A novel I wanted to write: The Honesty Contagion
Ideas may be cheap, but I wanted to share one of mine regardless
I try to keep busy. There are many things I wish I had the time to do with my life, but I simply don’t. One of them is to write a novel. Occasionally I like to share the ideas I have for novels I’ll never have the time to write.
The Honesty Contagion
Samantha goes on a mushroom trip and is transformed. When she sobers, she discovers that everyone around her knows with total certainty whether she is lying or telling the truth. She can no longer lie effectively, but so long as she tells the truth, no one who hears her speak can even pretend to think she is lying. At first she uses this capacity to become a local celebrity, but after a conversation with a trucker named Jonathan, she is convinced she can and must use our power to change the world. She plans to run for president on a platform of complete trustworthiness.
However her plans are altered again when she realizes that she can give this power to others- if they are willing to accept it- with a tap on the forehead. Those who receive her power can then pass it on themselves, and so on. She gifts her power to most of her town, which is swiftly transformed with ambiguous results- including at least one death. Once again she encounters Jonathan who offers her a lift to O’Hare international airport, suggesting she go there spread her capacity across the world. Along the way she is interviewed for a Vox pop about road safety in the area. She explains her capacity to the astonished reporter who, of course, cannot help but believe her. Her interview is broadcast on a local network, and soon goes viral. Everyone who watches it is wholly convinced.
A sociologist who works on the social role of lying tries to organize government officials to stop her. Government agencies are paralyzed with indecision- would it be wisest to kill her, contain her, or to try to adapt? Will there be consequences for them in the new world she creates if the try to stop her and fail? Even if she were stopped in her mission to reach O’Hare, the honesty contagion is rapidly spreading outwards from her small town. The governments of many countries debate whether to try shutting their borders.
More things happen, but we’ll jump forward to the end. The honesty contagion is rapidly spreading, all possibility of containment gone. The reader is invited to decide the ending for themselves- will it create a utopias or wars? Will democracy be universalized or ended? Will love grow or whither? Is it even possible that not much will change?
You can read, for free, the book that I did get a chance to finish writing here.
A novel I wanted to write: The Honesty Contagion
I love the idea. It is open to a lot of possibilities like : if she is always telling the truth, what exactly is the nature of the truth she is telling? How do you determine what is true and what is not? Will mathematics be construed as a lie in this world? It's a very fertile ground for philosophy which is awesome.
I love the premise. If this was part of a collection similar to Eagleman's Sum, I think it would do pretty well.