They'd Rather Be Right by Frank Riley
"They'd Rather Be Right" is a speculative fiction narrative centered around the invention of a powerful computer, referred to as Bossy, which can simulate human thought and promises to cure psychological issues at a cellular level. The story unfolds in a dystopian 1985 America, where creativity is suppressed under a repressive oligarchy. The main characters, professors Billings and Hoskins, along with Joe Carter—a telepath who can both receive and transmit thoughts and feelings—navigate societal backlash against their groundbreaking technology.
The plot intensifies as Joe helps the professors escape from government agents and introduces Bossy to Mabel, their landlady, who undergoes a startling transformation back to her youthful self. This sparks public interest in the concept of eternal youth, leading to a media frenzy. A wealthy industrialist, Howard Kennedy, becomes involved, aiming to leverage the technology despite the moral complexities surrounding it. Ultimately, the narrative explores themes of originality, societal norms, and the quest for personal transformation as the characters strive to democratize access to Bossy, culminating in a global broadcast that invites everyone to embrace the revolutionary technology.
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Subject Terms
They'd Rather Be Right
First published: 1957 (serial form, Astounding Science-Fiction, 1954)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—technocratic
Time of work: 1985
Locale: San Francisco, California
The Plot
Development of a computer capable of simulating human thought brings a public outcry against it. The protagonists are Professor Billings and Professor Hoskins, who were the principal inventors, and Joe Carter, Billings’ assistant, who is a telepath. Joe not only can receive thoughts but also can receive and transmit feelings, both mental and physical. Joe rescues the two professors and the disassembled computer (named Bossy for its resemblance to a cow) from a San Francisco train station by tricking three agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation into abandoning their posts.
In the story, the America of 1985 is a repressive oligarchy in which originality is a crime. The fugitives hole up on skid row, and their landlady is a retired prostitute. They plan to finish and then test Bossy. Billings and Hoskins do not have applications in mind for Bossy, but Joe does. He believes that the computer will be able to cure all psychological problems, turning out rational, well-adjusted individuals by healing at the cellular level. Joe also believes that people cured by Bossy will be telepaths, so he will no longer be alone.
Mabel and Carney, their hosts, discover who the fugitives are. Mabel, overweight, aging, and arthritic, agrees to be Bossy’s first patient. Unexpectedly, the treatment makes her young again. Mabel wakes up alone, physically twenty years old, telepathic, and without inhibitions; she walks out into the city and is arrested. She attempts to prove that she is indeed “Old Mabel” rejuvenated. The newspapers have a field day with the idea of immortality.
Howard Kennedy, a wealthy industrialist, has been secretly developing private research laboratories where people will be able to think freely. He suspects that the Bossy project is involved in Mabel’s condition and uses his money and influence to get Mabel out of jail. He wants the treatment.
Joe believes that Bossy can cure only people who have discarded all fixed ideas, no matter how noble: Kennedy just is not ready to do this. Nevertheless, he agrees to help them. Kennedy decides to deal with the public’s hostility with a public-relations campaign.
The campaign is more successful than they could have imagined: Nearly everyone is captured by the glamour of eternal youth. Kennedy announces that there will be a public demonstration of the process. Only a handful of people know Joe’s theory that one cannot be rejuvenated without first renouncing all prejudice. Dr. Billings volunteers for the public test, but he fails. The government attempts to take control of Bossy. Mabel’s companion Carney sneaks in and begins the treatment, and Kennedy’s public-relations staff stirs up public opinion so that the military is afraid to move.
After Carney is rejuvenated on live television, the movers and shakers attempt to cut a deal with Kennedy to get their hands on Bossy. Joe gets rid of them, but Kennedy reveals to Joe that he knows that Joe, Carney, and Mabel are telepaths but that he does not mind. Kennedy, Joe, and the others decide that the way to protect Bossy is to give it to everyone, so they go into mass production. The story ends with a global television broadcast with the message that anyone can have Bossy at a reasonable price.