The Dice Man

Have any of you read this 70s cult classic? If not, then you should. It should appeal to anyone with half a brain (except children - it's far to corrupting and lewd for them).

The basic concept of the book is that the author allows a die to take control of every facet of his life. The only control he retains is that of choosing the options he gives the die. I offer two immediate observations:

1) In the book the author aspires to become The Random Man. (Personally I think this is an oxymoron, since 'The' is a definite article, and 'Random' is an indefinite concept.) If he followed his plan to the letter, would he also become 'A Neutral Man'?

If man's actions were entirely determined by a force beyond his control, does that make his actions 'valueless', in the sense of morality? To take this further, many philosophers in the past have subscribed to determinism (in which they say every action is pre-determined by fate; choice is an illusion. For example, you think you have a choice of whether to raise your right hand or you left, but once you have risen your left (say) then the determinists would state that any other option was impossible.) If we accept that life is governed by fate, then wherein lies morality? This leads us to the key question:

"Is free will a pre-requisite of morality?"

I personally think that it clearly must be, for in free will lies responsbility, and blame (or praise) requires responsibility to have any meaning.

Consequently, I would say the truly random man (if true randomness is a valid concept at all) would be morally Neutral. The problem in The Dice Man is that he chooses his own options, and so places inherent 'value' into any roll. To achieve Neutrality in this sense, he would have to have an infinite die to represent the infinite possibilities of life. What a concept eh?

Hmmm, after that magnificent analysis, I've forgotten point 2.... Ah yes:

2) Wouldn't "The Dice Man Blog" be pretty much the damned sweetest thing you ever saw? It could approach a level of greater randomness (and therefore greater(?) neutrality) by having the audience of the blog pick the options for the die for each day. The Dice Man would then report back on the outcome of the roll and seek another set of options. Seriously, if any of you are mad enough to do this you WILL become pretty damned famous pretty damned fast. The only drawback would be you'd also end up with no life, no friends, no money, no job and a prison sentence within not too long at all. Perhaps a variation on the idea might be more possible, but would entirely lack the force. (you could, for example, request 2 good options, 2 neutral options and 2 evil options for each roll, then at least disaster might hold off a little longer... etc.) Oh hell, when one of you becomes famous off this, at least link me. I'd do it myself but it's taken years of training to become a barrister and I'm fucked if I'm giving that up!