Tag: cyborgology

What Makes Us Human?

The Creation of Adam C. 1512 by Michelangelo

 

What makes us human can be seen without argument on the surface. We are bi-pedal, omnivores with opposable thumbs and a tuft of hair at the top of our head and no tail on our bottoms. A key debate item on what makes us human is our ability to emphasize with others, human and animal alike. Empathy has been seen in other mammals outside of humans including dogs, elephants, and chimpanzees. Animals have the ability to demonstrate the aptitude to “feel into” others to understand how they are and do something to help out. If this is so widely seen in mammals then this is not a human trait. Examples of humans making the wrong choice is clearly illustrated in Philip K. Dicks novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Halfway through the novel the main protagonist Rick Deckard is assigned to kill an android that is a public star on Earth and performs opera. Deckard himself enjoys her singing and enjoys opera and is almost convinced she is human. This does not stop him from “retiring” her (Dick). Only at this scene do we begin to see Deckard start to show empathy towards androids. Explained by James Harris at Johns Hopkins University, empathy is “an evolutionary mechanism to maintain social cohesion… you’re more sensitive to the pain of other members in a group” (Viegas, 2014). Deckard is unable to emphasize with the androids for so long because he thinks of his job as a “Us versus Them” complex. The determining factors on what separates human beings from chimpanzee’s, dogs, and elephants is our ability to think of not only the future but alternative ones. From this we are able to make deliberate choices.

A study done in 2010 at University of Michigan tested college age students’ ability to emphasize with each other. Through the use of a survey that asked questions like “I don’t feel sorry for other people when they are having problems” or “when I see someone being taken advantage of, I feel kind of protective towards them” to then gauge their reaction. Reactions were based on a sliding scale if the question described the student well or not at all. After completing this survey Michigan State found that college students are forty percent less empathetic then those who graduated two to three decades ago (Grasgreen, 2010). If as a generation we are becoming less empathetic and finding empathy as a less desirable trait, then we cannot claim that empathy is what makes us human. This is seen again in the novel, where the more empathetic character is John Isadore, who is claimed to be a chickenhead and special. Isadore is a chiceknhead because of his inability to pass an IQ test, and special from the radioactive dust that has made him unable to reproduce. If he is seen in the caste system as an untouchable, then his ability to feel empathy and emphasize easily is also undesirable. Isadore’s own boss mocks him when he mistakes an organic cat with an electrical one and becomes disheartened by its death.

Another prime example of empathy not belonging only to humans is in the overall themes seen in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. While this book was published in the late sixties and highlighted issues seen during the cold war like sexism and the civil rights movement it also still holds truth to the present. The unsympathetic treatment of women and people of color in the sixties can be seen today through the #MeToo movement and the Black Lives Matter protests. In this novel, the major ideal and factor that helps to tell humans and androids apart is the ability to display empathy. There is a literal religion in the book based on empathy called Mercerism (read as Marxism) that revolves around the idea of an “Empathy Box”. The box takes the human characters to a scenario that is best described as multiplayer virtual reality and allows them to think and feel in a sort of hive mind state (Dick).

Yet, one of the main characters of the book Rick Deckard is very unremorseful until the middle-ending chapters of the book. Rick’s job is a bounty hunter, who gets paid to kill androids that were slaves on mars and escaped to earth. He holds no remorse for killing the almost seamlessly human like androids and has a main goal of gaining enough money to buy a real animal (Dick). The androids in this book show much more empathy then Deckard is able to. One android, named Pris Stratton, is visibly upset and distraught after learning that her friends that are androids have been killed, (by Rick) and that the killer is after her next. Her empathy shown towards the remaining two androids is that of someone who is scared of her friends dying. They are all in a similar boat and does not want harm to befall her friends (Dick). Empathy cannot be considered a human trait when we are so hesitant to display acts of empathy, but robots are easily able to feel for others with no hesitation.

 

Empathetic Rats Spring each other from Jail 2011, Ed Young

 

Major contributions to taking apart the idea that empathy makes us human is that other animals show empathy. Asian elephants for example are able to tell when someone in their group is stressed and will use their trunk to caress the upset elephant. This can be akin to a person consoling a baby that is crying by caressing them (Suddendorf, 2013). This is also seen in mice. Mice will only console family friends when they are in pain but will not reach out to other mice. This can be seen in humans, because we are more likely to help people that are similar to us than people who do not look like us. This was also true for the androids from the novel. An entire group of escaped androids had built their own police station as a way to protect each other and seem inconspicuous to the human population around them. When found out by Deckard, they ushered him into a room alone and tried to find an easy way to kill him without attracting too much attention to their makeshift safehouse (Dick).   An assistant professor at Oregon Health & Science University who studied mice said that based off this finding “We believe there’s a genetic contribution to the ability for empathy” (Viegas, 2014).

A reason we may be less empathetic is from desensitization from twenty-four-hour news outlets, social media, and exposure to intense violence daily. A constant stream of violence and graphic images from the internet and the television can sometimes make it harder to emphasize with others. This is seen in Tim Recuber’s article “What Becomes of Empathy?” when he discusses the empathy gap. Seeing tragedies happen over seas in very different and distant places like Afghanistan and Iraq, it can be hard to feel anything but helpless. The empathy gap describes the feeling of maybe wanting to sympathize with the attacks in Iraq but not doing anything about it or to help. But when the Paris attacks and bombings happen, there is more of an outcry because that is a little less distant and different. Humans in general have a hard time feeling empathy for others especially when it crosses racial boundaries (Recuber, 2016).

Another reason it can be hard to emphasize with others is because of how divided we have become. In Donna Haraway’s “A Cyborg Manifesto” this is illustrated perfectly in a section named Fractured Identities. The paper talks consistently about feminism but can be applied to broader groups as well. In this article, Haraway explains how even in groups of marginalized individuals who should be able to “speak the same language” and relate to one another, that this is still not possible. While Feminism is predominantly made up of women, all of those women have a different experience with feminism (Haraway 295-300). A white woman upset at how her looks are ridiculed in her workplace is not able to relate to a black woman who is unable to get past the interview stage because she doesn’t fit into European beauty standards. There is no one person who is just a feminist, because they fit into other categories and go by other labels as well. With different labels, different backgrounds and different experiences, it can become almost impossible to unionize with others.

 

 

Works Cited

Buonarroti, Michelangelo. The Creation of Adam. C. 1510, Sistine Chapel Ceiling.

Dick, Philip K. Blade Runner: (Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?).  Ballantine Books, 2007.

Grasgreen, Allie. “Empathizing 101.” Inside Higher Ed, 24 Nov. 2010.

Haraway, Donna. “A Cyborg Manifesto.” The Cybercultures Reader, by David Bell, Routledge, 2007, pp. 295–300.

Recuber, Tim. “What Becomes of Empathy.” Cyborgology, 20 July 2016.

Suddendorf, Thomas. “What Makes Us Human?” The Huffington Post, TheHuffingtonPost.com, 8 Feb. 2014, www.huffingtonpost.com/thomas-suddendorf/what-makes-us-human_b_4414357.html.

Young, Ed. Empathetic Rats Spring Each Other from Jail. 9 Dec. 2011.

Viegas, Jen. “Elephants Added to List of Animals That Show Empathy.” Seeker, Seeker, 18 Feb. 2014, 7:00 AM, www.seeker.com/elephants-added-to-list-of-animals-that-show-empathy-1768309442.html.

Connections

Teenage girl watches men’s soccer on television (pxhere.com).

In the second quarter of 2018, there were over 130 million Netflix subscribers across the globe (statista.com). From January first to October third of 2018, over 960 million tickets were sold in movie theaters in the United States (boxofficemojo.com). These numbers continue to rise every year. Now more than ever, people are watching films and television. Why? Everyone’s answer to that question may be different, but at the end of the day it boils down to one or two universal truths. We either watch because we care, or because “movies allow us to escape” (Why Do We Watch Movies?, Brett McCracken).

In Philip K. Dick’s science fiction novel, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, the Earth has been all but abandoned. An unlucky few, and those that were deemed unworthy, still remain. Hollywood and its equivalents no longer exist. Television and films, other than a propaganda fueled talk show by the name of Buster Friendly, are extinct. So in this dystopian future, when people are desperate to find something to care about, or desperate to escape their apocalyptic surroundings, where do they turn? The black empathy box and Mercerism.

This device, the black empathy box, is a machine that immerses you in another space, in another life. You are transported into another being, that of Wilbur Mercer, who, by my interpretation at least, is a Christ-like figure. Mercer is eternally climbing an infinite hill, while unseen villains hurl rocks in his direction. Should one of these rocks connect, all users who happen to be using the black empathy box at that given time, will feel its impact. Upon returning back to their normal lives, outside of the empathy box, the stone’s impact is still felt. There may be bruises, cuts and scrapes. Much like the matrix, from The Matrix, the empathy box makes things very real.

You may be asking yourself, why on Earth would anyone use this machine? Allow me to tell you. Not only are users connected with Wilbur Mercer, they are also all connected with each other. Everyone feels each other’s emotions, thoughts, and pain. Helping others is a core belief of Mercerism, and this can be accomplished through the use of the empathy box. A sad, suffering person can immerse themselves in this world, and instantly be met with thousands of different people experiencing happiness, and in turn these happy people will absorb some of the sadness from the other user. The same experience can be had with all emotions: anger and serenity, doubt and confidence, loathing and love. This is how the black empathy box earned its name. All of its users are able to care for and help one another by experiencing someone else’s life first hand.

Again, escaping your real world, and because you empathize with characters’ situations in film and television, are the main reasons we watch them. Down in the dumps? Watch a comedy to cheer yourself up, or maybe watch something sad in order to relate to someone else and help yourself understand and overcome your sadness. Angry and disappointed with the latest news story or political climate? Escape to the land of Lord of the Rings or Game of Thrones, or the vast, infinite space of Star Wars. Just got home from work? Slap on your favorite television series and see what the character you’ve been watching develop and sharing lives with for the past four years is up to.

Film and television, and all forms of storytelling for that matter, are truly amazing. We as audience members are so invested in, care so much for, and empathize with, people we’ve never met before. People that aren’t even real. Game of Thrones is a great example of this. Everyone that watches it has a favorite character, or a handful, let’s be honest, and the show doesn’t pull any punches. No characters are safe, especially once it gets around season finale territory. People all over the world cry and scream and ache when characters die in the show. The opposite also occurs. When nasty, evil characters get what’s coming to them, people around the globe rejoice and cheer. This is because we empathize with the characters in the show and we don’t want anything bad to happen to them, and vice versa, maybe deep down we want something bad to happen to the people that have wronged them.

Much like the black empathy box does for its users in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, film and television allow us to connect with other people and share their experiences and emotions. In an article by Léa Surugue entitled, “Reading books and watching films makes you kinder in real life”, she claims that “Identifying with fictional characters in books and films makes us more empathetic in real life”. The ability to empathize is one of the main characteristics of what makes us human. Understanding what other people go through and feeling for them and wanting to help is what brings us together.

In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, empathy is exactly how Rick Deckard, the protagonist, attempts to separate androids from humans. He does so by administering a verbal test and gauging the recipient’s answers. Androids, who are thought to be incapable of feeling empathy, are supposed to fail this test, while humans should pass it. That being said, Tim Recuber, in his article entitled “What Becomes of Empathy?”, shares a quote by philosopher Jesse Prinz, “empathy is partial; we feel greater empathy for those who are similar to ourselves”. The test isn’t perfect, and much like our empathy, according to Prinz at least, has many limitations.

Also according to Prinz, people are less likely to empathize with those that are different from them. However, to go back to Léa Surugue’s article, “fiction can even make you feel empathy for people who live very different lives than you”. She goes on to explain how readers were more empathetic towards women in Algeria after reading a fictional tale, rather than after reading a nonfiction essay. “fictional characters enable readers to imagine what it might be like to be in other people’s situations, even if they are from a different sex, ethnic origin or nationality.” This idea is further reinforced in McCracken’s article when he says, “Movies take us to places we’ve never been and inside the skin of people quite different from ourselves. They offer us a window onto the wider world, broadening our perspective and opening our eyes to new wonders.”

I am of the camp that believes film and television, along with other forms of storytelling like reading books or playing video games, can teach empathy. An article exists by the name of “Understanding the Common Lack of Empathy in Millennials”, and there are plenty of others like it. I personally don’t agree with what these articles claim, but I don’t really like generalizations in general, and yes, I do see the irony. Regardless of whether or not I believe it is happening, I will offer a solution, which I’m sure you can guess by now. Films and television. They are one of the closest ways we can currently get to metaphorically putting ourselves in someone else’s shoes.

In the future, to prevent a generation devoid of empathy entirely, we must never let the art of storytelling die. And in order to fix current generations that have “always been taught to put themselves first,” (Understanding the Common Lack of Empathy in Millennials) I would suggest watching and creating quality content. From the moment people are born, well into their twenties, people are very impressionable. In Rachel Nuwer’s article, “Teenage Brains Are Like Soft, Impressionable Play-Doh”, she claims that “young, impressionable brains are vulnerable, dynamic.”

Speaking from personal experience, I can greatly vouch for this. When I was nine or ten, YouTube had just started becoming a thing. I found a few creators I liked watching, and I watched them religiously for the next seven years. These people I had never met, who were all anywhere from five to fifteen years older than me, had impacted me greatly. I got to see them grow up and see what they went through, even they were older than me. It was like having a bunch of older brothers. These people’s jobs were essentially to share their lives with us on a weekly or even daily basis. I got very close and cared a great deal for these people that I had never met. Their lingo, vernacular, sense of humor, beliefs, all became a part of me, on top of everything my parents, my friends, and everyone else in my life did.

These adolescent years are extremely vital. Obviously everyone can change but this is when you really develop the first person you are going to be. Whether or not you will empathize with others will likely be decided here. I think it’s very important for people at this age to have access to characters or other real people they can empathize with.

Bibliography

“Number of Netflix Subscribers, Users 2018.” Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/250934/quarterly-number-of-netflix-streaming-subscribers-worldwide/.

“Yearly Box Office.” Box Office Mojo, www.boxofficemojo.com/yearly/?view2=domestic&view=releasedate&p=.htm.

Recuber, Tim. “What Becomes of Empathy?” Cyborgology, 26 July 2016, thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2016/07/20/what-becomes-of-empathy/.

Surugue, Léa. “Reading Books and Watching Films Makes You Kinder in Real Life.” International Business Times UK, Deep Silver, 19 July 2016, www.ibtimes.co.uk/reading-books-watching-films-makes-you-kinder-real-life-1571434.

McCracken, Brett. “Why Do We Watch Movies?” RELEVANT Magazine, 7 June 2017, www.relevantmagazine.com/culture/film/why-do-we-watch-movies.

Nuwer, Rachel. “Teenage Brains Are Like Soft, Impressionable Play-Doh.” Smithsonian.com, Smithsonian Institution, 18 Oct. 2012, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/teenage-brains-are-like-soft-impressionable-play-doh-78650963/.

“Understanding the Common Lack of Empathy in Millennials.” Open Forest, 23 Nov. 2016, www.openforest.net/understanding-common-lack-empathy-millennials/

A Little Empathy, A Lot of Change

Photo by Nick Youngston

Empathy is what makes us human, and it has an effect on self-esteem and social anxiety disorder

The ideal human being does not exist, but having self-esteem, social anxiety disorder, or both, may lead one to believe that they are worth less than another human, based on the impossible standards imposed by society. How does self-esteem and social anxiety disorder affect one’s ability to feel human, and have worth? Since the beginning of time, humans have had face-to-face, friendly, and sexual interactions with other human beings, so why are self-esteem and society anxiety disorder prevalent in our society? We can blame the idea of the ideal human being in our society, and the varying levels of empathy in each of our lives. By reading Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick, one can better understand the affect of these standards on a society. Dick creates the image of an artificial, post-apocalyptic world, which hosts a society with the standards of being physically and mentally abled. If a human being is not affected by the nuclear fallout, and abled, they have the chance to migrate to the new planet, Mars; because of these standards, different characters suffer from low self-esteem and social anxiety disorder symptoms, including androids. The ultimate question remains; is empathy what makes us human, based on the affects it has on our individual self-worth and our interactions? By looking at the science and meaning behind self-esteem and social anxiety disorder, we can use the characters Rick, Iran, and Rachael, and the main concept of the book, empathy, to answer this question.

What Is Self-Esteem?

To truly understand what self-esteem is, I visited the website verywellmind. This website over-flows with information in different areas of psychology. Within this website, self-esteem is characterized as developmental psychology. This website also covers topics of disorders, self-improvement, and advice. verywellmind is one of the few verywell sites, others being verywellhealth, verywellfit, and verywellfamily. On this website, I have gathered information from the article “What Exactly Is Self-Esteem” by Kendra Cherry, which explains the signs of low self-esteem. Cherry states the definition of self-esteem:

“In Psychology, the term self-esteem is used to describe a person’s overall sense of self-worth or personal value. In other words, how much you appreciate and like yourself.” 

She also goes on to say that self-esteem is “often seen as” a “stable and enduring” personality trait, which can “involve a variety of beliefs about yourself, such as the appraisal of your own appearance, beliefs, emotions, and behaviors.” (verywellmind) Being a human requires a level of self-esteem that enables the appreciation of human imperfection, not fitting any ideal body type. In this article, the signs of low self-esteem are provided:

  • Negative outlook
  • Lack of confidence
  • Inability to express your needs
  • Focus on your weakness
  • Feelings of shame, depression, or anxiety
  • Belief that others are better than you
  • Trouble accepting positive feedback
  • Fear of failure

Before looking into the symptoms of low self-esteem in each character, it is important to look deeper into social-anxiety disorder.

What is Social-anxiety disorder?

To define a much more complex topic, I chose to visit the National Institute of Mental Health’s website to provide information about social-anxiety disorder, and it’s affect on a human being. The NIMH defines social anxiety disorder as a “common type of anxiety disorder.”

“Social anxiety disorder (also called social phobia) is a mental health condition. It is an intense, persistent fear of being watched and judged by others. This fear can affect work, school, and your other day-to-day activities. It can even make it hard to make and keep friends.”

Being a human also requires little to no symptoms of social-anxiety disorder, because of the affects it has on the life of those who have it. In this article, the signs of social-anxiety disorder are provided:

  • Blush, sweat, tremble, feel a rapid heart rate, or feel their “mind going blank”
  • Feel nauseous or sick to their stomach
  • Show a rigid body posture, make little eye contact, or speak with an overly soft voice
  • Find it scary and difficult to be with other people, especially those they don’t already know, and have a hard time talking to them even though they wish they could
  • Be very self-conscious in front of other people and feel embarrassed and awkward 
  • Be very afraid that other people will judge them
  • Stay away from places where there are other people

Low Self-Esteem and Social Anxiety Disorder Depicted

We can look at the signs and symptoms of social anxiety disorder in Rick and Iran, and Rachael, and demonstrate how that has an affect on each character and their feeling of being human.

In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Rick Deckard is a bounty-hunter who stayed on earth after the nuclear fallout. Throughout the book, he displays senses of unhappiness and depression, a product of his low self-esteem. Rick demonstrates the feelings of depression in a conversation with his wife, Iran, telling her that he got the goat because he’s never been so depressed, that he has reached the point of empathizing with androids (Dick 160-161). He blames it on depression, and explains that:

“when you get that depressed you don’t care. Apathy, because you’ve lost a sense of worth. It doesn’t matter whether you feel better because if you have no worth -” (Dick 161).

Along with his symptoms of low self-esteem, Rick demonstrates symptoms of social anxiety disorder. After buying his black, Nubian goat, Rick “found himself shaking” (Dick 156) and “his hands numb”(Dick 156). I believe that Rick felt this way, because he was so excited, but the goat is so fragile that he is nervous about any interaction with it, for it is a great investment.

Iran demonstrates the low self-esteem feelings of depression. One of her most relevant expressions of her depression is when she says ,”My schedule for today lists a six-hour self-accusatory depression.”(Dick 4). More concerning, she has a negative outlook on life when she states on a phone call to Rick,

“I’m so tired and I just have no hope left, of anything. Of our marriage and you possibly getting killed by one of those andys.” (Dick 87).

Another example of a negative outlook presented by Iran is when Rick bought the two of them a goat. At first Iran responded negatively, saying,

“You shouldn’t have gotten it without me,” Iran gasped. “I have a right to participate in the decision, the most important acquisition we’ll ever -” (Dick 157).

After Rick presents the goat as a surprise to her, Rick and Iran are temporarily cured of depression, being that their status has risen because of the purchase of the animal (Dick 158). The experience of having the goat, something to care for and be empathetic to seems surreal to them (Dick 159).

Rachael Rosen is a female that Rick encounters in the book. Although she is an android, she shows symptoms of low self-esteem. After sleeping with Rick, she thought that he would leave Iran for her, which does not happen. She figures that if he slept with her, he does not love Iran very much, but his new animal, his black, Nubian goat. As an act of jealousy of Ricks love for the goat, and his marriage with Iran, Rachael kills the goat and Iran sees it take place. Although Iran is clueless, Rick believes that “she had what seemed to her a reason.” (Dick 209); revenge.

Rick and Iran demonstrate symptoms of low self-esteem mentally, while Rachael demonstrates her low self-esteem verbally and physically with Rick, and what he loves the most. The absence of empathy, but the presence of emotion in Rachael’s response to Rick made her low self-esteem symptoms stand out from Iran’s low self-esteem symptoms, and Ricks social anxiety symptoms.

How does self-esteem and social anxiety disorder relate to empathy?

In order to discover the relation of self-esteem and social anxiety disorder with empathy, we must look at study that directly correlates them. In April of 2018, a study was published to NCBI, titled, “Burnout in Health Professionals According to Their Self-Esteem, Social Support, and Empathy Profile”. This study focuses on burnout, “a psychological and emotional affection associated with work which generates high distress and absenteeism in individuals” (NCBI), in health professionals. Health professionals were divided into four clusters, and measured by low, medium, and high self-esteem, “cognitive/affective empathy and perceived social support” (NCBI). Cluster 1 “characterized by 100% medium self-esteem and means slightly above those for the total sample in the empathy and social support variables” (NCBI), Cluster 2 characterized by high self-esteem or 100% self-esteem, “with scores on the cognitive empathy and social support variables above the mean for the total sample, and similar scores on affective empathy”(NCBI), and Clusters 3 and 4, containing professionals characterized by low self-esteem, produced scores different than the other two clusters, Cluster 4 scoring the lowest.

In the conclusion of this study, Cluster 1 scored the highest in empathy, Cluster 2 scored the highest in social support, and Cluster 3 “scored above the mean in affective empathy”(NCBI). Whereas empathy makes a difference in the study, self-esteem “is shown to be one of the explanatory variables making the main differences among” the clusters (NCBI).

A Post-Apocalyptic Solution

Although burnout, self-esteem, and social anxiety disorder differ in meaning and symptoms, in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, dialing into the Penfield mood organ can temporarily mask the symptoms of each. The mood organ created by Dick, is used to set a specific, programmed mood on demand. Although this seems like a great solution to feeling symptoms of low self-esteem and social anxiety disorder, Iran presents us with an interesting idea. Dialing into the mood organ is unhealthy because the user is generally “sensing the absence of life”(Dick 5). One could compare the mood organ to modern medicine. Taking a dose of a medication only takes a symptom away temporarily, similar to that of the Penfield mood organ.

An Earthly Solution

Unlike the apocalyptic world created by Dick,  there is no Penfield mood organ, although our medication does the same temporary job. After researching mental health, the question “Can people recover from mental illness?” and “Is there a cure?” are common, but the same answers remain. Answers such as, suggesting medication, diet changes, exercise and sleep. There is no, one cure for mental disorders or any other symptoms affecting mental health. There are various types of treatment for mental health disorders and symptoms, although some seem less frightening and invasive, than others, including psychotherapy, support groups, self help plans, and peer support. It is important to note that these treatments are built for those who have been diagnosed with a mental health disorder by a licensed physician, but they remain effective for humans with symptoms of each.

I suffer with majority of the symptoms of low self-esteem and social anxiety disorder. Although I have not been diagnosed, I find peer support and a self help plan the most helpful. My self help plan includes three steps to a better, and more effective day. 1) A routine of self-love, 2) Youtube inspiration and 3) Mirror practice routine. My routine of self-love includes waking up at 5 AM every morning, and having an hour of me-time each day. Me-time includes stretching, having a glass of water, and Pinterest browsing for different lifestyle inspiration, such as minimalism, and eco-friendly living. After me-time, I watch a few ASMR, or relaxation videos to clear my mind of any stress or worry, and then I meditate. Lastly, immediately after meditating, I pick any mirror in my home, and I stand in front of it, staring at myself for roughly five-to-ten minutes. I practice any conversations I may have that day, whether for a leadership event, or presentation for a class. This makes me feel more comfortable with my words, and the “vibe” I will give-off when speaking.

Why Does Empathy Make Us Human?

Looking back at the effects of empathy on self-esteem and social anxiety disorder, and the examples presented by each character in the book, it can be concluded that the main reason for their low self-esteem and social anxiety is the lack of empathy on earth, after the nuclear fallout.

Rick faces a lack of empathy because of his job; almost every character looks down upon his job, for his killing of androids for money. Iran faces a lack of empathy from Rick because she shows a face of depression, for almost the entire book. Rick cannot empathize with her, until he feels the depression that leads him to buy his goat. Rachael, on the other hand, is not empathized with because she is an android, and she has manipulated other bounty hunters into not retiring any more androids. (Dick 185) Rick soon regrets not killing Rachael after she kills his goat. In a conversation with Rick, Inspector Garland states that androids lack a “specific talent” that humans possess. He believes that “it’s called empathy.”(Dick 114).

In our world, empathy is something that varies from household-to-household, which creates instability within our society. Although it was depicted in the book by Dick, husbands are fighters and war-machines, wives are depressed and worriers, and mistresses are jealous and revengeful. I have taken into consideration two other articles “Empathizing 101” by Allie Grasgreen and “What Becomes of Empathy” by Tim Recuber. Recuber  in supporting my solution to lessening low self-esteem and social anxiety.  Recuber provides great points for a solution to unstable levels of empathy, by saying that he believes that “empathy is a virtue”(Recuber), and that “we need to keep working on ways to transform our empathy into action now, and in the months and years to come.”(Recuber). Along with this proposal for action, Grasgreen supports this by saying “empathy is so strongly believed to be a promoter of civility and understanding.” (Grasgreen). I believe that if we all learn to be more empathetic of those who do not fit within the ideal standards of society, low self-esteem and social anxiety disorder with not be so prevalent in our society. A little empathy, can bring a lot of change in society.

Photo uploaded to pixabay

 

 

Works Cited:

“Mental Health Treatments” Mental Health America,  http://www.mentalhealthamerica.net/types-mental-health-treatments

“Social Anxiety Disorder: More Than Just Shyness” NIH, https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/social-anxiety-disorder-more-than-just-shyness/index.shtml

Jurado, Maria del Mar Molero, et al.“Burnout in Health Professionals According to Their Self-Esteem, Social Support and Empathy Profile.” frontiers in Psychology, vol. 9, no. 1, Apr. 2018. US National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00424.

Dick, Philip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Del Ray, an Imprint of Random House, a Division of Penguin Random House, 2017.

Recuber, Tim. “What Becomes of Empathy?” Cyborgology , 26 July 2016, thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2016/07/20/what-becomes-of-empathy/.

Grasgreen, Allie. “Empathizing 101” Inside Higher Ed, 24 November, 2010, https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/11/24/empathizing-101

Cherry, Kendra. “What Exactly Is Self-Esteem?” verywellmind, 20 September, 2018, https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-self-esteem-2795868

“People Man Woman Holding” pixabay, pixabay, 31 July. 2018, https://pixabay.com/en/people-man-woman-holding-hands-2561053/

Youngston, Nick. “Self Esteem” PicPedia.Org, PicPedia.Org, http://www.picpedia.org/highway-signs/s/self-esteem.html

Could Empathy Be What Makes Us Human?

Have you ever wondered what it is that makes us human? What makes us different from androids? How do we know that we aren’t all living in virtual reality? These may be a few questions you may be asking yourself when you watch sci-fi movies or read sci-fi novels. Much of this futuristic material focuses on what makes humans different from machines. Some novels or movies focus on our views of reality. The novel “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” explains that empathy is essential to every human and depicts the fallout of what happens when humans lack empathy toward one another. Empathy is needed by every human and is what separates us from machines. Empathy is by definition “the ability to understand and share the feelings of another” (English Oxford Living Dictionaries). Empathy is the very emotion that is keeping us from blowing everything to smithereens.

Empathy is one of the things that makes us human. Everyone is capable of experiencing empathy. The article “Empathizing 101” argues that college students have a lack of empathy. The author, Allie Grasgreen, claims that “college students today are 40 percent less empathetic than those who graduated two or three decades ago”. She is arguing that college students are continuing to become less and less empathetic. I disagree with her. I feel that college students are becoming more and more empathetic. There are college students performing small acts of empathy every day. I see them open doors for people and putting others needs before their own. So, if anything there is an increased amount of empathy within college students. Grasgreen gives us a quote that explains “the key to developing empathy, she says, is for people to witness others engaging in empathetic behavior”. Grasgreen is telling us that empathy cannot just merely be taught, but it needs to be experienced in order for people to gain empathy. I feel that empathy can be taught if someone wants to learn empathy. It is a choice to have empathy. Either you have empathy, or you do not. Empathy can be taught to anyone willing to learn.

Empathy plays a major role in the theme for “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep”. We are constantly seeing how empathy or lack thereof has had made a huge impact on this futuristic world. The story is set in a world that is struggling to recover its empathy. Most people only take care of live animals to gain a high status instead of truly wanting take of them out of the goodness of their heart. There are mercer boxes that are helping people to regain the empathy that they once had. Androids are being asked questions to determine whether if they are human or not. The police who are asking these questions to solicit an empathic response and kill on sight if they do not receive an empathetic response. These police officers are called bounty hunters and we could argue that they lack empathy themselves. Who could kill without any kind of or empathy? We could argue that empathy could be what separates us from androids. Empathy could be what makes us human.

The article “Reading books and watching films makes you kinder in real life” talks about how people are able to sympathize with the emotions of characters within books and movies. The article also talks about how fiction is able to spark our imaginations during empathetic situations. Many works of fiction mention the fallout of what happens when we lack empathy toward one another. We are able to better empathize with other people by viewing or reading works of fictions. This is an interesting concept considering that “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” is a book with a film called “Blade Runner” that is based on it. Both the book and the film focus on empathy as their overall theme. These two works of fiction of great examples of film and literature that instill the idea of empathy into our imaginations. Fiction is an important tool to use to help reinforce the idea of sympathy into people.

Empathy is what makes us all human. It can be learned and taught to others. We can reinforce the idea of empathy through the use of images and situations. Empathy the very emotion that is keeping us from blowing each to smithereens. When we lack empathy there is a fallout that follows that devastates everything in its path. Empathy is what separates humans from androids. We can have a better society if we just show how much we care for one another. We show that we are human by showing how much we care. Fiction is a great tool to use to reinforce the idea of sympathy. What we feel and how we act toward each other is what defines us as humans. If we have empathy, then we treat each other with kindness and respect and if we lack empathy then we treat each other with disdain and end up destroying each other. Since empathy is what makes us human then it would be good for our society to inspire empathy within others.

Work Cited:

Grasgreen, Allie. “Empathizing 101.” Inside Higher Ed, Inside Higher Ed, 24 Nov. 2010,   www.insidehighered.com/news/2010/11/24/empathizing-101.

Surugue, Léa. “Reading Books and Watching Films Makes You Kinder in Real Life.” Via.hypothes.is, CNBC, 19 July 2016, via.hypothes.is/https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/reading-books-watching-films-makes-you-kinder-real-life-1571434#annotations:_MOsQlpyEeaiesf9ed4wVw.

“Empathy | Definition of Empathy in English by Oxford Dictionaries.” Oxford Dictionaries | English, Oxford Dictionaries, en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/empathy.

Roberson, Chris, et al. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Boom! Studios, 2011.

The Nuclear Family in the Post-Atomic Age

(Source: tumblr) Bob Montana via: http://riverdalegirlsrule.tumblr.com/post/42342896444

In the west there is a concrete idea of the Nuclear Family. The mother is the homemaker, and the father pays the bills. The woman minds the children, does laundry, cooks, cleans, and keeps everyone’s schedules. The man goes to work in an office. In a relationship, it is expected that both partners put equal work towards a common goal. So why is there a profound lack of empathy towards the struggles of women in the household? Why do we base our level of empathy towards women on their ability to perform duties that align with traditional gender roles? With the rise of the information age, the outdated midcentury ideals of the nuclear family have rapidly changed, but our level of empathy is still based on the traits we once sought in women that would denote them as “a proper wife”. When comparing our modern world to the fictional future society presented in the 1968 novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick, we can identify the social expectation of women at the time, and in turn relate that mindset to our current level of empathy towards seemingly liminal women. Two major factors have shaped our view of the value of the woman in the household; heterosexuality and patriarchal standards.

In America, historically, the idea of the idyllic family life with a mother and a father has been the accepted “normal”. The 1950’s standard is still locked at the core of many people’s idea of family life. This isn’t necessarily the reality. There have been several instances where the vast majority of the country did not have these standard heterogeneous relationships. In the late 1800’s the prevalence of romanticism, and marrying for love, not status was prevalent, causing divorce rates to “triple between 1860 and 1910”. Women leaving their partners for seemingly frivolous love interests were deemed treacherous, and not loyal to the family unit, and thus were demonized. The marriage rate eventually leveled in the 1920’s and throughout the Great Depression, as divorce was a very expensive process for those who were already struggling to scrape by on meager salaries. Though they were not officially divorced “as many as 2 million partners lived apart” by 1940. In Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep, the main character, Rick Deckard and his wife Iran can be seen almost mimicking this structure. Iran is resentful towards her husband, calling him a “murderer hired by the cops”, and her demeanor can be further interpreted to denote that though they live together, Iran doesn’t truly love Deckard and stays because she cannot afford to leave (Dick 1) Towards the end of the Great Depression’s, the archetype of the single, independent mother began to emerge. She not only ran the household, but also went to work in order to combat the depression. This was in turn seen by some as a betrayal and abandonment of children within the context of fundamental patriarchal family structures.

Following the chaos of the Second World War, Americans began to settle into the ideal family grouping we model our own familial structures on today. The national birthrate in the 1950’s doubled, and women settled into the role of homemaker for husbands who had survived the war. Women married young, and were expected to rear children, as children were seen as “emotional assets”, not an avenue of economic gain as in the depression era. This emphasis on the emotional importance of children is echoed in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. In this post war society, those who are deemed the most valuable are those who can sustain life. People who live in the terrestrial wasteland previously called earth walk around with lead codpieces to protect their reproductive organs from the effects of nuclear fallout, as the ability to create life is held sacred in a toxic world devoid of it (Dick 19). Additionally, those who cannot procreate either because their genes have mutated to render them infertile, or because they are androids are classed as subhuman.

Dick’s novel also metaphorically discusses some then radical inventions that were prevalent during the time in which it was written. In the 1960’s, Americans were faced with the moral dilemma surrounding birth control. With the invention of the prophylactic birth control pill, women reached a new level of sexual autonomy. With this, there was both a rise in second-wave feminism, and socialist ideology. This rise in socialist-feminism sympathy, and new sexual freedom threatened the patriarchal ideals that governed our country from its conception, causing a backlash against these liberated women, and a call to return to fundamental familial ideals. Philip K. Dick personifies the sexually liberated woman of the 1960’s and 1970’s in the android Rachael. During a sexual encounter with the protagonist of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, she mentions her inability to procreate. Androids like her are unable to proliferate their own race, and within both the Post- World War Terminus society and the political climate of the 1960’s, this infertility is condemned (Dick 177).

This idea that women want to overthrow the proverbial patriarchal figurehead to instate a matriarchal society via Marxist-Feminist revolution is absurd. Marxist-feminists’, and socialist-feminists’ modus operandi was simply “to expand the category of labour to accommodate what (some) women did, even when the wage relation was subordinated to a more comprehensive view of labour under capitalist patriarchy”. Due to the value that has been placed on the reproductive ability of women in the context of the nuclear family by an older generation that still holds socio-political power, women who cannot reproduce, choose not to, or are in homosexual relationships are considered still considered liminal.

Relationships in which the pairings can naturally produce offspring are inherently considered less liminal, however the same cannot be said with homosexual couples. This begs to question the nature of our empathy level towards heterosexual couples versus homosexual couples. A woman that cannot conceive naturally on her own is not considered inherently wrong, but a woman who choses not to have a child with her male partner is ostracized. Lesbian mothers also struggle with a societal lack of empathy. Many consider them unable to rear a male child that will be masculine enough, whereas female children raised by lesbians are often thought to be “too feminine”, or grow up with disdain towards men. Likewise, this problem is presented in Dick’s novel via the character Rachael as she is unable to reproduce and is classed as subhuman, despite possessing a range of emotions, sexuality, and memories (Dick, 177). Much like how the denizens of Dick’s Post World War Terminus society use infertility to condemn androids, the myths that run rampant in our society regarding same-sex parents are erroneous arguments that are presented in opposition to marriage equality.

With the trials and tribulations coinciding with the fight for marriage equality, we have seen the idea of the monogamous heterosexual couple shift. Coinciding with the rise of Transgender visibility, and the rise in publicity of the LGBT community, the modern heterosexual couple can be defined in a plethora of new ways. For example, couple consisting of a transgender man and transgender woman has the ability to naturally sexually reproduce. Though these occurrences are rare, they do happen and call into question our 21st century notion of heterosexuality within the context of the traditional nuclear family. Additionally, a bisexual male and bisexual female have the ability to naturally reproduce, and on the outside can seem like a “heterosexual” couple, though term cannot be conflated with their sexual identities. If our definition of a heterosexual relationship can be so fluid, this same logic should be applicable to the future. It is not the case in Dick’s novel. Because it was written in the mid 20th century, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep does not echo the 21st century realizations about the nature of heterosexuality and the modern family structure.

Liminal women are often seen as unworthy of empathy. It is traditionally expected that a woman will do all housework with no complaint. If she is unable to perform those duties, or fails to rear children in a traditional way, she is condemned. Iran proves this in Do Android’s Dream of Electric Sheep when she fails to have a desire to use the Mood Organ. Her husband, Rick, nearly forces her to alter her mood in order to be happy, as not to upset him prior to him leaving for work (Dick 7). Similarly, women are considered unfit if they operate without the presence of a dominant male that represents the overarching power of Patriarchy in western society. Rick is the example of this patriarchal overreach as he literally “dialed 594; pleased acknowledgment of husband’s superior wisdom in all matters” for his wife (Dick 7). With or without her consent, this scene in Dick’s novel is a troubling reminder of how women have been regarded in our past. Single women are still looked down upon, and not empathized with because of the sentiments Americans have towards both divorce, and living outside the control of a patriarch – that it is wrong, and women should be loyal to their male counterparts no matter what; an archaic ideology that traces its roots back to before the Civil War. Conversely, women who cannot conceive naturally within the context of a monogamous relationship in our 21st century society are pitied. There is an implicit importance put on the ability to carry a child, and women who are actively trying to conceive, but cannot are placed above women who rely on birth control in order to stay childless.

Following the pivotal ideological revolution of the 1960’s wherein women began to have the chance to be considered autonomous sexual entities like the android Rachael rather than objectified receptacles of genetic material, the patriarchal nature of our society was finally being contested. More opportunities for women were presented in terms of profession, and higher education thanks to the rise of socialist-feminism. Those who profited from the nature of the nuclear family in which the woman, along with working, also provided the majority of emotional work and support in the relationship began to lash out in the form of decreased empathy. This is an irregularity in our accepted empathetic mindset. Generally “empathy is partial; we feel greater empathy for those who are similar to ourselves”. One would think that as women rose in the workplace, and began to have the same experiences at the men they worked alongside, there would be a higher level of empathy, but this is not the case.

So why is there such an irregularity in our general acceptance of the new nuclear family and the political nature of marriage equality? Simply put, the generational gap has weakened our sense of nationalist identity. Like in Dick’s novel, there is a central event that changes our viewpoint on women that determines the level of empathy felt towards them. In Rick Deckard’s reality it is World War Terminus, in our reality it is the Cold War. The millennial generation has been raised to be more open regarding their sexuality, and many have been raised in single-family homes. They recognize the post-modern woman as a liberated entity, who is able to make their own decisions, just as a man would. This archetype taught to modern young girls by women who were raised in the midst of the ideological revolution, and seek to pass on those ideals to their offspring.

Conversely, the politicians who currently hold office are from the Baby-Boomer generation. They were raised in a socio-political climate in which their mothers didn’t work, and divorce was seemingly taboo. The lawmakers who run our country are passing legislation to counter progressive movements, in an attempt to return to their “comfort zone”, in which a monogamous heterosexual couple is the perceived social norm. There is a lack of empathy towards women who do not fall into that category of submissive, family oriented vocation because the men in power cannot empathize with the modern woman. It is so divorced from their idea of the societal norm that it is hard for them to fathom. It is the same reason why Rick cannot accept that he is sexually attracted to a feminine looking android, as it is technically a subhuman “thing” in his mind (Dick 132). Simply put, those who control our religious, and socio-political regimes are those who profit largely from the archetypal Post- War woman, but not this new archetype of the Post-Modern woman.

The empathetic deficit is a massive void that contributes to the chaos of American society today. The older generation clings to power in our government in order to hold on to the ideals of their childhood, whereas the younger generation is calling for a complete shift. In order to survive in the 21st century, we must consider the following blockades against our empathetic freedom. Firstly, until the generational shift is more prominent, and those who remember the traditional “nuclear family” of the 1950’s are replaced, there is little legislatively that can be changed. Post-Modern ideology must replace an antiquated set of ideals in order to evolve in the information age. Secondly, with post-modernism thought becoming the new normal, we must instate new and inclusive societal markers that denote our level of empathy for the human race. Because we are so connected through social media, and the 24/7 news cycle, we as humans must identify and thus empathize with the fact that we all share the same struggle; the human instinct to belong to a group. Unlike the denizens of Philip K. Dick’s post-apocalyptic world, our group can no longer be chained to nationalist ties of geographic, racial, or socio-political ideology, but empathy must be understood and practiced homogenously across the globe.

 

 

Works Cited:

Dick, Philip K., and Philip K. Dick. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?Del Ray, an Imprint of Random House, a Division of Penguin Random House, 2017.

Haberkorn, Jennifer. “The Baby Boom in Congress.” POLITICO, POLITICO, 1 May 2018, www.politico.com/magazine/story/2018/05/01/congress-tammy-duckworth-women-give-birth-in-office-history-218113.

Haraway, Donna. A Cyborg Manifesto. Georgetown University, 1984, faculty.georgetown.edu/irvinem/theory/Haraway-CyborgManifesto-1.pdf.

Hssung, Tricia. “The Evolution of American Family Structure.” Concordia University, St. Paul Online, 23 June 2015, online.csp.edu/blog/family-science/the-evolution-of-american-family-structure.

Katz, Jonathan. The Invention of Heterosexuality. University of Chicago Press, 2007.

Nussbaum, Matthew. “Brett Kavanaugh: Who Is He? Bio, Facts, Background and Political Views.” POLITICO, POLITICO, 9 July 2018, www.politico.com/story/2018/07/09/brett-kavanaugh-who-is-he-bio-facts-background-and-political-views-703346.

Recuber, Tim. “What Becomes of Empathy?” Cyborgology , 26 July 2016, thesocietypages.org/cyborgology/2016/07/20/what-becomes-of-empathy/.

 

Video Games are Real

Similarly, to the debate on Religion in the 21st century, science has challenged much of what humanity has believed for centuries. Even if there is no God, and we truly did form from stars in the galaxy, the belief in God gave people a certain layer of security, and it allowed them to put the world in a perspective they could understand. Does it matter that God isn’t real? Does it matter if Christianity, Judaism, Islam, or Hinduism are real? Does it matter if Mercerism is real? Does it matter if the empathy box is real? Does it matter if video games are real? As games become more and more immersive, they do start to blur the lines between reality. With Rockstar Games massive wild west simulator, Red Dead Redemption 2, hitting shelves this fall, users can become an outlaw in America’s most dangerous and lawless era. They are free to interact with the world how they want, causing chaos, or becoming an outlaw hero. CD Projekt Red’s massive sci-fi adventure game, Cyberpunk 2077, users will be able to fully develop a character within a world very similar to that of Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?

Courtesy of Rockstar Games and WikiMedia Commons
Courtesy of CD Projekt Red and BagoGames on Flickr.com

 

 

 

 

Philip K. Dick’s sci fi novel has a lot to say about society, and a lot of it he had almost predicted in 1967 when the first copy of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? hit the shelves. He had almost predicted a world where people would turn to digitalization and the simulation of worlds, as an outlet for the increasingly dismal real world. His empathy boxes are very similar to the modern video games and VR consoles. His emphasis on a fake world generated for the sole purpose of meeting a human’s basic psychological needs, is very similar to the worlds and images generated by modern day video games. The faith the people put into Wilbur Mercer, their empathy “God”, gets turned upside down when it is discovered that he isn’t real. Or does it? With worlds stretching as far back as the wild west in Red Dead Redemption 2 to the far future in Cyberpunk 2077, where people are able to escape reality, and live a life that, as unreal as it may be, is real enough for them to live happy and long.

In Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? an ever-present theme of real vs. unreal exists. With the Rosen Corporation introducing the Nexus-6’s, and society using empathy boxes as a source of emotional and divine guidance, people are constantly at the mercy of what is real, and what is unreal. This is something that can be seen happening rapidly in today’s society with the advancement of digital worlds becoming so realistic and immersive through the platform of video games. Using the parallels in Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? we can see how humanity is not far behind, in our own perception of real vs. unreal.

Video games are not a recent concept. They have been around since the 1970’s with Pong hitting the markets. Today the industry has a net market worth of 82.44 billion dollars, and is expected to be over 90 billion dollars by 2020 (www.wepc.com). The industry has taken the world by storm. But what is our fascination with games? Why are people of all ages, genders, and ethnicities playing games? What is their mass appeal? Its merely an evolution for our need to tell stories and grow as humans.

Humanity has been telling stories for as long as we’ve been around, hence our understanding of history. There were cave drawings before there were spoken words. Humans are innate storytellers, and it’s the same reason for the explosion of visual media in the 20th century. Stories are ways for humanity to pass what each generation has learned from one to another. This, especially includes empathy. An ibtimes.com article titled “Reading books and watching films makes you kinder in real life” written by Lea Surugue suggest that “because readers identify and sympathise with the emotions and ideas of the characters, a skill which they can reproduce in real life” (ibtimes.com). She states that fiction is just a simulation of the real world, and this prompts empathy and understanding in the reader (ibtimes.com). An insidehighered.com article by Allie Grasgreen reviews the results of a University of Michigan test that states this current generation is lacking empathy, stating college students are “40 percent less empathetic than those who graduated two or three decades ago” (insidehighered.com). A professor in charge of the experiment concluded that, people who were willing to change, were quite capable of change (insidehighered.com). Video games are enabling a generation of people who were quite willing to change, if it meant unlocking a new cosmetic item or piece of armor. Video games are no different, and this is exactly how they work in society. It is simply another medium for storytelling. Before games there was tv, before tv there were movies, before movies there was literature, before literature there were oral stories, and before oral stories there was drawings. Stories allow us an opportunity to empathize and learn, growing as humans.

Courtesy of Valentin Ottone on Flickr.com

The difference with video games is that they are more immersive. They allow you to assume full control of a character, or a world, and navigate it as you choose. Whenever you want through several platforms. The experience from movies and literature is always limited to the mind of the author and the creators. With games, you can be that author. The industry has taken great strides over the years, and I would argue that games have never been as expansive as they are now, but they’ve always remained immersive. You could see a Batman movie and see his story and learn through his experiences, or you could be the Batman and live his story and learn his experiences through the video game. I believe this is where the mass appeal comes from, and why we have such a large crowd playing games. Dick’s Mercerism, is exactly this, but replace the Batman with Wilbur Mercer, and introduce a connected network of other people, or players, who all can share the emotions as they empathize, or play the game.

The novel focuses on a post-apocalyptic bounty hunter, Rick Deckard, who like most people in this world, lives a miserable life, and Van Ness Pet Hospital employee, John Isidore. A thin veil of radioactive dust covers the planet, killing all lifeforms, with the animals going first. The animals that live, are extremely rare and expensive, and are one of the few things worth living for in this world. John does not possess an animal, this keeps him miserable and is what drives him to use the empathy box to feel better. John uses the empathy box to escape the sad reality of his life. The empathy box is a device that is implied to be in the homes of all the individuals of this Earth, if not in their home, at least readily available. “He was not ready for the trip up those clanging stairs to the empty roof where he had no animal. The echo of himself ascending: the echo of nothing. Time to grasp the handles, he said to himself, and crossed the living room to the black empathy box” (Dick 10). The box allows you to experience the emotions of all the users of the empathy box, allowing individuals to share some of their sadness for others, while taking the happiness of others. John finally gets a new neighbor in his abandoned apartment complex, and when he asks if she brought an empathy box, she says “I assumed I would find one here” (Dick 31). The world is addicted to what empathy boxes can do for them, much like how our world is addicted to video games and what that can do for people.

A certain stigma still surrounds gamers and the gaming community. Often being called names, and exclaiming games as a waste of time. These stigmas are ironic because games are the same as movies. The same as literature. The same cave drawings. It’s a method for people to escape reality. To enter a world of unreal and be reminded of reality. In addition, the social connection that video games allows these people is unmatched. An argument could be made that cell phones and social media are a stronger social connection, but video games is essentially both combined, and then funneled into a niche market with thousands of other players who are learning with them. This is very much so what the empathy box is doing in Dick’s sci-fi novel. Somebody with too much sadness can share it with somebody who is way too happy, and everyone can keep their emotions in check, and resume capable empathy.

As we progress video games to higher and higher levels of immersion, we start to see a movement for games making it hard, to both physically and emotionally, discern the real, from the unreal. A question asked by Dick in his 1967 sci-fi novel, when people in the world live amongst hyper-real androids and enter an entirely digital world in order to experience emotion.

Another object that brings the debate of real vs unreal foreword is this idea of Mercerism, or the way in which humans experience empathy in Dick’s novel. When in the virtual world of the empathy box, users assume control of Wilbur Mercer, and can experience empathy and feel alive. The box also connects all users of the box to experience “the babble of their thoughts”, and connect to the other users of the empathy box (Dick 11). Mercerism is almost a theology, or a religion, for the remaining people of humanity. A set of rules to live by. Mercerism is constantly an argument of what is real, especially when it is revealed that its all fake. Buster Friendly announces on his TV show that Mercerism is a “swindle” and the whole experience of “empathy is a swindle” (Dick 94-95). Mercerism was something that everyone believed to be real, is suddenly revealed to be a huge fraud. This begs the question, if it being real even matters? Does it have to be real for people to be affected by it? Is the fact that its not real, suddenly mean that everything it was saying is invalid and also unreal? John Isidore argues that Mercerism is not finished (Dick 95).

Courtesy of George Kelly on Flickr.com

In a dream like state, Mercer discuses with John Isidore, saying that “They will have trouble understanding why nothing has changed. Because you’re still here and I’m still here” (Dick 96-96). He’s referring to the fact that androids won’t understand that chaos and disorder will not occur even after everyone learns that Mercer is not real. This is because Mercer does not need to be real for people to experience what they need to experience. This is also the case with video games. People understand that video games are not real and could never be real, but they are still real enough for people to connect and empathize. Video games, are in a way, the same as Mercerism.

Towards the end of the book Rick Deckard experiences fusion with Wilbur Mercer and for a moment he believes himself to be Mercer. After Deckard retires the six androids he heads out into the abyss. While out there he experiences what appears to be a real vision of himself as Wilbur Mercer. ““Mercer,” he said, panting; he stopped, stood still. In front of him he distinguished a shadowy figure, motionless. “Wilbur Mercer! Is that you?” My god, he realized; it’s my shadow. I have to get out of here, down off this hill” (Dick 105)! This is a real experience that Deckard falsely projects, because he now knows that Mercer is fake because John Isidore had just told him (Dick 99). So why does Deckard see this? Its because he needs something to explain his existence, he needs some comfort to explain the horrors he has committed. Deckard later states that Mercer isn’t a fake unless all of reality is a fake (Dick 106). He states later that he could never die, not in a thousands years, because he is Mercer, and Mercer is immortal (107). This is the same thing that gamers are doing when they progress through their campaigns. It’s the same thing that they are doing as they build their virtual version of themselves, the on that’s capable of incredible feats and actions. Gamers constantly see themselves as Wilbur Mercer, giving them an explanation and a purpose for their existence.

These are things that we can see in today’s society through video games. Video games, like the empathy box, provide the user a way to escape reality and experience empathy. The process by which an empathy box is turned on and utilized by a user, is almost identical to the process of video games. When Isidore uses the box it is described as “he grasped the twin handles. The visual image congealed; he saw at once a famous landscape, the old, brown, barren ascent, with tufts of dried-out bonelike weeds poking slantedly into a dim and sunless sky” (Dick 10). This sounds a lot like a user grabbing the two joysticks of a controller, and jumping into a world of generated images, connecting the user with millions of people online. It also sounds a lot like the process by which Virtual Reality games work. In addition to its physical process being almost identical, the reason by which you’d use an empathy box, or play video games, is also similar. John Isidore escapes the poor reality of his life, and enters a world that is much more comfortable for him. Games are simulated worlds and societies, allowing people to feel as though it really is them, and it allows for them to experience things as if they really were there. Wilbur Mercer stands as a character that any gamer would make. He is identical in purpose and structure to any RPG character ever created by a gamer. Video Games are a constant proponent of what is real and what is not real, and if any of it matters.

Works Cited:

“2018 Video Game Industry Statistics, Trends & Data – The Ultimate List.” WePC.com, 15 May 2018, https://www.wepc.com/news/video-game-statistics/.
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Dick, Philip. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. New York City, Doubleday, 1968.
“Reading Books and Watching Films Makes You Kinder in Real Life.” International Business Times UK, 19 July 2016, https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/reading-books-watching-films-makes-you-kinder-real-life-1571434.
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Is self-care also community-care?

(Courtesy Flickr)
Sacha Chua via http://ryersonian.ca/a-post-election-guide-to-self-care/

Homo sapiens. The scientific word that refers to human. This word connects us all to one central state of mind but are there more? Perhaps, we should think of words like mammal or vertebrae. These words do accurately describe what it means to be classified as a human but do they show us what it means to be human? Do these words sum up the human condition that we all subscribe to? In simple, no. The human condition reflects on all of our experience, good or bad. The human condition is what brings us together in times of crisis and times of celebration. Being human is more than just a scientific classification but a state of being. One way to better understand the human condition is through the use of Phillip K. Dick’s novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. This futuristic book begins to analyze what makes us human by reflecting human life against that of a cyborg.

The human condition, when analyzed closely, is really about how people use empathy to go about their daily lives. The use of empathy allows people to better understand another person’s situation because they can put themselves in the other person’s position. An article from Inside Higher Ed, noted that people learn to be empathetic as children. Since the state of the human condition begins for each person as a child, it is important that we learn empathy as a child. Using empathy as a tool allows us to better know how to react in social setting. Empathy is the driving factor for our behavior at social gatherings like funerals because we can understand how loss effects people, even if we have not experienced it ourselves. Empathy also brings traits like love, compassion, and responsiveness into our everyday lives as well. These traits help us within society to help alleviate some of the issues we as a community or on an individual level may be affected by.

There currently is an issue with empathy as it relates to the human condition. A test given by the University of Michigan found that college students are 40% less empathetic than in the past 30 years. So what does that say about society? Many things have changed in the past 30 years like the increased usage of the internet and the prevalence of social media. There also was an attack on US soil, an event that changed the overall culture of western society. These changes also show a shift in our focus from community to self but they do not mean we are lacking empathy altogether. Today’s shift in empathy is due to an increase in focus on specific topics that the individual wishes to focus on. An example would be in the school environment where there is an increase in service learning projects. These projects allow the student to find something they are passionate about and work towards increasing their knowledge on the subject through service. These projects show a focus and commitment to bettering a community through civic service. A more popular example of this shift is that of the #self-care movement. This movement involves a variety of things from self-medicating and owning pets, all the way to the more common spa days and self-indulgencing tendencies of the millennial. It is important, however, to remember that this is not a new concept as taking care of one’s self was originally thought to be a way to make people more honest citizens who were more likely to care for others.

In Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, there is a theme of empathy. This empathy is shown through the two characters the book focuses on, Rick and John. The characters are still living on earth after radioactive dust has forced everyone to leave and begin living on Mars with the assistance of androids. Rick is living on Earth as an escaped android hunter, while John has been deemed unfit to emigrate due to health impacts of the dust. Rick shows empathy through his concern for his wife, while John shows empathy through his compassion for others. In an article written for International Business Times, it was argued that the use of fiction can help people to become more empathetic in real life. The article also suggested that being in fictional situation can help to prepare the reader for similar life situations, even if the setting is unrealistic. When using the characters from Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep to reflect on the human condition, we can see that empathy today is still intact but is being heavily influenced by a focus on one’s individual focuses.

In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, technology has grown to a point were individuals can control their mood through the use of the Penfield mood organ. The mood organ gives users the ability to preprogram their emotions. 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 to allow her to feel despair and sadness. 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. Rick shows concern for Iran because he believes that feeling helpless for too long will prevent her from feeling other emotions like happiness. This concern for one’s family and their happiness shows empathy because Rick cares about how his wife feels. The relationship between Rick and his wife is something that everyone can relate to because of the human condition to want to connect to others and be happy.

An interesting connection can also be made between the mood organ and to the use of mood altering drugs. The mood organ changes a person’s mood to whatever they believe will be appropriate for their day. The use of mood altering drugs like antidepressants or antianxiety medications can help prevent the over stimulation of certain emotions. There is a lot of conversation about the use of such medications as there is a question about how much we allow ourselves to feel. Rick is clearly on the side of not feeling emotions that society has deemed unpleasant, while Iran believes we should feel everything. Neither character is wrong because the want to feel happy and the want to understand sadness help us to become more empathetic people. This relationship between mood organ and drugs relates back to the self-care movement. A 2014 study showed that there was an increase in of understanding of mental illness and a decrease of the stigma surrounding mental health. Many of those who utilize the ideas of self-care are doing so to preserve their own mental health when things stressful, whether they have a mental illness or not. These ideas can come in the form of prescription medications for diagnosed illnesses or aroma therapy teas.

Another way that Rick shows his empathy is through his love of animals. In the novel, a large majority of the animals have become extinct due to the radioactive dust. It then become a civic duty to care for an animal. Rick has a robotic sheep that he takes care for. He use to have a real sheep but it died of tetanus (Dick 11). Rick cares for his robotic sheep by bringing it hay and snack but also by petting it as well. Later in the book, Rick purchases a real goat to begin caring for as well. He has plans to care for the goat just as much as he cares for his robotic sheep. The love and commitment Rick puts into his animals shows his empathy for other because animals in this radioactive environment would not be able to care for themselves.

In the book, readers also see John’s compassion through his love of animals. John works as an assistant in a robotic animal hospital. The first animal John picks up on his morning commute is a cat with what was believed to be a short circuit (Dick 67). We later find out that the cat was not robotic but suffering from disease. John is extremely upset about this mistake but through his compassion for others he is able to come up with a solution of giving the owner a robotic animal at no charge. Later on, John shows this same compassion for a spider in his kitchen. The spider has had four of its legs removed by an android named Pris (Dick 193). When John gets the chance, he takes the spider outside to be released, knowing that away from Pris that spider will no longer be harmed.

This can be directly related to self-care and how we as human take care of our animals. As humans, we understand that people and pets live happier, longer lives when in an environment of love. The human condition as a whole requires love because without it we would do actions for one another without truly caring about the outcome. This is related to self-care because many people have turned to animals for support. It was estimated that 4,000 service dogs were placed in the United States between 2013-2014. These dogs have been trained to assist with a variety of conditions from anxiety and depression to PTSD. This focus of self-care through the animals allows individuals who require assistance to have access without feeling the need to ask others. In addition, the use of the animal allows individuals who are having a hard time connecting with others to gradually gain empathy for the animal. As the empathy for the animal builds, the person may find it easier to connect with others around them.

The society within the book relies on empathy boxes to allow people to connect to one another but it is what the main characters do within their daily lives that show their empathy for other people. In the novel, John shows compasions for others when he helps a group of androids, who have been outlawed on Earth. John lives alone in an abandoned building but then become the unexpected host to three androids who are hiding from Rick. The androids are afraid of being deactivated, alone, and have nowhere to go. John relates to them because since he has been deemed intellectually altered by the dust, people treat him as if he is less than a person. John decides to help the androids because he wants them to feel safe, even if it means confronting Rick. The compassion John shows for the androids can be related to the compassion people show in their everyday lives for themselves and those around them.

The self-care movement loosely revolves around compassion for self and those around you. One way people show their compassion is through the use of group spa dates, self-help books, and anything else that can be #TREATYOSELF. The self-care industry has been estimated to be worth over $10 billion dollars . These items have been key to opening new doors for people to reinvent themselves and feel rejuvenated. The reinvention, can also come from the ability to help others as seen with John and his android guest. As John hides the androids, he gains a better understanding about his world and the inequalities within it. John shows strength when the female androids are fearful of being found and determination to stand up for them when Rick arrives, even when his feelings are hurt by the mutilation of the spider.

Empathy is the ability to understand someone else’s feeling but as times have changed there has been a shift in the direction in which empathy has been focused. Empathy has become more self-focused and its focus been nurtured through the self-care movement. This movement has allowed people to focus more on their own feelings to better understand the world around them. As seen in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, these concepts of self-care reflect an ability to begin gaining empathy. Within the book, there are underlining self-care themes of self-medicating, therapy animals, and #TREATYOSELF. By relating the book to self-care, we see that empathy is on the rise by shifting focuses to more individualized thoughts that then mature into compassion and empathy for others.