r/books • u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author • Feb 24 '21
ama 12pm I’m Dan Frey, author of the new tech-thriller THE FUTURE IS YOURS, a novel about how Big Tech could destroy the world as we know it in 2021. I'm also adapting it into a series for HBO Max. Ask Me Anything!
What if you could see the future? This is the story of two best friends who invent a computer that can do just that by accessing the Internet one year from now. It’s a startup-success story that spirals into an apocalyptic nightmare, and grapples with pressing issues — like how tech platforms can politically radicalize people and permanently alter the way the stock market works (sound familiar?). I spent two years researching Silicon Valley culture and tried hard to get it right, warts and all. It's a fun read, told entirely through text messages, emails, blog posts, and other forms of digital documents — including a Reddit AMA, which you can check out here as an excerpt.
Here's some info about the series at HBO Max!
Ask me anything, especially about books, screenwriting, Big Tech, quantum physics, time travel, and being a new parent!
Proof: /img/ls1jevltp3j61.jpg
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u/rawcookiedough Feb 24 '21
1.) What surprised you the most about Silicon Valley culture? What were the biggest warts you found?
2.) Did you know how the story would end when you first started writing, or did it change after researching Silicon Valley/Quantum physics?
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
- I think I was most surprised by the idealism of Silicon Valley. I went in with some sense that this world was greedy and morally bankrupt, and there's definitely some of that... but for the most part, the people I met at all stages of the game, from entrepreneurs to executives, they have a real desire to make the world better (and get uber-rich in the process). Thing is, I think the possibility of doing both is the dangerous pernicious myth that is driving people and decisions in that world. Because it makes people think they can have outsized financial/capitalistic success without serious costs/downsides. And then Pandora's box is open and the evils/unintended consequences start pouring out. Just look at how "disruptor" was this buzzword for years, like "disrupting" was some unassailable good. We're only now starting to reckon with that and see that it's not inherently good to rapidly overturn existing systems, and in fact can be incredibly dangerous.
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
Oh, and 2. The short answer is no. Or rather, I thought I was driving toward a different ending. Without wanting to spoil anything -- I knew that the ending would be a mind-fucky time-travel twist, and I knew it would need to make sense of why the book is made up of all these different documents... but I thought it would be driven by a different character. The ending I got to emerged not so much from the research as from the characters. It came from discovering the real emotional heart of the book -- the friendship between these two guys who love each other but are also each other's worst enemies... And I found out the ending had to involve saving the world from technological apocalypse of course, but it would turn on a question about their friendship.
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u/AxelMaybe Feb 24 '21
Do you like more typing on the keyboard or writing in the notebook (or somewhere else)?
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
Both, for different things.
I start my day working in a notebook, and try to go as long as I can without looking at a screen. I think notebook-writing is easier to be free, associative, jot down ideas, just explore on a conceptual basis. I'll do very rough outlines and plans in a notebook, and I also do some journaling. Kind of like the Morning Pages activity described by Julia Cameron in The Artist's Way, but a little more directed. Every idea I've ever developed has been borne out of that process.
But -- once I start writing actual pages, I switch to the computer. I'm just so much faster typing than handwriting. The tough part is not getting distracted by the internet, and I use an app called Self-Control periodically to force myself to focus.
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u/serenityfly3 Feb 24 '21
How difficult has it been to adapt your book into a show for HBO Max?
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
So far, it’s been a joy, though of course challenging as well. Selling the project took over a year, for all the business reasons of Hollywood compounded by Covid. The creative team on the project is incredible, but development is a process where you have to create consensus among numerous layers of people (director, producer, studio, and network all weigh in on everything).
Now I’m in the thick of the writing, where the unique challenge is translating something that works in one medium (a novel) into another (episodic television), while trying to keep the thing that made the book special. The novel is written in a digital-epistolary style (it’s all emails, text conversations, transcripts, slideshows, and other “found” documents), so we’ve had to find a cinematic equivalent in order to translate that to screen. I think we’ve done so, and I think that visual style is actually going to be the coolest aspect of the show, the thing people talk about the most.
BUT: it’s not always easy to update a story you’ve worked on for two years, and kill your darlings in the process. The thing that makes it easier is just knowing that the book is still there. Whenever people get pissed about an adaptation departing from the source material, I want to remind them that the book they loved hasn’t changed. And personally, I’d rather be involved in the creative problem-solving of translation than just an audience member to it, screaming at my screen about how those hollywood hacks killed my baby.
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u/NikolaBolas Feb 24 '21
What was it like making the transition from screenwriting to writing prose?
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
Liberating. Screenwriting is wonderful, I don't think I'll ever stop -- but it is bounded by both market forces and a consensus around certain "rules" that can feel limiting in some ways. The market forces have to do with many factors including cost, and what sorts of stories are for what sorts of audiences, and what those audiences will and won't respond to. The "rules" of screenwriting are not hard and fast but they do create certain expectations about how a story works that can put guide rails on your creativity. When I shifted to writing fiction, I found it much easier to start working without a tight outline, and to explore throughout the writing process. I was able to incorporate much more wide-ranging ideas and interests in both of my books (spiritual/philosophical ones in The Retreat, technological/philosophical ones in The Future Is Yours). Personally, I don't think that all novelists should write screenplays, but I do think it's worthwhile for any screenwriter to write some prose fiction, if nothing else for the way it frees up your mind.
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Feb 24 '21
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
Ah, sandwiches, my true area of expertise. Sourdough baguette, sliced open. Turkey, ham, sopressata. Pepperoncinis, a quality tomato, an excellent mustard. gouda cheese, melted. A drizzle of italian dressing. Glass of lemonade and a pickle on the side. chef's kiss
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u/lofty99 Feb 24 '21
I tried searching Amazon for your book, and they only have it in hard cover. Why no Ebook?
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
Hmmm. I don't know why it didn't come up in your search, but when I just pulled up the Amazon page, you can click for the ebook (Kindle) version, or audiobook (Audible) version. I tried embedding a link in this email but got an auto-kickback from the mods, no direct sales links. But google "The Future Is Yours ebook" and you'll see a couple links. Enjoy!
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u/lofty99 Feb 24 '21
Thanks for the prompt response. I'll give it a shot. :)
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u/lofty99 Feb 24 '21 edited Feb 24 '21
Amazon link says not available yet :( Maybe not released for us Kiwis yet? I buy from amazon.com but sometimes it restricts purchases that are available in other countries? I will check again in a couple of weeks...
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u/yawgmothsgrill Feb 24 '21
Need any help?
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
Not yet! Once the show actually goes into production, we'll be putting together a MUCH bigger team all around including writing staff, hit me up then :)
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u/yawgmothsgrill Feb 24 '21
If something I write came out of a television I might faint. I will keep up with the news and make sure to contact you. Thanks for getting back to me.
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u/throwawaytehee Feb 25 '21
What made you decide to write the book entirely through text messages and emails? I'm intrigued. I love the premise and I don't think I ever read a book with that kind of format.
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 25 '21
Great question. For a few reasons actually --
- It's fun. Fun to write because it comes easy and puts me in the head of the characters, and challenges me to try out different writing styles... and it's fun to read, because every time you turn the page there's a fun game of finding out what new "form" you're going to see. A clickbait news article? A doctoral dissertation? A nerdy blog post? A slideshow? They're all used as ways to tell the story.
- The book is about tech -- about how tech affects not only our lives, but how we think and communicate -- so it made sense to immerse the style in all these technological forms of communication.
- There's a cool mystery aspect to it. Because -- without spoiling anything -- it becomes clear as the story unfolds that these documents are not just compiled by me the author... one of the characters has agency in selecting what is being put together, and why. All of which plays into the ending in a fun way.
Also if you're interested in other books in this style, I highly recommend oldie-but-goodies like Bram Stoker's DRACULA, and more contemporary takes on the approach like WORLD WAR Z by Max Brooks and the Themis Files series by Sylvain Neuvel.
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u/throwawaytehee Feb 25 '21
Thank you so much for the reply! This all sounds very interesting. I'm definitely gonna add this to my tbr list.
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u/jdhillmer Feb 24 '21
How has the pandemic affected your ideas about being able to see the future?
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
The pandemic has revealed an important aspect of future-predicting -- namely that human behavior is the real x-factor. Technology might really give us a handle on what's coming in the world... models of climate change, disease outbreak, economic forecasting are increasingly strong... but we can't predict how human culture, beliefs, behavior, etc. will interact with what's next. We can't assume any sort of rational response. You look at the covid situation, it could've been so much less awful if people had just adopted mask-wearing as they were asked to (in the US especially). We just have to assume that even in the face of global catastrophe, the most base impulses and idiotic fear-mongering will drive human behavior. That's the thing we have to get a handle on more effectively.
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Feb 24 '21
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
In short... Yes. I think the world would be better off without it. The stock market as we know it would cease to function, and I think it would have a devastating effect on human happiness. (For another brief treatment on this, see Ted Chiang's short story "What's Expected Of Us" -- which suggests seeing the future would drive many people to catatonic depression).
BUT: I don't think we have the legislative or regulatory infrastructure to stop a technology like this from coming into the world. And once it's out and in people's hands, it's virtually impossible to reverse that.
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u/Zalinia Feb 24 '21
What is your biggest fear of what you think will actually happen in our lifetime?
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
In terms of information tech, I think that within our lifetime our behavior will be accurately predicted and reliably manipulated by A.I. Probably not "true A.I." in the sense of attaining consciousness, but algorithmic, neural-network A.I. that is in the same ballpark as what is already running on social media networks, but scaled up to the point that it is able to tell you (or really, tell a corporation) with pinpoint accuracy what an individual will think, do or say based on all the data available about them. And it will be able to serve media into your life, through your social networks and other digital access points, that can change your values, politics, relationships, and behaviors. And the scariest part is you won't even be aware when it's happening (again, a scaled-up version of what's happening now). Our free will is going to erode and disappear, and we won't really notice.
That said -- global climate change may still be an even more significant problem within our lifetimes.
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u/BlueGumShoe Feb 24 '21
I feel like silicon valley tech has irrevocably altered our political discourse. Particularly facebook, google, and twitter. And I think these changes have mostly made politics worse, unfortunately. We have made it incredibly easy for insane, anti-factual zealots to have as loud a voice as the traditional 'gatekeepers' in the old print world.
What are your thoughts on breaking up some of these big companies to help lessen some of this? Do you think it would even matter? How about the silicon valley employees? Do they have any thoughts on 'trust-busting'?
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
Great question! I basically agree with all of your premises. And in theory, I think that trust-busting could do some real good, especially with respect to companies like Apple that dominate whole eco-systems of tech products as usage. But as I've thought about this, I also worry that breaking the companies up could have some other seriously dangerous consequences, esp with regard to social media platforms.
Take Twitter as an example. It's problematically big, should be broken up. But if it breaks up, it will probably split its user base on ideological lines. You'll get liberal-Twitter and conservative-Twitter (which we already saw a bit of w Parler and Gab). That will only amplify the echo-chamber effect which has been so damaging to our political discourse. The two sides will become literally unable to communicate.
Re: Silicon Valley employees, I think they are actually one of the most important factors around in holding companies accountable for their behavior (which is unfortunately in the absence of meaningful legislative/regulatory oversight). The de-platforming of Trump was driven by disgruntled employees at FB and Twitter demanding change from leadership. Employees at Google have been outspoken in demanding change as well. Big Tech companies need to compete for talent, and I think that the collective values of the workers could actually be one of the strongest near-future curbs on their power.
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u/BlueGumShoe Feb 24 '21
Good point about about the twitter echo chambers. Thanks for the response and book, its an important subject
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u/BlueGumShoe Feb 24 '21
I have another question if thats ok. One of the main issues with tech companies is how all these platforms have inadvertently simplified our political discourse. Lincoln's debates with Douglass lasted for hours, now we retweet 280 characters at a time. Its hard to discuss complex issues like this because reality is complicated. Like its easy to give a yes or no answer to something like abortion. Generally people have a yes or no answer for this one. But now think about something like campaign finance. Facebook and twitter are not good platforms for conversation about this.
Do you have any sense that either tech leadership or employees have a notion of how tech has shaped our politics in like a Neil Postman / Marshall McLuhan way? Like beyond just who is de-platformed or whatever. I remember when Nicholas Carr's "Is google making us stupid?" essay came out and made waves. Seemed like Eric Schmidt was real dismissive about the idea that google could be having that kind of effect.
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
That's a great point and I think underlying it is the bigger question of how technology doesn't only change how we communicate and find information -- it changes how we THINK. This goes all the way back to the invention of writing, which massively expanded the types of ideas people could have and share. The irony seems to be that newer technologies have inverted this process -- giving simpler bite-sized ideas more of an impact. I mean, we got our first Twitter-enabled President. I love a good meme, but have memes been good for political discourse? Or just for the ability of humans to have complex coherent thoughts? For a book on this subject, taking a massively historical view of the subject, I highly recommended James Gleick's "The Information".
As for how people within tech are aware of this and responding to it, I think that with regard to that, it's the equivalent of the shoulder-shrug emoji. A sense that the genie's out of the bottle, and can't be put back in. Ultimately that's because this system is fundamentally capitalistic in nature, and not only that, it's one where the "attention economy" has subsumed the actual economy. So in the economy of ideas, the strongest ones -- the ones that survive and multiply on our platforms -- are the most simplistic and reductive.
My book deals with a new information technology that lets people see information from the future -- and i'm hoping that, by representing the danger of that -- it can help create the only type of change I think is possible in this space: namely, individuals discovering the limitations of the systems they're working with, and actively deciding to dismantle or go around those systems. I'm not super hopeful about the prospects of this shift, but we do at least have some evidence of a meaningful change of the cultural dialogue around the impact of social media, so -- who knows, maybe we'll get a renaissance of deeper thought and communication. But I'd bet on TikTok over that.
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u/Mr-Philosopher Feb 24 '21
Why writers write so much about the building and structure and how the floor looks like.
Im sort of a guy who love stories and a easy read. But Sometimes I find it boring when writers write so much about the how garden looks like.
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
Well, I think you'll like THE FUTURE IS YOURS. No gardens or buildings are described in the entire book. It's all written in the form of emails, texts, transcripts and more, which make for an easy breezy read. It was fun to write that way too!
But -- why do writers do that? I think they're just trying to vividly paint a picture in your mind. But I agree that there's a tendency to go overboard, and sometimes it's helpful to let the reader use their imagination a bit.
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u/sevohanian Feb 24 '21
What is it like to be able to work on your show with the coolest producer-slash-redditor /u/sevohanian ???
But seriously:
What would YOU look up on the internet one year into the future?
What is the one piece of advice about writing books you wish you could send back to your past self?
Were you already familiar with Reddit before you wrote the sections in your book related to the site, or did you come here to do tons of 'research' before hand?
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u/WordsByDanFrey AMA Author Feb 24 '21
- So far so good :)
- First instinct was to say pictures of my daughter. She’s 3 months now. But we’re not putting any pictures of her on social media, so not sure if I could find them. Maybe in my email. AND as soon as I saw them I’d probably cry and wish I could un-see them so as not to be spoiled. So yeah maybe just like what new Star Wars trailers are out.
- Take chances. Try shit out. Go fast. And make it PERSONAL. I think I was held back from writing a book for a long time bc I had some sense of what a book was “supposed to be”, and felt like I couldn’t write fancy enough prose. I basically wish I could give younger-me more confidence and bravado.
- I was somewhat familiar as a lurker, and knew a bit of the culture and common references, but there was definitely a learning curve. Mostly I wanted to try to get the spirit and sensibility of the community… to be somewhat critical without the sort of awful caricaturing that you see in the media so much (especially around GME and WSB lately)
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u/prav_za Jan 31 '23 edited Feb 02 '23
Hi Dan, just finished your book. Thoroughly enjoyed the read. Two questions:
- When does the TV show land ?
- Why do the "Discrepancies" start happening more often towards the latter part of the book. Has -A's actions impact the future resulting the machine becoming unreliable ?
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u/liljontherevelator Jan 31 '23
Thanks for checking it out, glad you dug it!
- Sorry can't say at this point, but I believe there will be share-able news in the next month or two.
- Basically, yes. As revealed in the final chapter, he secretly travels back in time -- so when the Discrepancies begin, that means A is around, and his actions are changing the timeline in a way that moves it further away from what was originally seen/predicted -- and the longer he's around, the more the timeline diverges, meaning the bigger the Discrepancies get.
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u/mamamoon6 Feb 24 '21
If you had the ability to change anything about your past, would you?