“Dialogs” come from times when cybernetics seemed to offer infinite possibilities. This optimism, although moderated by the author, manifests itself in first chapters. Later, Lem argues with himself presenting his thoughts in a constant movement. The most interesting are analyses of society and its institutions - Lem is predominantly interested in human thought that could make the world livable. "Dialogs" were not entirely translated to English.
5.00 out of 5 based on 1 ratings1 user reviews.
German 1980 Suhrkamp Edition
Reviewed by Nicholas Dreyer on
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I have read the 1980 German Suhrkamp Edition twice, and find it so great, think it would be very important to get this work more widely recognized. It is clear from Lem's extraordinarily profound and ever more relevant speculations, that he, as he himself remarks in the after-word to this edition, was "born a philosopher". One important way to reach a wider audience would of course be to get the work translated into English. Have sent a note to rights@lem.pl expressing interest in collaborating on such a project. I hope others will join in!
Probably the most provocative, and daring of suggestions Lem makes for obtaining significant advancement of human kind involves controlled social experiments. Given how seriously destructive and out of control technological development has become under the currently dominant societal arrangements, this message seems ever more prescient and urgent.
Oddly I do not recall his claim in https://english.lem.pl/works/essays/dialogs/105-lems-opinion that the book contains a prediction of "the collapse of the communist command economy", but this could be a detail that has slipped my far-from-perfect memory. It might also be due to how startled I was by his effective advocating for the type of social experimentation I mention above, which he quite clearly states is much more likely to yield useful outcomes under social orders more closely aligned with socialist than capitalist models. Of course it is important not to confuse the Stalinist distortions which have so falsely claimed the name of socialism with the genuine article (which has thereby been dealt a possibly fatal disservice). I presume by "command economy" he really means "Stalinist" in the opinion piece. In any case his criticisms in the book of the shallowness and destructive chaos of the US-inspired styles of societal orders are quite evident and spot on.
This should be required reading in any university social studies or artificial intelligence curriculum!
Rating: 55
“Dialogs” come from times when cybernetics seemed to offer infinite possibilities. This optimism, although moderated by the author, manifests itself in first chapters. Later, Lem argues with himself presenting his thoughts in a constant movement. The most interesting are analyses of society and its institutions - Lem is predominantly interested in human thought that could make the world livable. "Dialogs" were not entirely translated to English.