In an English course I am taking at my university we recently read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? This book looks into a post-nuclear apocalypse world in which androids are so advanced, they are almost human. Additionally, a majority of the people on Earth have left and emigrated to Mars because the radioactive dust has gotten so bad on Earth, it is almost uninhabitable. The few that remain on Earth are either “chickenheads,” meaning people with mental disabilities or abnormalities, or regular people that will soon be deemed unfit to reproduce. This world is erely similar to Nazi Germany where eugenics, the controlled reproduction of people believed to have undesirable genes, was practiced. We are first introduced to a character named John Isidore. John is a “chickenhead” since he is mentally challenged. He is not allowed to reproduce because he failed the IQ test and he is believed to have radiation poisoning, making him abnormal. As a result he has little human interaction because he is segregated the same way society today segregates abnormal people. The book also includes Rachel Rosen, Max Polokov, Luba Luft, Pris Stratton, Phil Resch, Garland, Roy Baty, and Irmgard Baty; all characters who are androids. Androids are not allowed on Earth because they are essentially slaves on Mars and can become defective, killing humans if they escape slavery. They are seen as abnormal because they cannot express empathy and they are viewed as less than a human. A common question that comes up throughout the book is “What makes us human?” Relating to their society being human is being able to show empathy. Relating to our world today I believe being human is grouping everyone under a bell curve, showing violence and hatred towards people who are abnormal, and showing no empathy towards those who are abnormal. In order to better understand this atrocious social structure, first we should define abnormal. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the idea of abnormal is focused on the character John Isidore and all the characters that are androids. John Isidore is abnormal for two main reasons: he failed an IQ test, intellectually abnormal, and he is believed to have radiation poisoning, physically abnormal. The androids are abnormal because they cannot express empathy and they are not truly human. In our society I believe abnormal is defined as having an intellectual disability, physical disability, mental illness, disease, religion, or any other defining characteristic that is different than our own. However, we should take a step back, examine all the features, put aside our pride and accept that we are all abnormal.
From the time children are born they are compared to norms. Their height, weight, muscle tone, reflexes, etc. are all measured and compared to the average baby. When children start school, they are compared to norms. Their mental ability, social skills, physical abilities, etc. are all compared to the average child their age (Davis 1). Through the rest of their life they are compared to norms. They are trapped under this bell curve and told they are below average, average, or above average for their entire life. It is truly sickening. Then we as a society wonder “Why is someone bullied or is a bully?” We wonder “Why there is an increase in violence?” We wonder “Why are ‘millennials’ less empathetic than any other generation?” It all starts with trapping them under this imaginary bell that tells them what their self-worth should be. Davis says “The norm pins down that majority of the population that falls under the arch of the standard bell-shaped curve. This curve, the graph of an exponential function, . . . , became in its own way a symbol of tyranny of the norm.” We have no other way of defining normal because of this bell curve. How is the bell curve even measured? Someone finds out how everyone would score or compare on a certain activity or function and then groups them in below average, average, or above average. A majority of the people fall under the peak of the bell with fewer people on either end of the peak. This bell curve can be observed in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? when John Isidore has to take a minimum mental faculties test. He fails and is then classified as a “chickenhead.” The androids have to take the Voight-Kampf test to see if their empathy score matches a human’s. If they fail they are classified as an android and killed. This bell curve fits under the idea that “Society more so disables people” (NominalistWay). This quote comes from Examined Life – Judith Butler & Sunaura Taylor, a video where Judith Butler, a gender theorist and philosopher, and Sunaura Taylor discuss what being disabled means. Sunaura Taylor has arthrogryposis, a disease that fuses joints and makes muscles weaker. She does not fit under the bell curve of what is considered to be physically normal because she cannot walk or do a lot of average everyday functions without assistance. But why should she be grouped under the abnormal group because she does things differently than most people? The answer is exactly what that quote says, because society says so. If society was to escape this trap of the bell curve, we would live together in greater peace and harmony.
Often people who are classified as abnormal are the victims of violence and hatred. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, John Isidore experiences hatred when he sees the ads on the television that say “special” people are not wanted, have no use, and could not emigrate because they would ruin their new world (Dick 20). The androids experience violence and hatred the whole book because they are slaves on Mars and being hunted and killed for not being human. The only way to truly tell if they are not a human is to take a bone marrow sample and test it, but they still experience all this hate because they are different. This happens in society today. If you look at Charlottesville, Virginia, you will find the white nationalist showing hatred towards minorities. You will consequently see the minorities showing hatred back towards the white nationalist. As a result, there is violence. If the white nationalist could live in present America and not mid-1900’s America, the violence and hatred would not exist. But instead they view these people as different and not as good as they are.
A big question society has to ask itself is why does this violence and hatred exist? I believe one explanation is how much society values being the best. The Nazi’s killed people who were abnormal because “The physically and mentally handicapped were viewed as useless to society, a threat to Aryan genetic purity, and, ultimately, unworthy of life” (The Murder 1). We see people as useless to society if they are not the best, and as result we get this hatred and violence. In order to change this stigma, the idea that people who have abnormalities or are “abnormal” are useless to society needs to change. Sunaura Taylor offers another explanation to violence and hatred towards abnormal people relating to a reminder that our bodies are going to age and eventually we are going to die. People see these disabled people and know that eventually they will not be able to walk or do everyday simple tasks or function at their highest mental capability. As a result, I believe that people take this anger out on the people that remind them that they eventually will need help from others too. If you look back in history, there is endless examples of humans demonstrating violence and hatred towards other humans because they are different than them, abnormal. From the mass genocide of the Native Americans and enslavement of Africans to the mass genocide of Jewish people by the Nazi regime. Humans built machine guns and nuclear weapons before we learned how to live together. Instead of learning how to be respectful and accepting of everyone, we choose to continue to assault, kill, and insult those who are different than us.
In society today, it is almost as if you are the abnormal one for being empathetic. For being kind. For seeing people for who they are and not judging them for their imperfections. Reasons behind this might be we are individualistic, value competitiveness, and are judgmental. “But in today’s fast-paced and technology-driven culture, people’s self-absorption leads to more narcissism – and, consequently, less empathy” (Grasgreen, 11). We care more about ourselves than any previous generation. I believe this is because at technology is so advanced right now that we do not need to necessarily rely on each other as much as used to. Social media also plays a factor into this as we use it to say “Look at how awesome I am” or “Look what happened to me, feel sorry for me.” Competitiveness is also valued way too much in society. From a young age we are told “you are the best” and made to believe that by the participation awards we receive. Later in life when we no longer get an award for everything we do and told we are the best, we start to feel uncomfortable and doubt self-worth, which leads to lack of empathy. Relating back to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, John Isidore, the character in the book who is singled out for being mentally disabled, is the sole character who sees the androids for who they are; other people who think, breath, and have feelings. He looks past the fact that they are inhuman, abnormal. If we all make even the slightest attempt to be more like John Isidore, our world would be a much better place. We would not have a divided country. We would not be on the brink of nuclear war. We would not have children who are afraid to go to school. We would not give up on everything so easily. Because in the end, we are all abnormal. Who are you to think you are better than any other person? But the problem is some people have an ego so big that they do not want to admit and recognize that in fact, no I am not perfect. I have flaws. I am abnormal. Until everyone can admit and accept that fact, there will always be a set norm. I challenge you to be conscious of when you are judging others due to their abnormalities and remind yourself of yours. Look for ways you can help others surpass their abnormalities and do not be afraid to ask others for help with yours. I believe that if one would do this during every interaction, we as a whole would be much more happy.
To conclude, there are solutions to the three problems I discussed. The problem with the bell curve can be fixed by removing the bell curve. Instead of looking at the where the average human would score, we should look at every person as a human. “. . . the ‘problem’ is not the person with the disabilities; the problem is the way that normalcy is constructed to create the ‘problem’ of the disabled person” (Davis 1). The word normal should be removed when defining a person. No one can fit perfectly under the bell curve, so the bell curve should be removed completely as a tool to measure how “normal” a person is. Violence and hatred towards those who are abnormal can be removed by changing the view of people who are abnormal as not being a functional member of society and treating them with the respect we would want. Lack of empathy can be changed by restructuring the values our society holds and accepting that none of us are perfect. “I think we have become a society where we rate status over relationships. We relate image over character and when you do that, you place much less emphasis on the skill or the ability of empathy” (Grasgreen 11). I feel society fits into this outlook where we care more about who you are status wise and less about who you are as a person. Judith Butler says “Do we or do we not live in a world in which we assist each other? Do we or do we not help each other with basic needs?” Her idea is that we are not independent beings. We are interdependent for a reason and that reason is to help each other with our abnormalities. If I am really good at math, but have a disease like Sunaura Taylor and cannot pick up a cup of coffee, and you have the ability to pick up the coffee, but struggle with math, is it not selfish of us to not assist each other in aiding our abnormalities?
Work Cited
Davis, Lennard J. Constructing Normalcy. Binghampton, 1995
Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. New York: Random House, 1996. Print.
Grasgreen, Allie. “Empathizing 101.” Inside Higher Ed, 24 Nov. 2010, www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/11/24/empathy.
NominalistWay. Examined Life – Judith Butler & Sunaura Taylor 720p.Avi. Performance by Judith Butler, and Sunaura Taylor, YouTube, YouTube, 6 Oct. 2010, www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0HZaPkF6qE.
“The Murder of the Handicapped.” United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, www.ushmm.org/outreach/en/article.php?ModuleId=10007683.