The multi-talented

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The multi-talented ( English : Our Friends from Frolix 8 , first published in 1970) is a novel by the American science fiction writer Philip K. Dick . The book depicts a dystopian future society ruled by a small caste of people with superhuman abilities.

action

In the 22nd century, the earth is ruled by the "new humans" who possess superhuman intelligence and the "extraordinary" who use mental abilities such as telepathy, telekinesis, and predicting the future. Thors Provoni, who fled deep space to find help in his opposition to these ruling groups, returns with a giant, gelatinous alien, a "friend of Frolix 8" known as Morgo Rahn Wilc. With his help, Provoni wants to help the "old people", the overwhelming majority of people who have not developed any special powers.

Nick Appleton is a simple tire tread cutter - he mills new grooves in tires that are already worn; a simple job, but in which he has made it to a certain profession. His already simmering anger at the government erupts when his son Bobby fails a supposedly (and actually) rigged exam aimed at determining suitability for a government job. At the same time, the authorities controlled by "New Men" and "Extraordinary" are holding pro-"Old Men" activist Cordon and preparing for his execution. Appleton becomes more and more radical and falls in love with Charlotte ("Charley") Boyer, a 16-year-old radical who distributes pamphlets of the resistance together with her friend Denny. After the authorities find out that Appleton is now actively fighting for the resistance, they try to catch him and Charley.

Meanwhile, Thors Provoni's ship returns to Earth. This leads to panic among the ruling elite, both with regard to an enemy invasion and simply with regard to their deposition as rulers of the earth. Despite heavy fire from rockets and lasers, Provoni lands on Earth unscathed, as the almost almighty being from outer space shields him from all attacks. With the help of the extraterrestrial, he erases the cognitive abilities of all new people, causing them to fall back to the mental level of small children. The extraordinary, on the other hand, also lose their abilities, but only become "normal" people, not intellectual toddlers.

The book ends with Willis Grems, the former ruler of the world, losing his mind-reading ability, giving himself up and submitting to the mercy of Thors Provoni. The rest of the government is collapsing too.

Topicality

In the course of the current discussion about the extent to which one can manipulate human genome - keyword "designer babies" - in order to create physically or mentally superior people, the novel The More Gifted gains new relevance. Although the superhumanly gifted individuals in Dick's book were not created artificially, but rather emerged through evolutionary chance, they quickly established themselves as the ruling class due to their abilities.

Especially with regard to the Crispr / Cas method , which makes such genetic manipulation considerably easier, the novel is gaining new importance for the current social debate. Finally, he shows what could happen if a new kind of person, superior to all ancestors, should actually appear on the scene, especially with regard to the assigned value of "old" and "new" people.

Release history

Originally published in English in 1970, the novel was published in German by Goldmann Verlag in 1978. In 1987 Bastei Lübbe reissued the book in a revised translation.

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Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Irene Berres: Statement by the German Ethics Council: How many designer babies are allowed? In: Spiegel Online . May 9, 2019 ( spiegel.de [accessed November 1, 2019]).
  2. ↑ Lars Fischer: The 5 most important questions about CRISPR / Cas9 . In: spectrum . May 9, 2019 ( Spektrum.de [accessed November 1, 2019]).