Raymond Gaynor's Blog, page 64
June 29, 2020
WAITING FOR THE AXE TO FALL
In my previous gay political satirical novel, TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside ) written with William Maltese, the demise of the USA began when former President Brown, on election eve, instead of sending a congratulatory message to his winning opponent, wired from off-shore that he abdicated, taking with him over a trillion dollars in petro-dollars worth of securities, triggering a total meltdown of the nation. President Elect Jackson ended up selling off the West and East coasts, creating a NewAmerica with its capital in Chicago. The result is the background for THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020). In this second book, NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, once again commands wealth and power thanks to a series of sociopolitical advances and technical innovations like Eugitors, ShimmerSuits, ContraSpray, T-rips, CandyShades and CandyCable. Set in the near future, THE EDGE OF MADNESS explores the evolving relationships between three friends, all of whom know little to nothing about their past and even less about their futures. What they do know is that each is unusually gifted: Rob, an uber-conscious male with an enhanced sense of smell; Frann, an ostentatious gay male with an Olympian physique; and Andry, a brilliant moon-child and professional acronymeur with a taste for Wicca…and her two male friends.
THE EDGE OF MADNESS is an exploration of an entirely plausible future, where every hedonistic pleasure is available — if one can afford it. People work in order to purchase the newest technologies promising ultimate pleasure. But as in Aldous Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD and George Orwell’s 1984, citizens are watched carefully, this time by emotionless “Enforcers” who show up anytime unusual events occur.
But THE EDGE OF MADNESS is also a love triangle and a coming-of-age story of three youths in a future where anything and everything goes. The ultimate question for them is: Can true love or sanity be found in such a world?
This story will make some excited about what the future may hold while others may recoil at a world of such extremes. Either way, it’s an engaging ride in a world where, for example, teachers and students appear holographically together in instructional classrooms while remaining safely at home, begging the question of what, if anything, in this future world is “real.” Put on your CandyShades, breathe in a little ContraSpray and settle back for a T-rip like never before.
THE EDGE OF MADNESS is an exploration of an entirely plausible future, where every hedonistic pleasure is available — if one can afford it. People work in order to purchase the newest technologies promising ultimate pleasure. But as in Aldous Huxley’s BRAVE NEW WORLD and George Orwell’s 1984, citizens are watched carefully, this time by emotionless “Enforcers” who show up anytime unusual events occur.
But THE EDGE OF MADNESS is also a love triangle and a coming-of-age story of three youths in a future where anything and everything goes. The ultimate question for them is: Can true love or sanity be found in such a world?
This story will make some excited about what the future may hold while others may recoil at a world of such extremes. Either way, it’s an engaging ride in a world where, for example, teachers and students appear holographically together in instructional classrooms while remaining safely at home, begging the question of what, if anything, in this future world is “real.” Put on your CandyShades, breathe in a little ContraSpray and settle back for a T-rip like never before.
June 27, 2020
PET A PLANT
As animals become more domesticated and begin reaching to rival their human masters, it behooves us to take a moment and consider the future of pet plants. First, while I wouldn’t want it, humans can live in a [safer?] world devoid of animals. We can’t in a world devoid of plants. They are the primary driver in producing oxygen, cleaning water and providing basic food (for us and animals). According to Cleve Backster, plants ambulate (though on a much slower timeline than humans and animals), share their own form of “primary perception” (they feel pain, and therefore possibly empathy), and perhaps share a form of extra-sensory perception with other living things. If so, then plants and humans can bond. I personally knew Cleve and met with him several times in his San Diego lab intrigued by his idea that plants share primary perception with bacteria.
In my book, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020), I posit a future world where:
“Encouraged by their government, NewAmericans slowly began to re-define what recreation meant. It soon became ‘in’ to take one hour or even one or more days off work to tour formerly ravaged byways, officially renaming in the vernacular the animals and plants they noted while walking or Bwheeling.
“Naming the animals and plants after themselves…?
“‘The idea was to inspire feelings of environmental stewardship through government established and funded official Naming Ceremonies—N-Cares—whereby human caretakers and the animal or plant names of their now ‘cultivated natural’ darlings would be publicly announced, ceremoniously celebrated, then recorded digitally in ever-expanding governmental N-Cares information vaults called I-Cares.’
“The honor caught on and the practical result was immediate: I-Cares, in essence governmental genetic diversity repositories, sprang up everywhere, and awardees gladly paid for public recognition, contractually committing themselves to husbanding the animals or plants which they had name-recognized for the duration of the human’s life. As a further honorific, caretakers were permitted to wear a light blue colored armband. At the same time, the government inserted a tiny, inert, bioluminescent DNA tag into the now protected entity, identifying it as under the care and protection of the government by way of that particular human caretaker.
“‘This program singularly changed the surface of NewAmerica into one citizen-tended, cultivated-natural paradise.’
“To this, Brie’s now lolling mind added, and many were becoming so enamored with the program, it began taking on the attributes of a ‘culturally natural’ religion. This was, of course, much to the chagrin of youth who, like Brie’s mob, often joked about it as being a personal challenge to “Keep ON the Grass.””
Lonely? Frustrated? Tired of social distancing? Try bonding with a plant, or, better yet, my newly released book in either printed (most friendly) or eBook (least expensive) format.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-...
From the Publisher in printed format with free shipping within USA (including Alaska, Hawaii and APOs) with 10% off Suggested Retail Price using “ONLINE” discount code at checkout: https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
In my book, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020), I posit a future world where:
“Encouraged by their government, NewAmericans slowly began to re-define what recreation meant. It soon became ‘in’ to take one hour or even one or more days off work to tour formerly ravaged byways, officially renaming in the vernacular the animals and plants they noted while walking or Bwheeling.
“Naming the animals and plants after themselves…?
“‘The idea was to inspire feelings of environmental stewardship through government established and funded official Naming Ceremonies—N-Cares—whereby human caretakers and the animal or plant names of their now ‘cultivated natural’ darlings would be publicly announced, ceremoniously celebrated, then recorded digitally in ever-expanding governmental N-Cares information vaults called I-Cares.’
“The honor caught on and the practical result was immediate: I-Cares, in essence governmental genetic diversity repositories, sprang up everywhere, and awardees gladly paid for public recognition, contractually committing themselves to husbanding the animals or plants which they had name-recognized for the duration of the human’s life. As a further honorific, caretakers were permitted to wear a light blue colored armband. At the same time, the government inserted a tiny, inert, bioluminescent DNA tag into the now protected entity, identifying it as under the care and protection of the government by way of that particular human caretaker.
“‘This program singularly changed the surface of NewAmerica into one citizen-tended, cultivated-natural paradise.’
“To this, Brie’s now lolling mind added, and many were becoming so enamored with the program, it began taking on the attributes of a ‘culturally natural’ religion. This was, of course, much to the chagrin of youth who, like Brie’s mob, often joked about it as being a personal challenge to “Keep ON the Grass.””
Lonely? Frustrated? Tired of social distancing? Try bonding with a plant, or, better yet, my newly released book in either printed (most friendly) or eBook (least expensive) format.
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-...
From the Publisher in printed format with free shipping within USA (including Alaska, Hawaii and APOs) with 10% off Suggested Retail Price using “ONLINE” discount code at checkout: https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
June 26, 2020
QUANTUM PHILOSOPHY
One of the great awakenings in my own life was seeing Earth as a green, brown, blue and white marble from the moon. I still find it hard to believe I live with all my friends and fellow San Franciso Bayites, on the little marble. And recently, I had an even greater awakening when I watched NASA’s 10-year portrait of the sun, the very source of life for our planet, spinning, writhing, boiling in space.
THE SUN
It’s all about perspective. And that’s the very heart of my new novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020). Yes, it’s all about perspective.
That’s what the Quantum Philosophy that pervades my book is all about, too. I tried to lay the perceptual groundwork for the sequel (the third book, the first being TOTAL MELTDOWN by William Maltese and myself) to introduce this concept, that, based on M-Superstring Theory is set to take over the world and, for the first time, explain the nature of the soul, good and evil, heaven and hell.
“QPie” requires the existence of an infinite number of universes, some parallel, some partially parallel, most decidedly different. Our experiences during life can be imagined to be inscribed in a sort of uber-program — the soul — which each of us writes during our life. When the physical body dies, the uber-program directs our life force to the place in the multi-verse best reflected by that uber-program. If it is a place where we continue to experience and evolve in a relatively volitional situation, it is experienced as “good.” If the place is one where we continue to experience and evolve in a relatively violent situation, it is ultimately experienced as “bad.”
So there you have it: QPie, a new contemporary philosophy that, when organized and businessified, could become the future religion of NewAmerica. And the “power” of QPie is that it “explains” many other conundrums, like, for instance, psychosis, where an individual already has “one mental foot in another universe.” Now if that isn’t standing on the edge of madness with your toes curled over the precipice, I don’t know what is.
THE SUN
It’s all about perspective. And that’s the very heart of my new novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020). Yes, it’s all about perspective.
That’s what the Quantum Philosophy that pervades my book is all about, too. I tried to lay the perceptual groundwork for the sequel (the third book, the first being TOTAL MELTDOWN by William Maltese and myself) to introduce this concept, that, based on M-Superstring Theory is set to take over the world and, for the first time, explain the nature of the soul, good and evil, heaven and hell.
“QPie” requires the existence of an infinite number of universes, some parallel, some partially parallel, most decidedly different. Our experiences during life can be imagined to be inscribed in a sort of uber-program — the soul — which each of us writes during our life. When the physical body dies, the uber-program directs our life force to the place in the multi-verse best reflected by that uber-program. If it is a place where we continue to experience and evolve in a relatively volitional situation, it is experienced as “good.” If the place is one where we continue to experience and evolve in a relatively violent situation, it is ultimately experienced as “bad.”
So there you have it: QPie, a new contemporary philosophy that, when organized and businessified, could become the future religion of NewAmerica. And the “power” of QPie is that it “explains” many other conundrums, like, for instance, psychosis, where an individual already has “one mental foot in another universe.” Now if that isn’t standing on the edge of madness with your toes curled over the precipice, I don’t know what is.
June 25, 2020
HAS THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION DIED?
So far, I’ve lived through two distinct sexual revolutions: The first began with “free love” and ended with HIV. The second began some years later and while it may have ended in some countries with ebola, it effectively ended in the USA with COVID-19. Not so much the disease as the social distancing and all it encumbers.
In THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, there is a third sexual revolution beginning with ContraSpray, Candy Glasses, Candy-Cable and T-Rips creating a seemingly hedonistic world where insatiable sexual “drive” is amended to a simple pleasure. Enhanced by monomolecular Eugitor suits with Flak, SweetSixteen parties range from an inner spiritual journey (Simi Andry Jan) to SweetSixteenSalsaSex in public broadcast throughout the universe for tens of billions viewers’ pleasure (Draff Rob Brie and Billie Frann Frunk).
But no glass is simply half-empty.
The difference between contemporary society and living in the future “on the edge of madness,” is that our three protagonists have so many more choices. And much more diverse choices from which to choose. This important premise distinguishes this work from dystopian science fiction. Take education, for example. All the technological and social advances that create more choices, and more diverse choices are there for people to pick and choose, try if interested and incorporate into their life if they so desire. It’s about learning through invoking and engaging curiosity and discovery, at its best, under the watchful, empathetic, experienced eye of a mentor who’s “walked the walk” and following alongside. This kind of learning carries with it poignant meaning and with meaning, both knowledge and wisdom. That’s what NewEducation in NewAmerica is about. It’s what makes the glass equally half-full.
Get your copy NOW from Amazon.com.
In THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) by Raymond Gaynor, there is a third sexual revolution beginning with ContraSpray, Candy Glasses, Candy-Cable and T-Rips creating a seemingly hedonistic world where insatiable sexual “drive” is amended to a simple pleasure. Enhanced by monomolecular Eugitor suits with Flak, SweetSixteen parties range from an inner spiritual journey (Simi Andry Jan) to SweetSixteenSalsaSex in public broadcast throughout the universe for tens of billions viewers’ pleasure (Draff Rob Brie and Billie Frann Frunk).
But no glass is simply half-empty.
The difference between contemporary society and living in the future “on the edge of madness,” is that our three protagonists have so many more choices. And much more diverse choices from which to choose. This important premise distinguishes this work from dystopian science fiction. Take education, for example. All the technological and social advances that create more choices, and more diverse choices are there for people to pick and choose, try if interested and incorporate into their life if they so desire. It’s about learning through invoking and engaging curiosity and discovery, at its best, under the watchful, empathetic, experienced eye of a mentor who’s “walked the walk” and following alongside. This kind of learning carries with it poignant meaning and with meaning, both knowledge and wisdom. That’s what NewEducation in NewAmerica is about. It’s what makes the glass equally half-full.
Get your copy NOW from Amazon.com.
June 24, 2020
GOING NATIVE
I've always loved the phrase "going native." It implies that there was something well before me. It's just too easy to believe in oneself and that the contemporary world ultimately revolves around me. Mainly. Well, exclusively. This is a topic I delve deeply into in THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020). The universe as well as NewAmerica to Draff Rob Brie [Septican-Smite] revolves around him, from when he was aware of himself in the womb, to when he first met Billie Frann Frunk [Tordon-Cass] and Simi Andry Jan [Jan-Rho], to when he and Billie starred in their public SweetSixteenSalsaSexcapade, to when he makes a conscious decision to obtain a prehensile tail, to when he finally chooses with whom to live his intimate sexual life.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...]
So what does it mean to "go native," living at the edge of madness? It means, it seems, letting go of society's "plan for you" and letting serendipity insert its own invigilating fingers into the equation. Letting "nature" organically guide, while reserving for oneself the final conscious decision as to what to believe, think and do. In THE EDGE OF MADNESS, the three young protagonists learn that letting "nature" be one's guide has distinct advantages and, unfortunately, incurs distinct disadvantages as well. In Jan, the Wiccan High Priestess and her coven's Principal Warlock's words, "There's always draw to pay."
Take a moment out of your hectic life to join Brie, Frunk and Jan as they experience life to its hedonistic fullest and learn what it means to really pay. Or as they would say, "what it means to play."
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC...]
So what does it mean to "go native," living at the edge of madness? It means, it seems, letting go of society's "plan for you" and letting serendipity insert its own invigilating fingers into the equation. Letting "nature" organically guide, while reserving for oneself the final conscious decision as to what to believe, think and do. In THE EDGE OF MADNESS, the three young protagonists learn that letting "nature" be one's guide has distinct advantages and, unfortunately, incurs distinct disadvantages as well. In Jan, the Wiccan High Priestess and her coven's Principal Warlock's words, "There's always draw to pay."
Take a moment out of your hectic life to join Brie, Frunk and Jan as they experience life to its hedonistic fullest and learn what it means to really pay. Or as they would say, "what it means to play."
June 23, 2020
STATUES AND CULTURAL CHANGE
Prophetically speaking, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) is more than a relationship study in a future world, it is about living during a time of massive cultural change not unlike that happening right now in the USA (in the book, the former USA) surrounding the “Black Lives Matter” protests. What is resulting from this popular movement is nothing less than a re-writing of history. In the the prequel to THE EDGE OF MADNESS entitled TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) by myself and William Maltese, the USA under the leadership of the right-wing ultra-capitalist President Brown, the USA faces total meltdown.
President-Elect Mathias “Alexander the Great” Jackson learns on election eve that President Brown has abdicated with over a trillion dollars in petroleum securities, leaving the US leaderless and facing an economic crisis of unparalleled proportions. Jackson, wrongly accused of manufacturing the crisis, turns to his two must trusted political aides, Adelphous Tripler and Shawn Clarke. Committed lovers, Tripler and Clarke reluctantly separate to carry out a series of incredibly challenging tasks for their discredited leader that takes them around the globe. With murder and mayhem facing them every step of the way, will they manage to get back to each other alive?
Taking up where TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) left off, NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, provides a challenging and dangerous future place for three young firebrands to live.
It’s all about living during a period of massive physical, technological and cultural change requiring citizens to struggle and live on “the edge of madness.”
https://i.postimg.cc/DZFfyZR8/TEOM-FC...
But THE EDGE OF MADNESS is much more than a dystopian view of the future. It presents in surprisingly prophetic detail the infrastructures necessary to transform a failing world into something entirely fresh and new, emphasizing a new kind of humanism, morality, empathy and ethic. Tired of today’s fatalist sounding news? Go to THE EDGE OF MADNESS and take a peek into one technologically possible future. Go ahead and, like our three protagonists, just do it!
https://checkout.square.site/buy/4MI5...
President-Elect Mathias “Alexander the Great” Jackson learns on election eve that President Brown has abdicated with over a trillion dollars in petroleum securities, leaving the US leaderless and facing an economic crisis of unparalleled proportions. Jackson, wrongly accused of manufacturing the crisis, turns to his two must trusted political aides, Adelphous Tripler and Shawn Clarke. Committed lovers, Tripler and Clarke reluctantly separate to carry out a series of incredibly challenging tasks for their discredited leader that takes them around the globe. With murder and mayhem facing them every step of the way, will they manage to get back to each other alive?
Taking up where TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009) left off, NewAmerica, a shadow of its former United States of America, provides a challenging and dangerous future place for three young firebrands to live.
It’s all about living during a period of massive physical, technological and cultural change requiring citizens to struggle and live on “the edge of madness.”
https://i.postimg.cc/DZFfyZR8/TEOM-FC...
But THE EDGE OF MADNESS is much more than a dystopian view of the future. It presents in surprisingly prophetic detail the infrastructures necessary to transform a failing world into something entirely fresh and new, emphasizing a new kind of humanism, morality, empathy and ethic. Tired of today’s fatalist sounding news? Go to THE EDGE OF MADNESS and take a peek into one technologically possible future. Go ahead and, like our three protagonists, just do it!
https://checkout.square.site/buy/4MI5...
June 22, 2020
FINALLY RECEIVED MY AUTHOR COPY OF THE EDGE OF MADNESS!
It might seem a bit oddish, but I just received my copy of my book, THE EDGE OF MADNESS by Raymond Gaynor (Aignos 2020). Seems Amazon has slowed down quite a bit during the COVID-19 pandemic, making it take up to 3 months to receive a printed book via “Prime.” Luckily, you can order it as a Kindle eBook for about half the price of the printed book and get it instantly.
So, did you know that you can also order a printed copy directly from the publisher with free shipping within the USA including Hawaii and Alaska, at 10% off the Suggested Retail Price using “ONLINE” discount code when checking out.
https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
Or, if you’re a Barnes & Noble fanatic, you can order a printed copy from
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-...
or, for free international shipping, try the Book Depository at
https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed...
Missed the monthly Savant Books and Publications Online Realtime Text Chat open to everyone? It’s been archived and is now lurkable at
https://drjanik.forumchitchat.com/pos...
I’ll be there to chat with directly once again on Saturday 18 July 2020 from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Hawaii Standard Time – for more information see
https://www.savantbooksandpublication...
I’d love to chat with you and hear what you think about my newly released book!
So, did you know that you can also order a printed copy directly from the publisher with free shipping within the USA including Hawaii and Alaska, at 10% off the Suggested Retail Price using “ONLINE” discount code when checking out.
https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
Or, if you’re a Barnes & Noble fanatic, you can order a printed copy from
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-...
or, for free international shipping, try the Book Depository at
https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed...
Missed the monthly Savant Books and Publications Online Realtime Text Chat open to everyone? It’s been archived and is now lurkable at
https://drjanik.forumchitchat.com/pos...
I’ll be there to chat with directly once again on Saturday 18 July 2020 from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. Hawaii Standard Time – for more information see
https://www.savantbooksandpublication...
I’d love to chat with you and hear what you think about my newly released book!
June 21, 2020
HOW CAN PEOPLE DO EVIL THINGS?
Following World War II (that’s World War Volume 2 for us literary types) there was intense scientific investigation into how “normal” people could do evil things, the very concept being anathema. Now, I’m talking “scientific” here, which means “repeatable under similar circumstances.” To my mind, there were two studies, both considered unethical by current standards.
The first was the Milgram [Obedience, sometimes called “Shock”] Experiment by Harvard social psychologist Dr. Stanley Milgram in 1961. According to Wikipedia, the experiment “measured the willingness of study participants…from a diverse range of occupations with varying levels of education, to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience. Participants were led to believe that they were assisting an unrelated experiment, in which they had to administer electric shocks to a ‘learner.’ These fake electric shocks gradually increased to levels that would have been fatal had they been real…In a later variation of the experiment, the confederate would eventually plead for mercy and yell that he had a heart condition.”
Again, according to Wikipedia, Milgram summarized his results as follows: “The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study…Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority.”
So, people can and will do reprehensible evil upon command of an authority figure, especially when they feel they are “part of” something larger from which the authority figure emanates.
The second was the Stanford Prison Experiment by Stanford psychologist Dr. Philip Zimbardo in 1971. Building on Milgram’s Experiment, Zimbardo, in his own words according to Wikipedia, “…had been conducting research for some years on deindividuation, vandalism and dehumanization that illustrated the ease with which ordinary people could be led to engage in anti-social acts by putting them in situations where they felt anonymous, or they could perceive of others in ways that made them less than human, as enemies or objects…” Again, according to Wikipedia, “[“normal” student] volunteers were assigned to be either ‘guards’ or ‘prisoners’ by the flip of a coin, in a mock prison…Early reports on experimental results claimed that students quickly embraced their assigned roles, with some guards enforcing authoritarian measures and ultimately subjecting some prisoners to psychological torture, while many prisoners passively accepted psychological abuse and, by the officers’ request, actively harassed other prisoners who tried to stop it.”
Yet again, according to Wikipedia, “Christina Maslach, a graduate student in psychology objected to the conditions [of the study]…Zimbardo noted that, of more than 50 people who had observed the experiment, Maslach was the only one who questioned its morality. After only six days of a planned two weeks’ duration, the experiment was discontinued.” There have been many summary interpretations of this impossible to replicate experiment base on ethical grounds, but my impression is that it demonstrates how “normal” people, when asked to participate in a situation in which there is a perceived power imbalance among participants, will assume authoritative or subordinate roles.
Combining historical information from the 1900’s to present with the summary interpretations of the above social psychological experiments, I came up with a vision of NewAmerica and NewTerra after the TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009), portray in my newly released future relationship novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) and am discussing with noted thriller writer A. G. Hayes to include as a backdrop to the sequel to his socio-political thriller, 68 VIA CONDOTTI: ETERNITY LTD (Savant 2019) tentatively entitled 68 VIA CONDOTTI: VATICAN INC currently in writing.
If you’ve ever wondered why there is “evil” in the world, read my newest novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020).
Get it in print or eBook format from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
From the publisher with free shipping within the USA at 10% off using “ONLINE” discount code at checkout at https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
From Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1137...
From the Book Depository worldwide at https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed...
The first was the Milgram [Obedience, sometimes called “Shock”] Experiment by Harvard social psychologist Dr. Stanley Milgram in 1961. According to Wikipedia, the experiment “measured the willingness of study participants…from a diverse range of occupations with varying levels of education, to obey an authority figure who instructed them to perform acts conflicting with their personal conscience. Participants were led to believe that they were assisting an unrelated experiment, in which they had to administer electric shocks to a ‘learner.’ These fake electric shocks gradually increased to levels that would have been fatal had they been real…In a later variation of the experiment, the confederate would eventually plead for mercy and yell that he had a heart condition.”
Again, according to Wikipedia, Milgram summarized his results as follows: “The extreme willingness of adults to go to almost any lengths on the command of an authority constitutes the chief finding of the study…Ordinary people, simply doing their jobs, and without any particular hostility on their part, can become agents in a terrible destructive process. Moreover, even when the destructive effects of their work become patently clear, and they are asked to carry out actions incompatible with fundamental standards of morality, relatively few people have the resources needed to resist authority.”
So, people can and will do reprehensible evil upon command of an authority figure, especially when they feel they are “part of” something larger from which the authority figure emanates.
The second was the Stanford Prison Experiment by Stanford psychologist Dr. Philip Zimbardo in 1971. Building on Milgram’s Experiment, Zimbardo, in his own words according to Wikipedia, “…had been conducting research for some years on deindividuation, vandalism and dehumanization that illustrated the ease with which ordinary people could be led to engage in anti-social acts by putting them in situations where they felt anonymous, or they could perceive of others in ways that made them less than human, as enemies or objects…” Again, according to Wikipedia, “[“normal” student] volunteers were assigned to be either ‘guards’ or ‘prisoners’ by the flip of a coin, in a mock prison…Early reports on experimental results claimed that students quickly embraced their assigned roles, with some guards enforcing authoritarian measures and ultimately subjecting some prisoners to psychological torture, while many prisoners passively accepted psychological abuse and, by the officers’ request, actively harassed other prisoners who tried to stop it.”
Yet again, according to Wikipedia, “Christina Maslach, a graduate student in psychology objected to the conditions [of the study]…Zimbardo noted that, of more than 50 people who had observed the experiment, Maslach was the only one who questioned its morality. After only six days of a planned two weeks’ duration, the experiment was discontinued.” There have been many summary interpretations of this impossible to replicate experiment base on ethical grounds, but my impression is that it demonstrates how “normal” people, when asked to participate in a situation in which there is a perceived power imbalance among participants, will assume authoritative or subordinate roles.
Combining historical information from the 1900’s to present with the summary interpretations of the above social psychological experiments, I came up with a vision of NewAmerica and NewTerra after the TOTAL MELTDOWN (Borgo/Wildside 2009), portray in my newly released future relationship novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020) and am discussing with noted thriller writer A. G. Hayes to include as a backdrop to the sequel to his socio-political thriller, 68 VIA CONDOTTI: ETERNITY LTD (Savant 2019) tentatively entitled 68 VIA CONDOTTI: VATICAN INC currently in writing.
If you’ve ever wondered why there is “evil” in the world, read my newest novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020).
Get it in print or eBook format from Amazon at https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999693859
From the publisher with free shipping within the USA at 10% off using “ONLINE” discount code at checkout at https://savant-bookstore-honolulu.squ...
From Barnes and Noble at https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/1137...
From the Book Depository worldwide at https://www.bookdepository.com/The-Ed...
June 19, 2020
THE GREATEST NOVEL OF OUR TIME
I was recently asked what I though was the greatest novel of our time — an appropriate question given that I’ve just released my own novel, THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020)?
According to Wikipedia, “A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, normally written in prose form, and which is typically published as a book.” Okay. According to the online Dictionary, it’s “a fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character and action with some degree of realism.” So what is a novel — Fictitious. Long. A book containing characters and action of some degree of realism. Well, THE EDGE OF MADNESS clearly fits that definition; however, I have to say that the greatest novel of our time would have to be the life and times of Donald Trump as presented in the the media. Yep. It’s all there: Fiction galore. Long (three years plus so far and, well, “ongoing”). A long list of characters and action with some degree of realism. Book, you say? Try TRUMP: THE ART OF THE DEAL by Donald Trump, or better yet the increasing number of published books surrounding him and his times as President of the United States of America. It would be hard to write a better “novel” or novel series, I think.
A challenge to that would be Truman Capote and IN COLD BLOOD. It’s said that Truman wrote the book as a literary experiment, wanted to write a “nonfiction novel.” Now there’s a novel thought: nonfiction fiction. Or should that be fictitious non-fiction? An author colleague of mine, Helen R. Davis wrote what she calls an “alt-history novel,” CLEOPATRA UNCONQUERED (Savant 2015) followed by CLEOPATRA VICTORIOUS (Savant 2019) which relatively closely follows the historical life of Cleopatra up to the Battle of Actium after which Cleopatra and Antony historically commit suicide. But in her novels, they don’t. In fact (is that the right phrase?), they win and Octavius (later Augustus) dies. Given this kind of blurring between fiction and nonfiction, I’m inclined to stick even stronger with my choice for the greatest novel of our time.
But I digress (or do I, really — there’s that idea of “real” mucking things up again): When I wrote THE EDGE OF MADNESS, I projected what I imagined to be the socio-political narrative of the late 1980’s into TOTAL MELTDOWN and it’s sequel THE EDGE OF MADNESS. Sort of like what Truman did with his infamous “nonfiction novel” and Helen did with her Cleopatra series. Futuring has always been an interest of mine, and, if anything, THE EDGE OF MADNESS is a future relationship novel. Have I invented something new (i.e. “novel”)? Maybe…see for yourself and let me know. Want a teaser? Check out my publisher’s “Video Book Preview” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC... and give it a “like” (thumbs up) if you’re so inclined!
According to Wikipedia, “A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, normally written in prose form, and which is typically published as a book.” Okay. According to the online Dictionary, it’s “a fictitious prose narrative of book length, typically representing character and action with some degree of realism.” So what is a novel — Fictitious. Long. A book containing characters and action of some degree of realism. Well, THE EDGE OF MADNESS clearly fits that definition; however, I have to say that the greatest novel of our time would have to be the life and times of Donald Trump as presented in the the media. Yep. It’s all there: Fiction galore. Long (three years plus so far and, well, “ongoing”). A long list of characters and action with some degree of realism. Book, you say? Try TRUMP: THE ART OF THE DEAL by Donald Trump, or better yet the increasing number of published books surrounding him and his times as President of the United States of America. It would be hard to write a better “novel” or novel series, I think.
A challenge to that would be Truman Capote and IN COLD BLOOD. It’s said that Truman wrote the book as a literary experiment, wanted to write a “nonfiction novel.” Now there’s a novel thought: nonfiction fiction. Or should that be fictitious non-fiction? An author colleague of mine, Helen R. Davis wrote what she calls an “alt-history novel,” CLEOPATRA UNCONQUERED (Savant 2015) followed by CLEOPATRA VICTORIOUS (Savant 2019) which relatively closely follows the historical life of Cleopatra up to the Battle of Actium after which Cleopatra and Antony historically commit suicide. But in her novels, they don’t. In fact (is that the right phrase?), they win and Octavius (later Augustus) dies. Given this kind of blurring between fiction and nonfiction, I’m inclined to stick even stronger with my choice for the greatest novel of our time.
But I digress (or do I, really — there’s that idea of “real” mucking things up again): When I wrote THE EDGE OF MADNESS, I projected what I imagined to be the socio-political narrative of the late 1980’s into TOTAL MELTDOWN and it’s sequel THE EDGE OF MADNESS. Sort of like what Truman did with his infamous “nonfiction novel” and Helen did with her Cleopatra series. Futuring has always been an interest of mine, and, if anything, THE EDGE OF MADNESS is a future relationship novel. Have I invented something new (i.e. “novel”)? Maybe…see for yourself and let me know. Want a teaser? Check out my publisher’s “Video Book Preview” at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Je6CC... and give it a “like” (thumbs up) if you’re so inclined!
June 18, 2020
TIME TO THROTTLE BACK A BIT...
While it’s true that I’m busy garnering publicity for my newly released future relationship novel THE EDGE OF MADNESS (Aignos 2020), I’ve decided to take a moment to throttle back a bit and…well…what’s it called? Relax. Ah, yes, that’s it!
These are, if nothing else, exceedingly stressful times. Whether your for “America First” or “The Whole World and All Its People First,” a sharply divided political climate, especially during an election year, even more so when claims of propaganda, misinformation and outright lying are flying everywhere, it’s incredibly stressful. More so when the “new [customer service] norm” for “post-COVID-19” is, “Don’t call us. Period.” For me, at least, it’s the frustration with getting anything done these days that’s stressful. In general, there are plenty of resources, albeit mostly monitized these days, but most are struggling to be resurrected within old, outdated infrastructures.
“It looks like it should work; it costs more than what it will return; it won’t work in the end; and there’s no direct phone support.” How many times these past two months have I heard this from author colleagues who feel…yeah…frustrated…now stressed. I try to take the point-of-view that change, especially major societal change, is often uncomfortable (that’s what doctors often say when its seriously painful) and…frustrating and stressful. Yet, once the change permeates society, one can look forward to a sigh of relief and some “good times” whether like the “old times” or “new times.”
While I wait, I’ve decided to relax for the day. Catch up on my letters (yes, I still occasionally write letters and post them to close friends), go for a walk in a forest, and have some “comfort food” for lunch. If, that is, I can find some stamps (the local postal kiosk has been down for over a month), I don’t get arrested for “COVID-loitering” in the forest, and there’s comfort food still available at the grocery stores. Yeah, no frustration; no stress.
These are, if nothing else, exceedingly stressful times. Whether your for “America First” or “The Whole World and All Its People First,” a sharply divided political climate, especially during an election year, even more so when claims of propaganda, misinformation and outright lying are flying everywhere, it’s incredibly stressful. More so when the “new [customer service] norm” for “post-COVID-19” is, “Don’t call us. Period.” For me, at least, it’s the frustration with getting anything done these days that’s stressful. In general, there are plenty of resources, albeit mostly monitized these days, but most are struggling to be resurrected within old, outdated infrastructures.
“It looks like it should work; it costs more than what it will return; it won’t work in the end; and there’s no direct phone support.” How many times these past two months have I heard this from author colleagues who feel…yeah…frustrated…now stressed. I try to take the point-of-view that change, especially major societal change, is often uncomfortable (that’s what doctors often say when its seriously painful) and…frustrating and stressful. Yet, once the change permeates society, one can look forward to a sigh of relief and some “good times” whether like the “old times” or “new times.”
While I wait, I’ve decided to relax for the day. Catch up on my letters (yes, I still occasionally write letters and post them to close friends), go for a walk in a forest, and have some “comfort food” for lunch. If, that is, I can find some stamps (the local postal kiosk has been down for over a month), I don’t get arrested for “COVID-loitering” in the forest, and there’s comfort food still available at the grocery stores. Yeah, no frustration; no stress.
