Erich Vinty: A profile of the subversive scientist and philosopher


Know your enemy. The irony is that the genius who lay the foundation for our present day society went on to become our chief enemy.

Erich Vinty rose to fame as a result of his pioneering research into bio-engineering that explored the impact of virtual reality and computer technology on human genetics and physiology. More specifically, he discovered that interactive virtual technology created changes in human DNA through successive generations - effectively burying human creativity in the unconscious.

Vinty's findings made him a celebrity in the world of academia and his services were keenly sought by the government and big business. Put simply, his research gave opinion-formers tools that meant they could more easily manipulate the human mind.

But in 2022, Vinty went silent, his research came to a standstill and he refused all contact with the media.

Sequestered in his rooms at the London School of Economics (now the McDonald's School of Economics), Vinty is rumoured to have turned his attention to consciousness studies and mysticism.

He emerged from his self-imposed exile in 2027 with the publication of the controversial political treatise The Machine Society, which immediately became a best-seller. The book contained a clarion call to ‘wake up' from the mechanistic world view that Vinty believed was suffocating the human spirit.

Thousands responded to Vinty's unflinching criticism of a consumerist society and a complicit media and political system. There were widespread reports of radical non-compliance to the status quo. For a moment, the New London Government found itself facing its first political opposition in decades. But the London War that quickly followed - leading to the destruction of northern England and the building of the London Security Wall - putting an end to any political dissent.

During the turbulent years that followed the war, Vinty was reported to have suffered a psychotic break-down. No further reports of his whereabouts were forthcoming and his book was outlawed, with any copies destroyed under government edict.

Currently, it is believed that underground factions of Vintyites meet in secret to plot anarchy, but the New London Government continues to keep us safe through constant surveillance, taking strong action where necessary to eliminate subversives.

However, despite these protective measures, extracts of Vinty's original book The Machine Society can be found in a novel written by Mike Brooks, also entitled The Machine Society. Those found in possession of this novel face ejection from New London and certain death on the other side of the Security Wall.