What was does Dick (1965) himself theorise about the I Ching?
First of all, this is a very, very strange article. Phillip K. Dick was obviously a man with some very unique views, and in this article, he seems to align the psychiatric disorder schizophrenia, LSD, synchronity and the I Ching. In his written work he is obsessed with the idea of 'alternate realities', and you can certainly see that influence here. At one point, he states "The deadly appearance, at around niuneteen, of schizophrenia, is not a retreat from reality, but on the contrary: the breaking out of reality all around him; its presence, not its absence from his vicinity" (Dick, 1995).
His theory about the I Ching seems to relate to synchronity; which in turn relates to schizophrenia and LSD. He mentions once in the article that he used the I Ching to determine the outcome of a novel, referring to The Man in the High Castle (Dick, 1995). He recommends high usage of it if you are "totally schizophrenic", and as a way for the schizophrenics to deal with the problem of synchronity, which he therorizes schizophrenics have too much of (Dick, 1995). These theories may not make much sense, but they certainly shed light on Phillip K. Dick as a person, and a writer.
References
Dick, P.K.(1995) Schizophrenia and the I Ching. In Sutin, L. (Ed.), The Shifting Realities of Phillip K. Dick (pp. 175-182). New York: Vintage.
Yes the Schizophrenia article is a demanding one - and you're quite brave for working through it. It's important that you also include explicit references to the primary texts in these blogs(in this tMitHC)to support the ideas in your critical response. The i-ching is frequently used throughout the narrative - and in some situations that could be described as schizophenic - an examination of these scenes could provide further insights into Dick's theories.
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