Category: Blog

The Power of Love and Hate

In chapter 20, Iran Deckard is talking about their new pet goat with her husband Rick and she tells him they have found the goat dead. “I have to tell you something. I’m sorry. The goat is dead.” (Dick 226). In this chapter, it gives a description of the person who killed the goat, “A small young looking girl with dark hair and large black eyes, very thin.” (Dick 226). I perceived this description as Rachael Rosen who is the person who just killed the goat. The author does not give a direct reason why Rachael kills the goat. I believe she hated Rick so much because he had an affair with her and still left the hotel trying to kill the three remaining androids. According to the text in chapter 17, I believe the author was trying to foreshadow what would happen next in the next chapters. I believe what Rachael did in the story says a lot about her as a character/Andy. And in this chapter, Rachael does not hurt “Rick” physically when she finds out he hurts her friends for profit. Rachael brings up Rick‘s goat to show the readers that if she can’t hurt him personally like a “crazy jealous mistress”. Then the next best thing is to hurt his precious Black Nubian goat.

Discussion Question #1: What is your perception of why Rachael killed the goat?

Citation:

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. New York: Penguin Random House, 1968. ebook.

Do Martians Dream of Sawdust Deserts?

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?

Blissful Ignorance

In chapter nine, Deckhart attempts to apprehend Luba Luft for the first time but she calls the “police” on him and he is brought into a police station that doesn’t know he exists. It is revealed that this station is fully populated by androids and is fairly self-sustaining. They have their own bounty hunters that hunt androids with their own test of distinguishing androids. Phil Resch is one of the ones living there, and he’s very quick to throw Garland under the bus as an android. He’s extremely eager to kill androids, but is shocked once he finds out he is an android. Resch believes “that the best place for an android would be with a big police organization such as W.P.O.” (Dick, 109). Resch has a point, because he is fairly good at taking out other androids.

If there is an entirely self-sustained police force that has their own test to determine androids, how would they rival the force Deckhart is in? Is it possible that Deckhart and his force is full of androids that would fail the “reflex-arc response” that is used at Mission Street Hall of Justice? Could Deckhart be like Resch? How effectively can one truly measure humanity if differing tests exist like this?

An Atmosphere of Love

In the twelfth chapter of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?,  the idea that andy’s (or androids) cannot take care of animals is presented. The discussion between Phil Resch and Rick Deckard introduces this idea. Resch starts by asking him ” Did you ever hear of an andy having a pet of any sort?” (Dick 120), and Deckard answers by saying that has heard of it in “two cases” (Dick 121) and that it is “rare” for them to care for the animals they have, and keep them alive. The touching point of this discussion between Resch and Deckard is the mentioning of an “atmosphere of love” (Dick 121), and the statement that “animals require an environment of warmth to flourish.” (Dick 121). In the real world, some people also cannot take care of animals, leading to abuse and neglect. These issues lead to the absence of an “atmosphere of love” (Dick 121), and in my opinion, no creature should feel this absence. I “sprinkle” my cat, Ninja, with warmth and love, giving her a comfortable and loving environment, as should any pet owner.

Discussion Question #1: What are some ways to show animals, specifically pets, love and an atmosphere of warmth and acceptance? If you do not have a pet, what are some ways that you see others treat their animals, good or bad?

Discussion Question #2: How do you feel about andy’s treating their animals with a lack of love? Should they be aloud to have pets, why or why not? How does this relate to the lack of empathy andy’s have?

Who am I?

During Deckard’s investigation of Ms. Luft, she suggests that Deckard is the android, not her, which throws him off. Shortly after, Ms. Luft calls the San Fran. PD to arrest Deckard because she believes him to be a sexual deviant and not a real bounty hunter. At the station, one Deckard had never been to before, he is granted one vid-phone call, so he calls his wife at his home phone number. However, when Deckard dials his house, “It was not Iran. He had never seen the woman before in his life. He hung up, walked slowly back to the police officer.” (Dick 203-4). It is known that androids have implanted memories. Could Deckard’s sad and depressed wife be an implanted memory to keep Deckard at his horrible job? Periodically throughout the next couple chapters, the recurring issue of whether or not Deckard is an android is debated. It is questioned so much that Deckard administers the Voigt-Kampff test upon himself, but he concludes he isn’t an android. Note that Deckard administered the test on himself and it was a shortened and very brief version of the test.

Do you think the clues suggest that Deckard is an android or not? Are they a way to hide some over-arching secret that we have yet to discover, or are they meaningless?

Citation:

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. New York: Penguin Random House, 1968. ebook.

To Dream of Being Human

There was an interesting scene in chapter 5 that could discredit the Voigt-Kampff test. The Voigt-Kamff test was administered by police to detect whether someone was a human or an android by providing a series of situations or images to stimulate an empathetic response. Rick Deckard administered the Voigt-Kampff test to Rachael Rosen who was specifically selected by Eldon Rosen to be tested. The test had concluded that she lacked the necessary empathy that all humans should have. Rachael said, “You would have retired me” (Dick 52). Eldon explained to Rick that Rachael had grown up away from Earth aboard Salander 3 and did not have the same exposure to empathy that someone on Earth may have had. Eldon set this up to prove that not every human passes the Voigt-Kamff test. Though Eldon does later admits that Rachael is really an android.

 

Is it ethical to continue using Voigt-Kamff test? What are some potential benefits and/or consequences of using the Voigt-Kamff test?

True Human Emotion

Human emotions are created by chemicals in the brain, these chemicals release different amounts to produce certain emotions. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, within the first few pages we are introduced to this concept of the human emotions being regulated by what they call a “Mood Organ”. These devices allow them to enter in a particular number or code and produce that kind of emotion. On the first page in a conversation between characters it is said “If you set the surge high enough, you’ll be glad you’re awake,” (Dick 3). While this concept seems cool and like it would make waking up was easier, I feel as though this is not natural. They are setting their bodies like clocks to produce a certain thing at a certain time so they don’t have to deal with being tired? I feel as though this dehumanizes their emotions as they are already preset to be felt. How would you feel having the mood organ present in everyday life with all emotions already predetermined for you?

 

Citation:

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. New York: Penguin Random House, 1968. Print.

The Hardest Choices Require The Strongest Wills

A machine of sorts, called the black empathy box, immerses its users in a new setting where they are all physically and mentally unified into one being, “You felt it, too, he thought. Yes, the voices answered.” (Dick 22-23). Through a “special”, named Isidore, we experience this. Of course Isidore also experiences everyone, just as everyone experiences Isidore. “He experienced them, the others” (Dick 22). In this new place Isidore, now living through a mythical man named Wilbur Mercer, must climb a seemingly endless hill. However, that impossible task alone, is not enough. There are also antagonists wishing to make his infinite journey that much worse. They pelt him with rocks, and one connects with his arm. This pain is felt by all connected to the black empathy box, and not only is it felt there, but it is there waiting for them when they return to the real world.

My question is, could something like this black empathy box teach empathy? If so, is it ethical? In the pursuit of empathy, is it morally okay to put everyone through pain?

Dial 3: The desire to dial

One of the most interesting sections in the first few chapters of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? begins on page one, where the reader is first introduced to a device known as the Penfield mood organ. The mood organ gives users the ability to preprogram their emotions. The main character, Rick, uses his mood organ to help him wake up content in the morning and perform in a professional manner at work. Rick’s wife, Iran, also has a mood organ but she uses her organ in a much different way. Iran sets her moods organ to allow her to feel despair. Iran believes that feeling hopeless, even if it’s only twice a month, is reasonable since she still witnesses the things that would have made her sad but the emotion is blocked by the mood organ (Dick 5). Rick on the other hand, disagrees and tells her to change her setting for the day.

Iran brings up a good question about the use of the Penfield mood organ. If we had the ability to control or change our moods with an external force, should we? How does the ability to use the mood organ relate to the use of antidepressants?

Mors Certa, Vita Incerta

A troubling scene in the second chapter of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, features newly introduced character John Isidore watching a live television broadcast from Mars. On the broadcast a women is being interviewed and asked if she likes New New York, Mars and her response was that she felt a sense of dignity, from owning humanoid androids that she can depend on to serve her (Dick 16-17). In this same interview, she is asked if she was ever worried about being deemed as “special” meaning unintelligent and unable to leave the deteriorating earth. this in turn elicits a livid response from Isidore, because he was deemed special leaving him trapped on the earth, alone, and unable to get a well paying job. This part of who Isadore is impacts him so deeply that he continuously throughout the rest of the chapters calls himself a chickenhead.

 

Question

How should intelligence be measured- through the use of standardized testing, critical thinking in scenario based procedures, through determination to succeed, or through something else entirely?