QualityLand

Elwë — Wed, 04 Jan 2023 23:23:15 +0000

About “QualityLand” Book

In the future, everything is routine: work, leisure, and relationships are optimized by algorithms. QualityPartner knows who suits you best. The self-driving car knows where you want to go. And everyone who is a member of TheShop will receive all the goods they want without having to order them. Super practical! No human being has to make hard decisions anymore – because in QualityLand the answer to all questions is one thing: OK.

However, Peter, a machine scrapper, constantly feels that something is not right in his life. If the system is truly so flawless, then why are there drones with a fear of flying, or battle robots with post-traumatic stress disorder? Why do machines keep getting more human, but humans keep getting more machine-like?

A marvelous satire about the future, prospects, and pitfalls of digitization.

Book Information

Original Title: QualityLand
Author: Marc-Uwe Kling
Translator: Seyed Ebrahim Taghavi
Original Publication Date: 2017
Translation Publication Date: 2021
Translated from: German
Light Version ISBN: 9783986350000
Dark Version ISBN: 9783986350017
Audiobook (Light) ISBN: 9783986350031
Audiobook (Dark) ISBN: 9783986350024

Excerpt from the book

“Well,” says Herbert, “for a human being, an accident is only very rarely connected with a moral decision. Your thought processes are too slow. When an approaching car is racing toward a human being at too high a speed, the human doesn’t think, ‘Oh. There’s a car racing toward me at too high a speed. Now, let’s think: what are my options? I could try to save myself by swerving to the left and ramming into the two cyclists, or I could swerve to the right and break the knees of that businessman on the pavement, or I could brake and collide with the oncoming vehicle. Hmm… What would be the morally correct decision in this situation? What would Kant have said? What would Jesus have done?’ A human wouldn’t think like that. A human would think, ‘Shit! Boom.’”

Difference between Light and Dark version of QualityLand

The difference between the Light version and the Dark version is in the content of news and advertisements that are between the chapters of the story. Looking at the concept of personalized books in the story of QualityLand, this book has been published in two versions: Light (for optimistic people) and Dark (for people with pessimistic and apocalyptic views).