[S2B]∎ Libro Gratis They'd Rather Be Right Starblaze Editions Mark Clifton Frank Riley 9780898651652 Books

They'd Rather Be Right Starblaze Editions Mark Clifton Frank Riley 9780898651652 Books

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They'd Rather Be Right Starblaze Editions Mark Clifton Frank Riley 9780898651652 Books

Mark Clifton and Frank Riley's _They'd Rather Be Right_ (1956) was the second novel to win the Hugo award. It is on many people's lists as the _worst_ novel ever to win a Hugo. There is perhaps some justification for this claim. Much of the science is dated by now. (The computer Bossy has vacuum tubes rather than transisters.) Much of the dialogue is in the form of rather long, didactic speeches. And there are times when the authors tell a bit more than they show.

And yet... Is the novel really all that bad? I'll grant you that it isn't a deathless classic, but I don't see that it is an outright stinker, either. _They'd Rather Be Right_ (aka, _The Forever Machine_) is the third of a series of three stories. The first two are "Crazy Joey" (_Astounding_, 1953) and "Hide! Hide, Witch!" (_Astounding_, 1953).* The first tale introduces the telepath Joe Carter as a boy. The second tale introduces the supercomputer "Bossy" that must be hidden (along with two of her creators) from the mobs. The title refers to the verse:

"Hide! Hide, Witch!
The good folk come to burn thee,
Their keen enjoyment hid beneath
The gothick mask of duty."

The novel extends the story. It was first serialized in _Astounding_ in 1954, along with some lovely Kelly Freas illustrations. As the the novel opens, the scientist creators of "Bossy" are on the run from both the F.B.I. and mobs of common people. They are being aided by the telepath, Joe Carter, once a graduate student of theirs, to disappear into the underworld. Bossy has been disassembled but not destroyed, and the plan is to reassemble her.

Bossy does get reassembled. She now has the power to answer virtually _any_ question given the adequate amount of data. This alone makes her valuable-- and dangerous. But Joe has discovered another power for Bossy as well. She can treat people in a kind of therapy that can "rejuvinate" that person and give them youth and virtual immortality. There is, however, a price. To undergo the therapy, one must "relax" and release one's basic prejudices-- admit that you could be wrong about your most basic beliefs. Most people, Joe says, would "rather be right-- and die" (53) than live forever.

Bossy's first patient is the elderly prostitute Mabel, a woman who has comitted many sins but who has few illusions about herself. (Mabel is harboring Joe, the scientists, and Bossy in her establishment.) I found the episodes in which Mabel's friends engage in criminal activities to keep her alive during the rejuvination process to be fun. And the later scene in which the rejuvinated Mabel makes a monkey out of the pompous psychiatrist at the police station was hilarious.

The authors envision a near-future society governed by a mob mentality and love of conformism that is accepted across the country (much like the McCarthyism and H.U.A.C. and witchhunting that were still fresh when the novel was written). One of the scientists, Hoskins, reflects on the disasterous effect that this has had on science alone:

Now, for almost half a century, there had been nothing new. There was apparent progress, of course. The cookbook engineers were able to mix up new batches from old ingredients. There was still enough gadgetry invention to confound any criticism. But there was no exploration of new areas, hunting for new frontiers. (22)

Clifton and Riley use images of blindness and visual impairment to dramatize man's lack of capacity for self-awareness. Early in the novel, the scientists are hiding out in a skid row flophouse and are discussing some of their theoretical ideas. Another bum even joins in the dialogue. But their conversation is hampered by the "chicken wire" (12) strung as a barrier between the bunks. Later, Joe tells Dr. Billings: "Every man surrounds his mind with a framework of screen mesh... composed of his own prejudgements, preconceptions of what is acceptable to him. Everything he receives must filter through it" (27). Later, Joe reflects that the human race "was like a universe of material bodies, each with its own eccentric orbit, blindly crashing into one another, carooming off" (55).

But, like the blind man, the human race has learned how to do certain types of "cane tapping" (55) to help feel its way along. One type of cane tapping is science, with its "measurement of exteriors" (55). Two other potential canes for mankind are Bossy and psionics. But in order to use them, man must, bit by bit, abandon the mental mesh that blinds him.

Joseph McCarthy is long dead. The House of UnAmerican Activities (HUAC) has long been disbanded. The McCarthy witch hunts are a thing of the past. But we have massive amounts of anti-intellectualism and ignorance in America today. There is still pressure to conform to this or that mass ideology. And much of the hypocrisy skewered by the authors is an ever-present evil. It really would not take much to bring about the world that Clifton and Riley satirize.

_They'd Rather Be Right_ has an undeserved bad reputation. It is well worth a look, and it still has something worthwhile to say to modern readers. Highly recommended. There have been several editions of _They'd Rather Be Right_ over the years, but my favorite is the Starblaze Edition. It is sturdily bound, with good print and good illustrations by M.W. Carroll.

* The first two "Bossy" stories were written by Mark Clifton in collaboration with Alex Apostolides. They may be found in _The Science Fiction of Mark Clifton_ (1980), ed. Barry Malzberg.


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They'd Rather Be Right Starblaze Editions Mark Clifton Frank Riley 9780898651652 Books Reviews

Far ago and long away Mark Clifton and Frank Riley wrote a book called "They'd Rather Be Right" that won the Hugo award for best science fiction novel of the year (1955).

Clifton and Riley built their story around the concept of an experimental cybernetic device, nicknamed "Bossy," which has been loaded with every available bit of factual human knowledge that could be encoded. Bossy is capable of cross referencing, checking, and rejecting anything that does not have a solid basis in fact. Bossy can answer any question - IF Bossy has sufficient information - and the answer will be correct.

The technology is a bit dated, of course, but it's largely irrelevant to the larger idea What if mankind A) had the equivalent of an oracle that knew everything that was known, B) would always give the right answers based on that knowledge when questioned, and C) would also know when there was not enough information to give a correct answer.

Clifton and Riley threw in a further gimmick the research team that built Bossy was able to succeed because they had the secret help of a telepath who could, however imperfectly, 'see' when biases were going to be incorporated into Bossy and kept them out. He also enabled the members of the team to overcome their own mental limitations in cooperating on the project. The telepath is vital to the story because he allows Clifton and Riley to comment on what is going on in people's minds, and make observations about how human rationality does and does not work.

Of course, Bossy immediately becomes the ultimate prize for those who want power. Want to know how to build a WMD with stuff around the house, swing an election, become rich, or any other fantasy? Whether or not Bossy could answer those questions becomes less important than the risk to the powerful that Bossy MIGHT be able to - and be doing it for someone besides them. To put it another way , "A little knowledge is a dangerous thing. So is a lot" - A. Einstein. Bossy, by definition, has all the answers to be had. Real answers.

One of the questions put to Bossy is Can a human being be made young again? The answer is yes - Bossy can do it by using a mechanical therapy where it can connect directly to the patient's mind. According to Bossy, aging is the result of a lifetime of accumulated tensions extending down to cellular memory levels, tensions arising from conflicts between what the patient believes, and what is actually true about the world around them.

Bossy's therapy works by showing the patient's mind where what it believes to be true conflicts with what Bossy's database knows to be true. If the patient can accept it, the tensions are removed and the body rejuvenates itself. And that's the catch; the book is called They'd Rather Be Right because most people are so invested in their personal understanding of the world, they refuse to give it up or admit they are wrong.

The book is as timely now as it ever was. It can be used to throw light on discussions about authoritarianism, police states, bigotry and prejudice, politics, marketing, and so on. A lot of the book has meta-conversations about the larger issues. Some may not find it to their taste, or agree with the authors views. As an incitement to think though, this book is a good read - and a nice change of pace for those of us who keep reading to explore as well as escape from the world around.
This is one of two Sci Fi books that have stuck with me, because the ideas in them resonated with me strongly. (The other is the languages of Pao by Jack Vance). In this book only those who are humble enough (or have been humbled) are open to a process that perfects the physical and mental self, giving perfect health, longevity near to immortality and hugely increased intelligence. The hero discovers this at a low point in his life and is successfully changed, but when he tries to share it most others fail to be improved because they cannot give up their opinions/ preconceptions/ prejudices.
I first read this years ago, but still find occasion to recommend it in discussions about paradigms, and the failure of many to allow facts to change their opinions.
Mark Clifton and Frank Riley's _They'd Rather Be Right_ (1956) was the second novel to win the Hugo award. It is on many people's lists as the _worst_ novel ever to win a Hugo. There is perhaps some justification for this claim. Much of the science is dated by now. (The computer Bossy has vacuum tubes rather than transisters.) Much of the dialogue is in the form of rather long, didactic speeches. And there are times when the authors tell a bit more than they show.

And yet... Is the novel really all that bad? I'll grant you that it isn't a deathless classic, but I don't see that it is an outright stinker, either. _They'd Rather Be Right_ (aka, _The Forever Machine_) is the third of a series of three stories. The first two are "Crazy Joey" (_Astounding_, 1953) and "Hide! Hide, Witch!" (_Astounding_, 1953).* The first tale introduces the telepath Joe Carter as a boy. The second tale introduces the supercomputer "Bossy" that must be hidden (along with two of her creators) from the mobs. The title refers to the verse

"Hide! Hide, Witch!
The good folk come to burn thee,
Their keen enjoyment hid beneath
The gothick mask of duty."

The novel extends the story. It was first serialized in _Astounding_ in 1954, along with some lovely Kelly Freas illustrations. As the the novel opens, the scientist creators of "Bossy" are on the run from both the F.B.I. and mobs of common people. They are being aided by the telepath, Joe Carter, once a graduate student of theirs, to disappear into the underworld. Bossy has been disassembled but not destroyed, and the plan is to reassemble her.

Bossy does get reassembled. She now has the power to answer virtually _any_ question given the adequate amount of data. This alone makes her valuable-- and dangerous. But Joe has discovered another power for Bossy as well. She can treat people in a kind of therapy that can "rejuvinate" that person and give them youth and virtual immortality. There is, however, a price. To undergo the therapy, one must "relax" and release one's basic prejudices-- admit that you could be wrong about your most basic beliefs. Most people, Joe says, would "rather be right-- and die" (53) than live forever.

Bossy's first patient is the elderly prostitute Mabel, a woman who has comitted many sins but who has few illusions about herself. (Mabel is harboring Joe, the scientists, and Bossy in her establishment.) I found the episodes in which Mabel's friends engage in criminal activities to keep her alive during the rejuvination process to be fun. And the later scene in which the rejuvinated Mabel makes a monkey out of the pompous psychiatrist at the police station was hilarious.

The authors envision a near-future society governed by a mob mentality and love of conformism that is accepted across the country (much like the McCarthyism and H.U.A.C. and witchhunting that were still fresh when the novel was written). One of the scientists, Hoskins, reflects on the disasterous effect that this has had on science alone

Now, for almost half a century, there had been nothing new. There was apparent progress, of course. The cookbook engineers were able to mix up new batches from old ingredients. There was still enough gadgetry invention to confound any criticism. But there was no exploration of new areas, hunting for new frontiers. (22)

Clifton and Riley use images of blindness and visual impairment to dramatize man's lack of capacity for self-awareness. Early in the novel, the scientists are hiding out in a skid row flophouse and are discussing some of their theoretical ideas. Another bum even joins in the dialogue. But their conversation is hampered by the "chicken wire" (12) strung as a barrier between the bunks. Later, Joe tells Dr. Billings "Every man surrounds his mind with a framework of screen mesh... composed of his own prejudgements, preconceptions of what is acceptable to him. Everything he receives must filter through it" (27). Later, Joe reflects that the human race "was like a universe of material bodies, each with its own eccentric orbit, blindly crashing into one another, carooming off" (55).

But, like the blind man, the human race has learned how to do certain types of "cane tapping" (55) to help feel its way along. One type of cane tapping is science, with its "measurement of exteriors" (55). Two other potential canes for mankind are Bossy and psionics. But in order to use them, man must, bit by bit, abandon the mental mesh that blinds him.

Joseph McCarthy is long dead. The House of UnAmerican Activities (HUAC) has long been disbanded. The McCarthy witch hunts are a thing of the past. But we have massive amounts of anti-intellectualism and ignorance in America today. There is still pressure to conform to this or that mass ideology. And much of the hypocrisy skewered by the authors is an ever-present evil. It really would not take much to bring about the world that Clifton and Riley satirize.

_They'd Rather Be Right_ has an undeserved bad reputation. It is well worth a look, and it still has something worthwhile to say to modern readers. Highly recommended. There have been several editions of _They'd Rather Be Right_ over the years, but my favorite is the Starblaze Edition. It is sturdily bound, with good print and good illustrations by M.W. Carroll.

* The first two "Bossy" stories were written by Mark Clifton in collaboration with Alex Apostolides. They may be found in _The Science Fiction of Mark Clifton_ (1980), ed. Barry Malzberg.