In chapter 18 of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Buster Friendly’s big announcement is finally revealed- Mercer is in an artificial landscape (Dick, 190). The entirety of Mercerism is based off of several 15 minute long videos of a man named Al Jerry, and products of the “now defunct Hollywood movie industry” (Dick, 120). It is further revealed that the basis for the ideology- the suffering of Mercer- is completely false, relying on ketchup, and rubber rocks to create the illusion of a desert (Dick, 121).
Do you think that the discovery of the falsehood of Mercerism really matters to this society? If they have all shared such a visceral experience of joint empathy, would the revelation of a simulated reality nullify Mercerism, or an adjacent belief surrounding empathy?
It does not matter. It is the belief that matters. As long as people still believe in Mercer’s ideals then they will continue to follow him. People will choose if they will be swayed by this revelation or choose to continue believing in sympathy despite the simulated reality. As long as they feel sympathy is necessary then they will continue to cling to their ideals.
I do not believe that the discovery of the falsehood of Mercerism matters, because as long as the humans still believe that he is real, and that he is powerful, they will ignore this information presented by Buster Friendly. If anything, I believe that they would see this as another obstacle to overcome, sent by Mercer, although they are not using the empathy box to experience it. There are many religions in our world and many call fraud and fake, but people still continue to be faithful to their beliefs.