I have long been obsessed with man vs. machine stories -- Westworld being one of my favorite movies (not so much the TV series) -- as well as good sci-fi like The Twilight Zone, which are really morality plays dressed up in cool stories. I have also produced several science documentaries for TV, being lucky enough to meet brilliant scientists and engineers who, frankly, make me feel totally intellectually inadequate but inspire me nonetheless.
I wrote...
Aramid
By
Paul Haddad
What is my book about?
Five Advanced Robotics high school students build a female humanistic robot named Aramid for a cut-throat competition to find the nation’s most lifelike android. But when the students illegally extract Aramid’s “morality chip,” she begins to unravel, exhibiting many of the same “sinful” problems as her teenage creators, which threatens to turn her into a killing machine. Two students – Sam and Beth – emerge as guardians for Aramid. Against all odds, she begins to improve, developing feelings of love, consciousness, and a longing to sleep like real people. But in her desire to become human, Aramid discovers her life’s purpose – an explosive secret that sets up a shocking ending in this riveting sci-fi thriller whose characters face a web of moral dilemmas with no easy answers.
The central question of Aramid is one that I think we all grapple with: If you were granted everything you ever wanted, is that a good thing? How long before we corrupt and manipulate the gifts we are bestowed for our own selfish good?
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The Books I Picked & Why
1984
By
George Orwell
Why this book?
Donald Trump and his minions (who can forget Kellyanne Conway’s “alternate facts”?) brought this 1949 book back in vogue, but even before Trump was elected, Orwell’s oracle of the future had only risen in relevancy. We can attribute much of that to social media, which has allowed for alternate realities, lies, conspiracies, and misinformation to be spread like wildfire. The book will only continue to be a cautionary tale for all of us as autocratic regimes in Russia, China, and, disturbingly, factions within our own country learn to perfect the art of propaganda on an unwitting populace.
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The Handmaid's Tale
By
Margaret Atwood
Why this book?
The Handmaid’s Tale shares a lot in common with 1984, in which information is controlled by a select few under a rigid government. Though an acclaimed book when it came out in 1985, its story of enslaved or diminished women in a patriarchal society took on a whole new meaning with the rise of the #MeToo and Time's Up movements (and continues with restrictive anti-abortion rulings that further control women’s bodies). I also like the fact that Atwood is not a sci-fi writer, per se. The success of her book – and the subsequent TV series – are a testament to her keen understanding of human nature, making the fantastical, dystopian elements that much more believable and horrifying.
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Lord of the Flies
By
William Golding
Why this book?
I recently reread this 1954 book about a group of boys stranded on an island, trying to govern themselves, for the first time since middle school. It was chilling in the context of the times we live in. Left unchecked, human behavior tends toward self-interest, greed, and power, often with fatal ramifications. It all resonates in today’s world with those in positions of authority who spread falsehoods to divide others in order to gain more power, to say nothing of Covid-19 deniers, anti-vaxxers, and others who see self-sacrifice for the greater good as weakness…and bullying as strength.
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A Clockwork Orange
By
Anthony Burgess
Why this book?
Published in 1962 but set in the near future, A Clockwork Orange was a satirical response to society’s fears of British hooliganism by nihilistic juveniles. But beneath the satire were serious themes that take on a new wrinkle today. Movements are afoot to completely rethink how we handle criminals and repeat offenders, calling for measures that are less punitive and more rehabilitative. Ah, but therein lies the catch: In attempting to remake protagonist Alex’s “Droogs” as functioning members of society, is the government simply stifling self-will by enslaving its subjects with society’s rules, whose inequitable policies often lead to people seeking a way out (i.e., crime) to begin with? A morality tale with no easy answers.
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Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?
By
Philip K. Dick
Why this book?
With the success of Ridley Scott’s 1982 movie, Blade Runner, the original 1968 book tacked on that main title to reissues. Both are populated by a futuristic metropolis in which automation has led to alienation. Is there a more defining strain sweeping our country than that of displaced workers who have lost their purpose in life? What do we lose when we try to perfect society through genetic engineering and globalized efficiency? In some ways, it doesn’t even matter if Rick Deckard is a human being or a replicant. Either way, he’s dead inside.
