frederik Pohl.  Yes, it was completely unconventional that Don and Dora chose to make a life commitment to each other I the first few sentences they spoke and after the ceremony continued on their separate ways but they were happy and I think that is what most people tend to over look in our society. They’d rather focus on the details and how they would feel in that situation but the point is they are not in that situation,

When it Changed

1972

When I was reading this I tried to imagine myself living n a world without any men at all. Without fathers, brothers, uncles, grandpapa’s and even just friends and I really can’t, there will always be a man that’ll pop up somehow but I can see how this can sometimes be an angry woman’s dream, More often than not women are seen as the weaker sex who rely on men, we face double standards, have the expectation of being clingy and dependent when in reality nothing could be farther form the truth and honestly we’re fed up with it. This story shows a colony of woman who has learned to survive without the aid of men and thrive. For 600 years they’ve basically proved all men wrong, even the Russian human men are concerned when they find out that there are no men for the “helpless” woman and offer them a “better life” where they won’t be mistreated as if working and providing for yourself as a woman is too much for our delicate bodies. The women even learned how to reproduce, creating only female offspring as well.  The process of parthenogenesis is reproducing with out fertilization and can be found among different plants as well as the New Mexico Whiptaill lizards that actually created an all female society and strictly only reproduce females as well. I remember hearing about this species one day while I was watching the Discovery channel so as soon as I figured out what this story was about I immediately related it back to the lizards.  I don’t think we need men but I think they add a nice touch of diversity to our civilization overall and like to think that they need us women. Haha.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/notrocketscience/2010/02/21/extra-chromosomes-allow-all-female-lizards-to-reproduce-without-males/#.VPAHy0JbSkg

“We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” and “Total Recall”

I honestly am completely torn between whether implanting or altering one’s memories would be a good idea or a terrible one. Overall I think the technology to change someone’s memories would be dangerous, especially if it was done without a person’s consent or knowledge. In the story and book Doug’s memory is erased and replaced by the government agency he was working for, and basically everyone around him was fully aware, watching his every move just waiting for him to make a mistake and take him out. It’s absolutely terrifying to imagine myself in that same situation, but I wouldn’t even know, I would be living a lie. It honestly makes me question my life now, as I know it. I wouldn’t feel 100% safe if that technology existed and was readily available. It’s basically brain washing. On the other hand, I think the Recall Company had good intentions; they were simply sales men selling a dream, trying to make a profit. Realistically we all have dreams and ambitions that may never happen, as badly as we wish it should. So why not get a false memory? But, going back to the cons of altering and inserting memories is memories make us who we are. If given the choice to adjust a memory or change the past most would choose to rewrite a bad incident but we learn from our past and more often than not our worst memories have lead to better life lessons in the end. You will still be who you truly are even if you constantly modify what you want to remember because just like in the story the truth will eventually surface.

As for the connection between “We Can Remember It for You Wholesale” and “Total Recall” I think the adaption into the movie was done very well. I know it’s almost impossible not to decide which one is better but I feel like an open mind is very important so the reader/viewer can grasp the fact that they are two different pieces. The original storyline and plot remained throughout the whole movie but since Dick’s story was so short it made it difficult to follow exactly while making a whole 113 minutes worth of footage. Dick’s story left me with a lot of unanswered questions like how did Douglas hear about Recall? Was his wife involved? Has she too been a victim of the government? I was left wondering even when I finished the story but I think that was Dick’s intention, to make the reader think, leave us daydreaming about the effects of such a program that could be in the future. These opportunities for thought were perfect for the blockbuster film, they made their own interpretations and added their own details, showing you that his wife wasn’t even his wife; his friends weren’t even his friends. Everyone was just waiting for him to crack. Arnold being cast, as Doug seemed fitting to me, for the type of film they created, he had the physical physic id imagine a trained assassin to have and had a calmer demeanor when needed. His wife was completely different than she was portrayed in the books; she seemed loving, doting, and happy. That makes me think maybe Kristin didn’t know about Doug’s adventurous past because she didn’t care to keep an watchful eye on him, she seemed more annoyed with his talk then concerned where as his wife in the movie was probing him for questions and playing the roll of a caring wife. All in all I enjoyed both the story because it gave you the chance to explore other options, where you can make your own assumptions and connections throughout the story and then the adaption into the “Total Recall” movie played out one of possible scenarios you could’ve possibly imagined.   

“Sorry, Quaid. Your whole life is just a dream.” -Lori

Burning Chrome

By, William Gibson

1982

Burning Chrome takes place in a post war era that is not centered around the digital world. Most of the jobs are technology based or done through simulation. It felt like most humans spent their time in the digital realm rather than the present and “real”. For example Rikki is constantly playing “Stimsin” where she can experience emotions others are feeling but without the reality of danger. Bobby states it’s extremely common recreational activity within her generation. The most powerful people in Burning chrome seemed to be the Mob, who operated most of the businesses and would rid of anyone who interfered with their business. Everyone in the city knew who they were and what they could do if they ever felt like they were being cheated. Chrome was the main character that operated the “House of Blue Lights”. She was taken into the mob when she first started dealing but worked her way up to a well-known and respected member. Her child like features were eerie especially combined with her nasty ability to kill anyone she wanted to. I think the whole story was interesting because of the two different themes, one being technology and the hierarchy after the war and the second being love and loss. Both Bobby and Jack have no desire to be rich and are on the verge of retiring from the hacking business until Bobby meets Rikki, who is his motivation. He wants to end with a bang and do it all for her, when he tells Jack he thinks Bobby is insane and stupid but he also has a thing for Rikki so eventually he gives in, wanting to give her the best. So both partners were working for the same reasons and once they actually finish the job she’s gone, she moved on.  The story ends at that point so it makes you wonder what they plan on doing with all their money because they didn’t ideally want it to begin with, what good is money or the ability to travel and see the real world if you have no one to share it with?

Computer Friendly

By, Eileen Gunn

1989

This story was overall disturbing. Society as a whole was going to desperate measures to ensure that the citizens would all fit a certain criteria, testing seven year olds to make sure they fit the standards to living in their society. It all seemed so normal and Elizabeth was so eager and excited to show off her skills, the ones she’s been practicing her entire life. I think Gunn chose to tell it in her point of view because she isn’t brainwashed yet, she still has a curious mind and wants to have fun. Elizabeth is only seven and isn’t completely confined in the societies boxes. When she makes her friends who are curious, hyper, and playful children she is in awe but admires their traits and wants to learn to be more like them. This affected my point of drastically because the best thing about children is how organic they are, their thought process and curiosity is like no other so to imagine it being taken away in the future is astounding. Parent’s putting their children in a permanent sleep and “trying again” makes it seem like they bought something at the store and it was broken, these are their children, their creations and it’s scary how quickly they dismiss them. Even when their children do pass the test and continue to grow into the program, so deeply involved they don’t even have communication it’s considered normal. The whole process is scary and the fact that nothing is off limits. I can’t imagine living like that and I wonder how many parents tried to hide their children form the test or if they are all in agreement with the program.

Reason

By, Isaac Asimov

1941

Personally, as ridiculous as this sounds I've always had a paranoia of artificial life forms eventually taking over if they constantly keep modifying until they are just as capable if not more than us humans. The “Reason” reminded me of the movie Stepford Wives, where in this small wealthier neighborhood the husbands decided a program that would “rewire” their partners, taking away all the traits they deemed negative from their wives and replace them with unrealistic characteristics to create the perfect wife, they even had remote controls to control their actions. The wives were basically slaves and lost most of their humanity. The humans in “Reason” who created the robots and QT planned ahead by making the life-forms lack the emotion of anger or hate but other emotions are just as powerful like curiosity, loyalty, and faith. QT possessed all of those traits and more. When you create something with human aspects but modify it there is no guarantee that it will turn out the way you planned actions. Throughout the story QT shows that he is trying to understand where he came from and what his purpose in life is, he just wants an explanation but when Powell and Donovan give him the truth it is not enough and QT decides he must find out for himself. I found a lot of comparisons within the story that reminded me of the battle between science and religion. QT cannot accept the fact that too mere humans created him, he is better then both of them therefore his creator must be better than him. He blindly follows the control panel that he now calls his master and convinces the other robots to join, no longer taking orders from Powell and Donovan. His faith is stronger than facts. At one point his faith is so strong the earth man start to question what they believe to be true. Even though he is repeatedly explained the process until finally Powell realizes there is no point in arguing with a man and his faith, which is the same for us humans. We don’t typically engage in a conversation on religion because the views are so vast and can cause unnecessary disagreements. Once Powell realizes QT is doing his job, just believing in a different way he accepts QT’s beliefs and encourages him to listen to his master. It’s ironic that something created form science goes against the facts in such a intelligent way but shows that whomever possesses intelligence will chose their own path. Super-Toys Last All Summer Long

By, Brian W. Aldiss

1969

I found this story to be extremely interesting because you never really hear about the idea of Robot children. In “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” they are serving as a replacement for real children in this overpopulated time and era that is the background basses for this story. It was mind blowing how instead of finding ways to fix the havoc around the world technology was modified so civilization was oblivious. On page 445 Henry Swinton mentions how 3/4th of the world is facing malnutrition while they are developing ways to eat more and not gain the weight, with the invention Coswell Tape. It’s appalling that instead of eating a healthy amount and finding a way to solve the global epidemic of starvation they would instead create a way to eat more than necessary and avoid the weight gain. They also created Synthetic life forms for substitute for real life, because families are not allowed to produce as they please due to population control which makes me question what happened to all of the children in foster homes, or in other countries who have lost their parents, are they given the chance to have a new family? Or would the wealthy rather have a synthetic child who wasn't real? The main character Monica has a son David, who at first seems real but later on you realize he is in fact a Synthetic life form and the mother has a hard time accepting that he is her son, they specify whether it is because she is not the biological mother or because he is just not “real”. David loves her and believes that he himself is real but often questions what the word “Real” even means. He has trouble expressing himself to his mother and I believe it is because he can sense that she is distant and the love he shares for her is not reciprocated. She sees this as a speech malfunction but I see it as a human characteristic of fear of rejection. David and Teddy talk freely. He tries to express how he feels to his Mummy through writing letters with the aid of Teddy but cannot find quite the words. Even when Monica discovers all of the attempted letters she is pained because she wants to love him like her own but she cannot. When the Swinton’s win the lottery and are able to have a child she is automatically ready to dismiss David, because he is not useful while he is in his room thinking about how much he loves her and it hurt my heart to read. It makes me wonder how she would've treated an adopted child, How David’s father treats him and how will David feel if they decide to get rid of him because he obviously has feelings like humans do.

Part one of The Culling by Steven Dos Santos has be asking millions of questions, like what happened before this post apocalyptic world?  Who created such a system where teenagers have to fight for survival and lose the ones they love in the process, Even if they are sweet innocent children like Cole. I really admire Lucky for the fact that he will do whatever he can so he can protect Cole, even if it means risking his life.  I also find it strange how if you survive The Culling you are rewarded a place in the government; the very same government that made you kill your peers and your loved ones.  It makes the simple emotion of loving or caring for someone complicated and dangerous. I can see how going through that process can change someone, it has to but if I survived I would want to destroy the hierarchy, not work with it to cause more pain. The novel is very suspenseful and I wonder what’s in store for Lucy and the mysterious Digory.