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> Meanwhile, the world outside of the Vonnegut Museum is performing an homage to him by attempting to recreate Harrison Bergeron. Can you expand on this? Isn't
by thundergolfer 7y ago
> Meanwhile, the world outside of the Vonnegut Museum is performing an homage to him by attempting to recreate Harrison Bergeron.
Can you expand on this? Isn't a central part of that book radical equalisation, where today's world is full of people and institutions driving inequality to greater heights.
In the story talented people are forced to handicap themselves. What is the parallel of that to the real world?
- 0xcde4c3db 7y agoBeyond that: to me, the thing that distinguishes Harrison Bergeron in the field of dystopian literature is how relentlessly farcical it is. The "handicaps" are self-defeating because they blatantly advertise the advantages that they're meant to neutralize. The allegedly super-intelligent rebel protagonist acts like an impulsive idiot. His ultimate showdown isn't against a legion of high-tech enforcers, but against a shotgun-wielding bureaucrat. In short, it goes beyond merely being unbelievable; it gleefully throws the whole notion of believability into a dumpster and sets it on fire because the fire is pretty.
- patrec 7y agohttps://www.research.ibm.com/5-in-5/ai-and-bias/ https://www.research.ibm.com/5-in-5/ai-and-bias/