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81-469: Pre-crime (or precrime ) is the idea that the occurrence of a crime can be anticipated before it happens. The term was coined by science fiction author Philip K. Dick , and is increasingly used in academic literature to describe and criticise the tendency in criminal justice systems to focus on crimes not yet committed. Precrime intervenes to punish, disrupt, incapacitate or restrict those deemed to embody future crime threats. The term precrime embodies

162-479: A temporal paradox , suggesting both that a crime has not yet occurred and that it is a foregone conclusion . George Orwell introduced a similar concept in his 1949 novel Nineteen Eighty-Four using the term thoughtcrime to describe illegal thoughts which held banned opinions about the ruling government or intentions to act against it. A large part of how it differs from precrime is in its absolute prohibition of anti-authority ideas and emotions, regardless of

243-507: A " religious anarchist ". Dick generally tried to stay out of the political scene because of high societal turmoil from the Vietnam War . Still, he did show some anti-Vietnam War and anti-governmental sentiments. In 1968, he joined the " Writers and Editors War Tax Protest ", an anti-war pledge to pay no U.S. federal income tax , which resulted in the confiscation of his car by the IRS . Dick

324-568: A Christian persecuted by Romans in the first century AD. He referred to the "transcendentally rational mind" as "Zebra", "God" and " VALIS " (an acronym for Vast Active Living Intelligence System ). He wrote about the experiences, first in the semi-autobiographical novel Radio Free Albemuth , then in VALIS , The Divine Invasion , The Transmigration of Timothy Archer and the unfinished The Owl in Daylight (the VALIS trilogy ). In 1974, Dick wrote

405-439: A collection of letters and journals from the period. On February 20, 1974, while recovering from the effects of sodium pentothal administered for the extraction of an impacted wisdom tooth , Dick received a home delivery of Darvon from a young woman. When he opened the door, he was struck by the dark-haired girl's beauty, and was especially drawn to her golden necklace. He asked her about its curious fish-shaped design. As she

486-632: A correspondence with Dick during his X-Kalay stint), he donated manuscripts , papers and other materials to the university's Special Collections Library, where they are in the Philip K. Dick Science Fiction Collection in the Pollak Library. During this period, Dick befriended a circle of Fullerton State students that included several aspiring science fiction writers, including K. W. Jeter , James Blaylock and Tim Powers . Jeter would later continue Dick's Bladerunner series with three sequels. Dick returned to

567-405: A difficult and impoverished time for Dick, who once lamented, "We couldn't even pay the late fees on a library book." He published almost exclusively within the science fiction genre but dreamed of a career in mainstream fiction. During the 1950s, he produced a series of non-genre, relatively conventional novels. In 1960, Dick wrote that he was willing to "take twenty to thirty years to succeed as

648-464: A drug-induced state that actually makes better sense than the real world, or he may cross into a different universe completely." Alternate universes and simulacra are common plot devices , with fictional worlds inhabited by common, working people, rather than galactic elites. "There are no heroes in Dick's books", Ursula K. Le Guin wrote, "but there are heroics. One is reminded of Dickens : what counts

729-539: A dying, poisoned Earth de-populated of almost all animals and all "successful" humans; the only remaining inhabitants of the planet are people with no prospects off-world. The 1968 novel is the literary source of the film Blade Runner (1982). It is both a conflation and an intensification of the pivotally Dickian question: "What is real, what is fake? What crucial factor defines humanity as distinctly 'alive', versus those merely alive only in their outward appearance?" Ubik (1969) employs extensive psychic telepathy and

810-468: A genius in the science fiction world, the mainstream literary world was unappreciative, and he could publish books only through low-paying science fiction publishers such as Ace . He said in a 1977 interview that were it not for interest by a French publishing company in the mid-1960s, which decided to publish all of his catalog to date, he would not have been able to continue as a writer. But even in his later years, he continued to have financial troubles. In

891-496: A letter to the FBI , accusing various people, including University of California, San Diego professor Fredric Jameson , of being foreign agents of Warsaw Pact powers. He also wrote that Stanisław Lem was probably a false name used by a composite committee operating on orders of the Communist party to gain control over public opinion. At one point, Dick felt he had been taken over by

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972-633: A literary writer". The dream of mainstream success formally died in January 1963 when the Scott Meredith Literary Agency returned all of his unsold mainstream novels. Only one of them, Confessions of a Crap Artist , was published during Dick's lifetime, in 1975 by Paul Williams ' Entwhistle Books . In 1963 Dick won the Hugo Award for The Man in the High Castle . Although he was hailed as

1053-533: A master of imaginative, paranoid fiction in the vein of Franz Kafka and Thomas Pynchon ". Dick's posthumous influence has been widespread, extending beyond literary circles into Hollywood filmmaking. Popular films based on his works include Blade Runner (1982), Total Recall (adapted twice: in 1990 and in 2012 ), Screamers (1995), Minority Report (2002), A Scanner Darkly (2006), The Adjustment Bureau (2011), and Radio Free Albemuth (2010). Beginning in 2015, Amazon Prime Video produced

1134-411: A modern criminal justice system is increasingly preoccupied with anticipating threats, and is the antithesis of the traditional criminal justice system's focus on past crimes. Traditionally, criminal justice and punishment presuppose evidence of a crime being committed . This time-honored principle is violated once punishment is meted out "for crimes never committed". Today, a clear example of this trend

1215-581: A past criminal would be convicted of a future crime with about 67 percent accuracy, a rate that was extremely similar to COMPAS. Although COMPAS does not explicitly collect data regarding race, a study testing its accuracy on more than 7,000 individuals arrested in Broward County, Florida showed substantial racial disparities in the software’s predictions. The results of the study showed that Black defendants who did not reoffend after their sentence were incorrectly predicted by COMPAS software to recidivate at

1296-703: A prognosis; they tend to overstate how long a patient might live. For patients who are critically ill, particularly those in an intensive care unit , there are numerical prognostic scoring systems that are more accurate. The most famous of these is the APACHE II scale, which is most accurate when applied in the seven days prior to a patient's predicted death. Knowing the prognosis helps determine whether it makes more sense to attempt certain treatments or to withhold them, and thus plays an important role in end-of-life decisions and advanced care planning . Estimators that are commonly used to describe prognoses include: One of

1377-429: A psychiatric institution for two weeks. After filing for divorce in 1964, Dick moved to Oakland to live with a fan, author and editor Grania Davis . Shortly after, he attempted suicide by driving off the road while she was a passenger. Early in life, Dick attended Communist Party USA meetings, but shifted more towards anti-communism and libertarianism as time passed. In an interview, Dick once described himself as

1458-682: A rate of 44.9%, as opposed to white defendants who were incorrectly predicted to reoffend at a rate of 23.5%. In addition, white defendants were incorrectly predicted to not be at risk of recidivism at a rate of 47.7%, as opposed to their Black counterparts who were incorrectly predicted to not reoffend at a rate of 28%. The study concluded that the COMPAS software appeared to overpredict recidivism risk towards Black individuals while underpredicting recidivism risk towards their white counterparts. Philip K. Dick Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982), often referred to by his initials PKD ,

1539-471: A record store on Telegraph Avenue . He attended the University of California, Berkeley from September 1949 to November 11, 1949, ultimately receiving an honorable dismissal dated January 1, 1950. He did not declare a major and took classes in history, psychology, philosophy, and zoology. Dick dropped out because of ongoing anxiety problems, according to his third wife Anne's memoir. She also says he disliked

1620-494: A response to the Roe v. Wade decision, Dick also published " The Pre-persons ", a satirical anti-abortion and anti-Malthusianism short story. Following the story's publication, Dick stated that he received death threats from feminists. On February 17, 1982, after completing an interview, Dick contacted his therapist, complaining of failing eyesight, and was advised to go to a hospital immediately, but did not. The following day, he

1701-416: A series of hallucinations which he referred to as "2-3-74", shorthand for February–March 1974. Aside from the "pink beam", he described the initial hallucinations as geometric patterns, and, occasionally, brief pictures of Jesus and ancient Rome . As the hallucinations increased in duration and frequency, Dick claimed he began to live two parallel lives—one as himself, "Philip K. Dick", and one as "Thomas",

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1782-406: A suspended state after death in creating a state of eroding reality. A group of psychics is sent to investigate a rival organisation, but several of them are apparently killed by a saboteur's bomb. Much of the following novel flicks between different equally plausible realities and the "real" reality, a state of half-life and psychically manipulated realities. In 2005, Time magazine listed it among

1863-436: A visit from the FBI , which they believed to be the result of Kleo's socialist views and left-wing activities . He physically fought with Anne Williams Rubinstein, his third wife. Dick wrote to a friend that he and Anne had "dreadful violent fights...slamming each other around, smashing every object in the house." In 1963, Dick told his neighbors that his wife was attempting to kill him and had her involuntarily committed to

1944-443: A way of being in the world." This authentic way of being manifests itself in compassion that recognizes the oneness of all life. "In Dick's vision, the moral imperative calls on us to care for all sentient beings, human or nonhuman, natural or artificial, regardless of their place in the order of things. And Dick makes clear that this imperative is grounded in empathy, not reason, whatever subsequent role reason may play." The figure of

2025-455: Is " nachträgliche Sicherungsverwahrung " ('retrospective security detention'), which became an option in German criminal law in 2004. This "measure of security" can be decided upon at the end of a prison sentence on a purely prognostic basis. In France, a similarly retrospective measure was introduced in 2008 as "rétention de sûreté" (security detention). The German measure was viewed as violating

2106-550: Is actually an illusion assembled by powerful external entities, such as the suspended animation in Ubik , vast political conspiracies or the vicissitudes of an unreliable narrator . "All of his work starts with the basic assumption that there cannot be one, single, objective reality", writes science fiction author Charles Platt . "Everything is a matter of perception. The ground is liable to shift under your feet. A protagonist may find himself living out another person's dream, or he may enter

2187-658: Is also one of Dick's first works to explore religious themes. The novel takes place in the 21st century, when, under UN authority, mankind has colonized the Solar System 's every habitable planet and moon . Life is physically daunting and psychologically monotonous for most colonists, so the UN must draft people to go to the colonies. Most entertain themselves using "Perky Pat" dolls and accessories manufactured by Earth-based "P.P. Layouts". The company also secretly creates "Can-D", an illegal but widely available hallucinogenic drug allowing

2268-592: Is an intergalactically famous singer whose entire body of work consists of recordings of John Dowland compositions. The Man in the High Castle (1962) is set in an alternative history in which the United States is ruled by the victorious Axis powers . It is the only Dick novel to win a Hugo Award . In 2015 this was adapted into a television series by Amazon Studios . The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965) utilizes an array of science fiction concepts and features several layers of reality and unreality. It

2349-470: Is as integral to his body of work as oxygen is to water. —Steven Owen Godersky Mental illness was a constant interest of Dick's, and themes of mental illness permeate his work. The character Jack Bohlen in the 1964 novel Martian Time-Slip is an "ex-schizophrenic". The novel Clans of the Alphane Moon centers on an entire society made up of descendants of lunatic asylum inmates. In 1965, he wrote

2430-534: Is considered one of the most important figures in 20th-century science fiction. Born in Chicago, Dick moved to the San Francisco Bay Area with his family at a young age. He began publishing science fiction stories in 1952, at age 23. He found little commercial success until his alternative history novel The Man in the High Castle (1962) earned him acclaim, including a Hugo Award for Best Novel , when he

2511-928: Is most obvious and advanced in the context of counter-terrorism, though it is argued that, far from countering terrorism, precrime produces the futures it purports to prevent. In 2020, the Tampa Bay Times compared the Pasco County Sheriff's Office precrime detection program to the film Minority Report , citing pervasive monitoring of suspects and repeated visits to their homes, schools, and places of employment. Specialist software now exists for crime-prediction by analysing data. This type of software has allowed law enforcement agencies to form predictions about criminal behavior and identify potential criminal hotspots based on crime data. However, crime prediction software has also faced heavy criticism from academics, privacy, and civil liberties groups due to concerns about

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2592-460: Is neither here nor there. One time when I owed the IRS a lot of money and couldn't raise it, Heinlein loaned the money to me. I think a great deal of him and his wife; I dedicated a book to them in appreciation. Robert Heinlein is a fine-looking man, very impressive and very military in stance; you can tell he has a military background, even to the haircut. He knows I'm a flipped-out freak and still he helped me and my wife when we were in trouble. That

2673-409: Is seen and criticized as an emerging "new criminology" or " actuary justice". The new "precrime" or "security society" requires a radically new criminology. Richard Nixon 's psychiatrist, Arnold Hutschnecker , suggested, in a memorandum to the president, to run mass tests of "pre-delinquency" and put those juveniles in "camps". Hutschnecker, a refugee from Nazi Germany and a vocal critic of Hitler at

2754-471: Is the best in humanity, there; that is who and what I love." In 1971, Dick's marriage to Nancy Hackett broke down, and she moved out of their house in Santa Venetia, California . He had abused amphetamine for much of the previous decade, stemming in part from his need to maintain a prolific writing regimen due to the financial exigencies of the science fiction field. He allowed other drug users to move into

2835-589: Is the honesty, constancy, kindness and patience of ordinary people." Dick made no secret that much of his thinking and work was heavily influenced by the writings of Carl Jung . The Jungian constructs and models that most concerned Dick seem to be the archetypes of the collective unconscious , group projection/hallucination, synchronicities , and personality theory. Many of Dick's protagonists overtly analyze reality and their perceptions in Jungian terms (see Lies, Inc. ). Dick identified one major theme of his work as

2916-512: Is to identify and eliminate persons who will commit crimes in the future. The agency’s work is based on the existence of "precog mutants", a trio of "vegetable-like" humans whose "every incoherent utterance" is analyzed by a punch card computer. As Anderton, the chief of the Precrime agency, explains the advantages of this procedure: "in our society we have no major crimes ... but we do have a detention camp full of would-be criminals". He cautions about

2997-633: The European Convention on Human Rights by the European Court of Human Rights in 2009. It was, however, never completely abolished in Germany and new legislation is envisaged to continue this practice under the new name "Therapieunterbringung" (detention for therapy).. A similar provision for indefinite administrative detention was found in Finnish law , but it was not enforced after the mid-1970s. Precrime

3078-539: The International Prognostic Index to predict patient outcome. Other medical areas where prognostic indicators are used is in Drug-Induced Liver Injury (DILI) ( Hy's law ) and use of an exercise stress test as a prognostic indicator after myocardial infarction , also used to indicate multiple myeloma survival rate. Studies have found that most doctors are overly optimistic when making

3159-548: The United States Department of Agriculture . His paternal grandparents were Irish. Jane's death on January 26, 1929, six weeks after their birth, profoundly affected Philip's life, leading to the recurrent motif of the " phantom twin " in his books. Dick's family later moved to the San Francisco Bay Area . When he was five, his father was transferred to Reno, Nevada , and when Dorothy refused to move, she and Joseph divorced. Both fought for custody of Philip, which

3240-419: The "All-TIME 100 Greatest Novels" published since 1923. Prognosis When applied to large statistical populations , prognostic estimates can be very accurate: for example the statement "45% of patients with severe septic shock will die within 28 days" can be made with some confidence, because previous research found that this proportion of patients died. This statistical information does not apply to

3321-643: The Nature of Reality, Know Thyself, The Android and the Human, Entropy and Pot Healing, The Theodicy Problem, Warfare and Power Politics, The Evolved Human, and "Technology, Media, Drugs and Madness". Dick had two professional stories published under the pen names Richard Phillipps and Jack Dowland. "Some Kinds of Life" was published in October 1953 in Fantastic Universe under byline Richard Phillipps, apparently because

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3402-467: The android depicts those who are deficient in empathy, who are alienated from others and are becoming more mechanical (emotionless) in their behaviour. "In general, then, it can be said that for Dick robots represent machines that are becoming more like humans, while androids represent humans that are becoming more like machines." Dick's third major theme is his fascination with war and his fear and hatred of it. One hardly sees critical mention of it, yet it

3483-552: The basic legal drawback to precrime methodology: "We’re taking in individuals who have broken no law." The concept was brought to wider public attention by Steven Spielberg 's film Minority Report , loosely adapted from the story. The Japanese cyberpunk anime television series Psycho-Pass has a similar concept. Precrime in criminology dates back to the positivist school in the late 19th century, especially to Cesare Lombroso 's idea that there are "born criminals", who can be recognized, even before they have committed any crime, on

3564-450: The basis of certain physical characteristics. Biological, psychological and sociological forms of criminological positivisms informed criminal policy in the early 20th century. For born criminals, criminal psychopaths, and dangerous habitual offenders eliminatory penalties (capital punishment, indefinite confinement, castration etc.) were seen as appropriate. Similar ideas were advocated by the social defense movement and, more recently, by what

3645-408: The conclusion that, in a certain sense, the world is not entirely real and there is no way to confirm whether it is truly there. That question was a theme in many of his novels. Dick sold his first story, " Roog "—about "a dog who imagined that the garbagemen who came every Friday morning were stealing valuable food which the family had carefully stored away in a safe metal container" —in 1951, when he

3726-411: The consideration of any physical revolutionary acts. However, Orwell was describing behaviour he saw in governments of his day as well as extrapolating on that behaviour, and so his ideas were themselves rooted in real political history and current events. In Philip K. Dick's 1956 science fiction short story " The Minority Report ", Precrime is the name of a criminal justice agency, the task of which

3807-461: The earliest written works of medicine is the Book of Prognostics of Hippocrates , written around 400 BC. This work opens with the following statement: "It appears to me a most excellent thing for the physician to cultivate Prognosis; for by foreseeing and foretelling, in the presence of the sick, the present, the past, and the future, and explaining the omissions which patients have been guilty of, he will be

3888-503: The essay titled "Schizophrenia and the Book of Changes". Drug use (including religious , recreational , and abuse ) was also a theme in many of Dick's works, such as A Scanner Darkly and The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch . Dick himself was a drug user for much of his life. According to a 1975 interview in Rolling Stone , Dick wrote all of his books published before 1970 while on amphetamines . " A Scanner Darkly (1977)

3969-403: The events of these months while writing his novel A Scanner Darkly (1977), which contains fictionalized depictions of the burglary of his home, his time using amphetamines and living with addicts, and his experiences of X-Kalay (portrayed in the novel as "New-Path"). A factual account of his recovery program participation was portrayed in his posthumously released book The Dark Haired Girl ,

4050-413: The generation of a "pink beam" of light that mesmerized him. He came to believe the beam imparted wisdom and clairvoyance, and also believed it to be intelligent. On one occasion, he was startled by a separate recurrence of the pink beam, which imparted the information that his infant son was ill. The Dicks rushed the child to the hospital, where the illness was confirmed by professional diagnosis. After

4131-531: The house. Following the release of 21 novels between 1960 and 1970, these developments were exacerbated by unprecedented periods of writer's block , with Dick ultimately failing to publish new fiction until 1974. One day, in November 1971, Dick returned to his home to discover it had been burglarized, with his safe blown open and personal papers missing. The police could not determine the culprit, and even suspected Dick of having done it himself. Shortly thereafter, he

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4212-422: The introduction to the 1980 short story collection, The Golden Man , he wrote: "Several years ago, when I was ill, Heinlein offered his help, anything he could do, and we had never met; he would phone me to cheer me up and see how I was doing. He wanted to buy me an electric typewriter , God bless him—one of the few true gentlemen in this world. I don't agree with any ideas he puts forth in his writing, but that

4293-556: The lack of evidence proving the technology’s reliability and accuracy. Another criticism of crime prediction software is that crime prediction algorithms often use racially skewed data in their analysis. This can potentially lead law enforcement agencies to make decisions and predictions that unfairly target and label minority communities as at risk for criminal activity. A widely used criminal risk assessment tool called COMPAS (Correctional Offender Management Profiling for Alternative Sanctions) has been used by police and judges to predict

4374-473: The local newspaper The Province , invited Dick to stay in his home, but asked him to leave two weeks later due to his erratic behavior. Janis then ended their relationship and moved away. On March 23, 1972, Dick attempted suicide by taking an overdose of the sedative potassium bromide . Subsequently, after deciding to seek help, Dick became a participant in X-Kalay (a Canadian Synanon -type recovery program), and

4455-415: The magazine had a policy against publishing multiple stories by the same author in the same issue; "Planet for Transients" was published in the same issue under his own name. The short story " Orpheus with Clay Feet " was published under the pen name Jack Dowland. The protagonist desires to be the muse for fictional author Jack Dowland, considered the greatest science fiction author of the 20th century. In

4536-432: The mandatory ROTC training. At Berkeley, he befriended poet Robert Duncan and poet and linguist Jack Spicer , who gave Dick ideas for a Martian language. Through his studies in philosophy, he believed that existence is based on internal human perception, which does not necessarily correspond to external reality. He described himself as "an acosmic panentheist ", which he explained as meaning that "I don't believe that

4617-480: The more readily believed to be acquainted with the circumstances of the sick; so that men will have confidence to intrust themselves to such a physician." For 19th-century physicians, particularly those following the French school of medicine, the main aim of medicine was not to cure disease, but rather to give a medical diagnosis and achieve a satisfying prognosis of the patient's chances. Only several decades later did

4698-690: The multi-season television adaptation The Man in the High Castle , based on Dick's 1962 novel; and in 2017 Channel 4 produced the anthology series Electric Dreams , based on various Dick stories. In 2005, Time named Ubik (1969) one of the hundred greatest English-language novels published since 1923. In 2007, Dick became the first science fiction writer included in The Library of America series . Dick and his twin sister, Jane Charlotte Dick, were born six weeks prematurely on December 16, 1928, in Chicago, Illinois, to Dorothy (née Kindred; 1900–1978) and Joseph Edgar Dick (1899–1985), who worked for

4779-479: The nature of reality, as in novels A Scanner Darkly (1977), VALIS (1981), and The Transmigration of Timothy Archer (1982). A collection of his speculative nonfiction writing on these themes was published posthumously as The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick (2011). He died in 1982 in Santa Ana, California , at the age of 53, due to complications from a stroke . Following his death, he became "widely regarded as

4860-459: The prognosis for each individual patient, because patient-specific factors can substantially change the expected course of the disease: additional information is needed to determine whether a patient belongs to the 45% who will die, or to the 55% who survive. Prognostic scoring is also used for cancer outcome predictions. A Manchester score is an indicator of prognosis for small-cell lung cancer. For Non-Hodgkin lymphoma , physicians have developed

4941-496: The question, "What constitutes the authentic human being?" In works such as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? , beings can appear totally human in every respect while lacking soul or compassion, while completely alien beings such as Glimmung in Galactic Pot-Healer may be more humane and complex than their human peers. Understood correctly, said Dick, the term "human being" applies "not to origin or to any ontology but to

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5022-466: The risk of recidivism amongst more than 1 million offenders since its development in 1998. The software predicts the likelihood that a convicted criminal will reoffend within two years based upon data including 137 of the individual's physical features and past criminal records. A study published in Science Advances by two researchers found that groups of randomly chosen people could predict whether

5103-516: The spirit of the prophet Elijah . He believed that an episode in his novel Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said was a detailed retelling of a biblical story from the Book of Acts , which he had never read. He documented and discussed his experiences and faith in a private journal he called his "exegesis", portions of which were later published as The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick . The last novel he wrote

5184-451: The story, Dowland publishes a short story titled "Orpheus with Clay Feet" under the pen name Philip K. Dick. The surname Dowland refers to Renaissance composer John Dowland , who is featured in several works. The title Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said directly refers to Dowland's best-known composition, " Flow, my tears ". In the novel The Divine Invasion , the character Linda Fox, created specifically with Linda Ronstadt in mind,

5265-406: The time of her death, 53 years earlier. Philip died four months before the release of Blade Runner , the film based on his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Dick's stories typically focus on the fragile nature of what is real and the construction of personal identity . His stories often become surreal fantasies, as the main characters slowly discover that their everyday world

5346-415: The time of his exodus, has rejected the interpretation of the memorandum that he advocated concentration camps: It was the term camp that was distorted. My use of it dates back to when I came to the United States in 1936 and spent the summer as a doctor in a children's camp. It was that experience and the pastoral setting, as well as the activities, that prompted my use of the word "camp." The frontline of

5427-423: The universe exists. I believe that the only thing that exists is God and he is more than the universe. The universe is an extension of God into space and time. That's the premise I start from in my work, that so-called 'reality' is a mass delusion that we've all been required to believe for reasons totally obscure". After reading the works of Plato and pondering the possibilities of metaphysical realms, he came to

5508-411: The user to "translate" into Perky Pat (if the drug user is a woman) or Pat's boyfriend, Walt (if the drug user is a man). This recreational use of Can-D allows colonists to experience a few minutes of an idealized life on Earth by participating in a collective hallucination. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) is the story of a bounty hunter policing the local android population. It occurs on

5589-448: The woman's departure, Dick began experiencing strange hallucinations. Although initially attributing them to side effects from medication, he considered this explanation implausible after weeks of continued hallucination. He told Charles Platt : "I experienced an invasion of my mind by a transcendentally rational mind, as if I had been insane all my life and suddenly I had become sane." Throughout February and March 1974, Dick experienced

5670-530: Was The Transmigration of Timothy Archer ; it was published shortly after his death in 1982. Dick was married five times: Dick had three children, Laura Archer Dick (born February 25, 1960, to Dick and his third wife, Anne Williams Rubenstein), Isolde Freya Dick (now Isa Dick Hackett ) (born March 15, 1967, to Dick and his fourth wife, Nancy Hackett), and Christopher Kenneth Dick (born July 25, 1973, to Dick and his fifth wife, Leslie "Tessa" Busby). In 1955, Dick and his second wife, Kleo Apostolides, received

5751-504: Was 22. From then on he wrote full-time. During 1952, his first speculative fiction publications appeared in July and September numbers of Planet Stories , edited by Jack O'Sullivan, and in If and The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction that year. His debut novel, Solar Lottery , was published in 1955 as half of Ace Double #D-103 alongside The Big Jump by Leigh Brackett . The 1950s were

5832-459: Was 33. He followed with science fiction novels such as Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (1968) and Ubik (1969). His 1974 novel Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel . Following years of drug abuse and a series of mystical experiences in 1974, Dick's work engaged more explicitly with issues of theology, metaphysics, and

5913-456: Was a critic of the U.S. federal government, regarding it to be just as "bad as the Soviet Union ", and cheered on "a great decentralization of the government". Dick's politics occasionally influenced his literature. Dick's 1967 short story " Faith of Our Fathers " is critical of communism . Dick's 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? condemns the eugenics movement. In 1974, as

5994-550: Was an American science fiction writer and novelist. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his lifetime. His fiction explored varied philosophical and social questions such as the nature of reality , perception , human nature , and identity , and commonly featured characters struggling against elements such as alternate realities , illusory environments, monopolistic corporations, drug abuse , authoritarian governments, and altered states of consciousness . He

6075-543: Was around this time that he became interested in science fiction. Dick stated that he read his first science fiction magazine, Stirring Science Stories, in 1940. Dick attended Berkeley High School in Berkeley, California . He and fellow science fiction author Ursula K. Le Guin were members of the class of 1947 but did not know each other at the time. He claimed to have hosted a classical music program on KSMO Radio in 1947. From 1948 to 1952, he worked at Art Music Company,

6156-626: Was awarded to Dorothy. Determined to raise Philip alone, she took a job in Washington, D.C. , and moved there with her son. Philip was enrolled at John Eaton Elementary School (1936–1938), completing the second through fourth grades. His lowest grade was a "C" in Written Composition, although a teacher said he "shows interest and ability in story telling ". He was educated in Quaker schools. In June 1938, Dorothy and Philip returned to California, and it

6237-625: Was found unconscious on the floor of his Santa Ana, California , home, having suffered a stroke. On February 25, 1982, Dick suffered another stroke in the hospital, which led to brain death . Five days later, on March 2, 1982, he was disconnected from life support . After his death, Dick's father, Joseph, took his son's ashes to Riverside Cemetery in Fort Morgan, Colorado (section K, block 1, lot 56), where they were buried next to his twin sister Jane, who died in infancy. Her tombstone had been inscribed with both of their names at

6318-580: Was invited to be guest of honor at the Vancouver Science Fiction Convention in February 1972. Within a day of arriving at the conference and giving his speech, The Android and the Human , he informed people that he had fallen in love with a woman named Janis whom he had met there and announced that he would be remaining in Vancouver. A conference attendee, Michael Walsh , movie critic for

6399-472: Was leaving, she replied: "This is a sign used by the early Christians." Dick called the symbol the "vesicle pisces". This name seems to have been based on his conflation of two related symbols, the Christian ichthys symbol (two intersecting arcs delineating a fish in profile), which the woman was wearing, and the vesica piscis . Dick recounted that as the sun glinted off the gold pendant, the reflection caused

6480-694: Was the first complete novel I had written without speed", said Dick in the interview. He also experimented briefly with psychedelics , but wrote The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch (1965), which Rolling Stone dubs "the classic LSD novel of all time", before he had ever tried them. Despite his heavy amphetamine use, however, Dick later said that doctors told him the amphetamines never actually affected him, that his liver had processed them before they reached his brain. Summing up all these themes in Understanding Philip K. Dick , Eric Carl Link discussed eight themes or "ideas and motifs": Epistemology and

6561-502: Was well enough by April to return to California. In October 1972, Dick wrote a letter to the FBI about science fiction writer Thomas Disch . Dick said he had been approached by a covert Anti-American organization which attempted to recruit him. Dick said he recognized their ideology in a book Disch wrote. On relocating to Orange County, California at the behest of California State University, Fullerton professor Willis McNelly (who initiated

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