With Electric Ant #4 due to ship today, I thought I would dip my toes in the previous issue. I have not followed it from the start, nor have I ever read the original Philip K Dick story it is adapted from. So, diving into the middle of the story with this total absence of knowledge, I have to say….
That I loved it. Adored it even. I want a lot more of this, and being the life-long devotee to science fiction, I cannot believe that I have never read this story before.
Originally published back in 1969, in October’s issue of Science Fiction And Fantasy magazine, the story deals with what we perceive, and whether what we perceive can be seen as reality or a purely subjective experience. It has been a long time since a comic has enticed me to put it down in the middle of reading it, so that I could think about some of the points it raises. Now, none of those points are necessarily new to me, I’ve been a student wondering about the nature of life at four in the morning after a tad too much to drink, and I have had that pretentiousness of youth to even spend time contemplating such ideas when sober. Still, it must be more than a few years since I have ever revisited the topic, and those few years have raised yet more questions.
Do I care? Yes. Had the hussle and bussle of life distracted me from such questions? Oh yes. Do they matter? Oh, very much so.
In an age where positive thinking (and the alleged pitfalls of such self-steering) are constantly being thrown at us, it is useful to ask, just how much are we deceiving ourselves? There’s plenty else in the world out there ready and willing to deceive us, but like charity, all good things begin at home. Or rather things. Simply all things.
I haven’t come to any conclusion yet, and to be honest, I doubt I ever will. But ten out of ten to Electric Shepherd Productions (and the House Of Ideas of course) to give me the excuse (or incentive) to just step to one side and look at myself through critical eyes. It’s always good to have a little double-check on your thoughts now and again.
