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BIBLIOTECA TECLA SALA February 18, 2016 Minority Report

Philip K. Dick (Sources: Wikipedia + The Guardian)

Summary

"" is a pen to you at any time.” 1956 short The story reflects many of story by Philip K. Dick, first Philip K. Dick's personal published in Fantastic Universe. Cold War anxieties, particu- In a future society, three mu- larly questioning the relati- tants foresee all crime before onship between authoritari- it occurs. Plugged into a great anism and individual auto- machine, these "precogs" nomy. Like many stories allow the Precrime division to dealing with knowledge of arrest suspects prior to any future events, "The Minority infliction of public harm. Report" questions the exis- tence of free will. When the head of Precrime John A. Anderton is accused In 2002, the story was adap- of murdering Leopold Kaplan, ted into a film directed by a man whom he has never and star- met, Anderton is convinced a ring , Colin great conspiracy is afoot. His Farrell and Max von Sydow. Contents: new assistant, Ed Witwer, Spielberg's film was followed 1 must have corrupted the sys- by a series of the same na- Summary tem in an attempt to oust him me which debuted on the About Philip K. 2 from the position. On the run FOX Network on Septem- and suspicious of even his ber 21, 2015. Dick wife, Anderton searches for the minority report to clear The World in 3 his name, as only two out of “The Minority the three precogs predicted his guilt. Through a series of Report” betrayals and changing allian- ces, Anderton discovers that Why Minority Re- 4 the three predictions are port was spot on rather a progression of alter- nate realities. In order to maintain the authority of Pre- Notes 6 crime, Anderton consciously decides to kill Kaplan, thereby affirming the validity of the second majority report. An- derton is thus exiled with his wife to life on a frontier colo- ny and replaced by Witwer as head of Precrime. The story ends with Anderton's advice to his successor: “Better keep your eyes open,” he informed young Witwer. “It might hap-

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About Philip K. Dick

Philip Kindred Dick (December produced, including , 16, 1928 – March 2, 1982) was Total Recall, , an American writer, whose pu- Minority Report, , Next, blished works mainly belong to Screamers, the genre of science fiction. Dick and . In 2005, Time maga- explored philosophical, sociologi- zine named one of the hun- cal and political themes in novels dred greatest English-language with plots dominated by mono- novels published since 1923. In polistic corporations, authoritari- 2007, Dick became the first sci- an governments, and altered ence fiction writer to be included states of consciousness. In his in The Library of America series. later works, Dick's thematic focus tended to reflect his perso- nal interest in metaphysics and theology. He often drew upon his life ex- periences in addressing the natu- re of drug abuse, paranoia, schi- zophrenia, and transcendental experiences in novels such as A Scanner Darkly and . Later in life, he wrote non-fiction on philosophy, theology, the nature of reality, and science. This mate- rial was published posthumously as The Exegesis. The novel The Man in the High Castle bridged the genres of al- ternate history and science ficti- on, earning Dick a Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1963. Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said, a novel about a celebrity who awakens one day to find that he is unknown, won the John W. Campbell Memorial Award for best novel in 1975. "I want to write about people I love, and put them into a fictional world spun out of my own mind, not the world we actually have, be- cause the world we actually have does not meet my standards," Dick wrote of these stories. "In my writing I even question the universe; I wonder out loud if it is real, and I wonder out loud if all of us are real." In addition to 44 published no- vels, Dick wrote approximately 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction maga- zines during his lifetime. Although Dick spent most of his career as a writer in near- poverty, eleven popular films based on his works have been

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The world in “The Minority Report”

Police Commissioner John The precogs are kept in rigid A. Anderton regained a sense of superiority position by metal bands, clamps over both his wife and Witwer. and wiring, strapping them into John A. Anderton is the protago- special high-backed chairs. Their nist of “The Minority Report”. At Precrime physical needs are taken care of first, he is highly insecure, suspi- automatically and Anderton cious of those closest to him - Founded thirty years prior to claims that they have no spiritual his wife, his assistant Witwer. He when the story is set, Precrime is needs. Their physical appearance has complete faith in the Precri- a predictive policing system dedi- is distorted from an ordinary me system and its authority over cated to apprehending and detai- human, with enlarged heads and individuals and their freedom of ning people before they have the wasted bodies. Precogs are choice. The poor living condition opportunity to commit a given "deformed" and "retarded" as of the precogs and the imprison- crime. This method has replaced "the talent absorbs everything"; ment of would-be criminals are the traditional system of discove- "the esp-lobe shrivels the balance necessary consequences for the ring a crime and its perpetrator of the frontal area". They do not greater good of a safe society. (s) after the crime has already understand their predictions; When his own autonomy comes been committed, then issuing only through technological and under attack, Anderton retains punishment after the fact. As mechanical aid can their nonsen- this faith and convinces himself Witwer says early on in the se be unravelled. The data pro- that the system has somehow story, "punishment was never duced does not always pertain to been corrupted. At first, when much of a deterrent and could crime or murder, but this infor- his wife suggests, “Perhaps a lot scarcely have afforded comfort mation is then passed on to of people in the camps are like to a victim already dead". Unlike other agencies. you.’ ‘No,’ Anderton insisted. But the film adaptation, the story he was beginning to feel uneasy version of Precrime does not Majority and minority re- about it too. ‘I was in a position deal solely with cases of murder, ports to see the card, to get a look at but all crimes. As Commissioner the report. That’s what did it.’ John A. Anderton (the founder of Each of the three precogs gene- ‘But – ’ Lisa gestured significantly. Precrime) states, "Precrime has rates its own report or predicti- ‘Perhaps all of them would have cut down felonies by 99.8%." on. The reports of all the pre- acted that way. We could have Three mutants, known as cogs are analyzed by a computer told them the truth.’ ‘It would "precogs", have precognitive and, if these reports differ from have been far too great a risk,’ abilities by which they can see up one another, the computer iden- he answered stubbornly” (Ch.7). to two weeks into the future. tifies the two reports with the When later asked, “Which me- The precogs are strapped into greatest overlap and produces a ans more to you – your own machines, nonsensically babbling majority report, taking this as the personal safety or the existence as a computer listens and con- accurate prediction of the future. of the system?’ ‘My safety,’ An- verts this gibberish into predicti- But the existence of majority derton answered, without hesita- ons of the future. This informati- reports implies the existence of a tion. ‘If the system can survive on is then transcribed onto con- minority report. In the story, only by imprisoning innocent ventional punch cards which are Precrime Police Commissioner people, then it deserves to be ejected into various coded slots: John A. Anderton believes that destroyed. My personal safety is when cards are produced, they the prediction that he will com- important because I’m a human appear simultaneously at Precri- mit a murder has been generated being” (Ch.7). Anderton strug- me and the army headquarters, as a majority report. He sets out gles to find an appropriate balan- in order to prevent systemic to find the minority report, ce between Precrime authority corruption. which would give him an alterna- and individual liberty. Ultimately, te future. Anderton decides to kill Leopold Precogs However, as Anderton finds out, Kaplan in order to affirm the sometimes all three reports dif- majority report and thereby Precogs are mutants, identified fer quite significantly, and there preserve the validity of the Pre- talents further developed in a may be no majority report, even crime system. In doing so, he is government-operated training though two reports may have himself liberated from society in school — for example, one pre- had enough in common for the exile and recovers his self- cog was initially diagnosed as "a computer to link them as such. In confidence. Anderton has argua- hydrocephalic idiot" but the pre- the storyline, all of the reports bly lost some of his humanity in cog talent was found under about Anderton differ because becoming a murderer, yet he has layers of damaged brain tissue. they predict events occurring

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Why Minority Report was spot on

crew of the Enterprise telepor- sequentially, and thus each is a [Source: The Guardian — ted, carried phasers, communica- minority report. Anderton's http://www.theguardian.com/technol ted with their computer by voice situation is explained to be uni- ogy/2010/jun/16/minority-report- and carried data around on little que because he, as Police Com- technology-comes-true] plastic sticks, a generation lo- missioner, received notice of the oked at it and thought: that's a precogs' predictions, allowing The launch of Microsoft's new future I want to live in. him to change his mind and inva- Kinect games system, which lidate earlier precog predictions. allows players to run, jump, And so with Minority Report. In punch and shoot without having the manner of all the best scien- Multiple time paths to wear strange clothing or hold ce-fiction, it included numerous any kind of controller, has got gadgets but didn't rely on any of The existence of three apparent technology and cinema buffs alike them as the key to its plot, which minority reports suggests the thinking of Tom Cruise again. still revolved (as was Dick's pre- possibility of three future time Specifically, the moment in the dilection) on people's ability to paths, all existing simultaneously, film Minority Report when Crui- deceive themselves about truth, any of which an individual could se, playing police chief John An- lies and reality. choose to follow or be sent derton, tries to figure out film along following an enticement (as footage and computer data by For a lot of geeky fans, however, in Anderton's being told he was waving his hands around in mid- the plot was incidental to the going to murder an unknown air to manipulate it: turning it, possibilities offered by the tech- man). In this way, the time-paths shrinking it, pushing it aside, nologies on show. And there overlap, and the future of one is revolving it. Give it time: in a few were plenty: pre-crime able to affect the past of another. years, we'll more than likely be (predicting that a particular per- It is in this way that the story controlling our computers in a son will commit a crime); iris weaves a complicated web of similar way. recognition (picking you out crossing time paths and makes a from a crowd on the basis of the linear journey for Anderton har- When Minority Report came out unique pattern of your iris); per- der to identify. It is the theory of in the summer of 2002 – the sonalised advertising (where multiple-futures which allows the iPod was less than a year old and what you see on hoardings is precogs of Precrime to be of the iPhone and iPad weren't even targeted specifically to you); e- benefit, because if only one time- gleams in Steve Jobs's glinting paper (electronic paper, for path existed, the predictions of eyes – its technological visions of newspapers with moving images the precogs would be worthless, the future seemed mind- that people can read on trains); since no possibility would exist bogglingly cool. The film was set 3D video (do we have to explain of altering the future. Precrime is in 2054 (Philip K Dick's short this?); computer-guided cars based on the notion that once story, on which it is based, isn't (which follow preset patterns); one unpleasant future pathway is so specific), so director Steven spider robots (for tracking peo- identified, an alternative, better Spielberg presumably reckoned ple); jetpacks; and some rather one can be created with the he was giving it plenty of room unpleasant police restraint tech- arrest of the intended perpetra- for the array of cutting-edge nologies – including the sick stick tor. technologies to become part of (makes you sick on contact) and our daily life. "the collar" (which effectively paralyses you once fitted). What Spielberg didn't count on, though, is what might be called Advertisement "the Star Trek effect". If you Things such as gesture compu- show off imaginary cool techno- ting were still way off (though a logy in a film or TV series, then jetpack had been used in the kids, teenagers and enthusiastic opening ceremony of the 1984 technologists of all ages will try Olympic Games). But, eight years their damnedest to make it come on, Spielberg and his technical true. When James T Kirk bea- advisers look as though they med down to an alien planet and were too cautious . . . flipped open his communicator, when Spock waved his tricorder over strange life forms and mur- mured "intriguing . . .", when the

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Why Minority Report was spot on

Gesture-based computing Computer-guided cars That's not the end: Nick Malleson, a John Underkoffler, the MIT scien- Arguably, the closest we will get to researcher at the University of tist who created the gesture-based this is satnav systems, which are Leeds, has built a system that can computing that Cruise used in actually pretty pervasive; the predict the likelihood of a house Minority Report, has developed his market is nearly saturated, at least being broken into, based on how own company – Oblong Industries in the UK. However, the Defence close it is to routes that potential – to make it real and market it. But Advanced Research Projects burglars might take around the city; he has already been overtaken by Agency (which gave us the internet) he is meeting Leeds council this companies such as Apple with the has had an "autonomous car" com- week to discuss how to use it in iPhone, offering "pinch" and "pull" petition – and entrants are getting new housing developments, to re- and "swipe" for pictures and text better. Wouldn't it be nice if your duce the chances of break-ins. So since 2007. And of course by Mi- car could drive you home after a although pre-crime systems can't crosoft, both with its new Kinect night on the booze? Pubs would quite predict murder yet, it may games system and its table-sized, cheer. only be a matter of time. touch-screen Surface, which lets you move things around with your 3D video Spider robots hands. Have you seen Avatar? Up? Sky's The US military is developing new 3D TV service? The new Nin- "insect robots", with the help of Dynamic iris recognition tendo 3DS? Done. British Aerospace. They actually Your iris has a unique pattern, and have eight legs (so, really, arachnid is already used to identify you (so E-paper robots) and will be able to recon- long as you are standing still in Apple's iPad and Amazon's Kindle noitre dangerous areas where you front of a camera) by border con- are a bit bulky, but lots of news don't want to send a human, such trol agencies in the UK, Nether- organisations think they are just the as potentially occupied houses. lands, United Arab Emirates, US ticket for electronic reading. But and Canada. In the film, people's real "electronic paper" – bendy, "Our ultimate goal is to develop irises are read while they're on the able to retain an image, electroni- technologies that will give our soldi- move, presenting the extra challen- cally rewriteable – is getting closer ers another set of eyes and ears for ge of movement and resolution. all the time. In January, the Korean use in urban environments and But with cameras and computers company LG showed off a 19in complex terrain; places where they improving all the time, don't bet flexible e-paper, and companies cannot go or where it would be too against this not being ready way such as Plastic Logic and E Ink are dangerous," Bill Devine, advanced before 2054. getting electronics that look closer concepts manager with BAE Sys- to paper all the time. Perhaps it will tems, told World Military Forum. Personalised ads be a hit when newspapers stop Give it 10 years and they will be In Minority Report, the iris recog- printing. So, 2054 then. Or perhaps there. nition then led to personalised ads 2015? bombarding you on hoardings Sick sticks everywhere. That doesn't happen Pre-crime These have already been the object offline, but you do get them – to In the film, "pre-cogs" can look into of some research: Pennsylvania some extent – on the net: the future and inform the police State University researchers deve- DoubleClick, the huge advertising (they have got no choice – they are loped a system to emit ultra-bright company owned by Google, tracks stuck in baths in the basement). In light pulses that induce "temporary any sites you visit that use its ad- 2008, Portsmouth city council ins- blindness, disorientation, nausea verts, and can tailor what ads you talled CCTV linked to software that and blindness". And a company see to an agglomeration of your would note whether people were called Intelligent Optical Security interests. Attempts by the UK web walking suspiciously slowly. Univer- has built and sold it for the US's -tracking company Phorm to let sity researchers had already realised Homeland Security organisation – internet service providers do simi- in 2001 that, if you recorded the so feel worried. There's no sign of lar things with ads, by tracking walking paths of people in car restraint collars yet, although wat- where you went online, ran into parks, you could spot the would-be ching England play football has been privacy problems. And don't forget thieves simply: they didn't walk known to have the same effect. Facebook, which is spookily good directly to a car, but instead ambled at targeting ads – because it has around with no apparent target. access to everything you have told That is because, unlike everyone it about yourself (though it insists it else in a car park, they weren't does not share that with adverti- going to their own car. sers).

BIBLIOTECA TECLA SALA

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