Philip K. Dick: Prophet of Science Fiction

Premiering Wednesday, November 16, at 10:00 PM (ET/PT), The Science Channel is showcasing the next episode from their series, Prophets of Science Fiction, featuring the works and life of author Philip K. Dick. If you are not sure who the author is, if you’ve seen the films Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report or just recently The Adjustment Bureau with Matt Damon, then you’ve just watched a movie based on the works of Philip K. Dick.

Although I read Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep many years ago because I knew the movie Blade Runner was based on it, I never really looked into the author’s life or thought about his impact as an inspiration for writers and scientists. I previewed this specific episode from the Prophets of Science Fiction series and I felt they did a great job examining Dick’s works and also made his life story very compelling. I’ll try not to spoil it by sharing too many details but here are some of the things I enjoyed about this episode:

1) The Interviews – They had a great assortment of interviews, from Matt Fraction who is a popular writer at Marvel Comics to screenwriter and film producer Roberto Orci to Total Recall Director Peter Verhoeven. We even heard from Ridley Scott himself who shared his experiences with meeting with Philip K. Dick during the filming of Blade Runner.

2) The Themes – Philip K. Dick explored a lot of amazing ideas that are still popular in today’s fiction, such as the idea of examining the ethics of artificial intelligence, whether changing our memories changes our character, parallel universes and alternative timelines.

3) The Science – This episode explored how his themes has influenced the exploration of science. They interviewed scientists who discussed modern android technology, virtual reality, advanced surveillance systems, and string theory.  I was impressed with how close we are coming to create a lot of the marvels described in Philip K. Dick’s books. The android of Philip K. Dick was amazing.

4) The Biography – They say that life can be stranger than fiction, but wow, I was amazed at some of the strange things Philip K. Dick experienced. Sorry, no spoilers.

So I recommend highly to check out this episode of Prophets of Science. The Science Channel has done a great job editing this feature; making it both entertaining and intellectually stimulating. The information below is The Science Channel’s press release including the date of when it will show. Science fans will not be disappointed.

Prophets of Science: Philip K. Dick – Premieres Wednesday, November 16, at 10:00 PM (ET/PT)

Literary genius, celebrated visionary, paranoid outcast, writer Philip K. Dick lived a life of ever-shifting realities straight from the pages of his mind-bending sci-fi stories. His books have inspired films like Blade Runner, Total Recall, and Minority Report and his ideas have influenced the development of real-life breakthroughs in everything from robotics to law enforcement. The brilliant, troubled sci-fi legend’s work confronts readers with a deceptively simple question; “what is reality?”