In the First chapter of Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep by Philip K. Dick the reader is aware that in the future individuals are able to control their emotions using a device called the Penfield. Basically Penfield is a machine where the user “sets” their emotion to a specific degree. For example; if the user wants to feel joyful they would set the nob to the mode that will allow them to feel that emotion. “My schedule for today lists a six – hour self-accusatory depression,’ Iran said…..It defeated the whole purpose of the mood organ.” (Dick 5) In this chapter Iran has set her mood to be in depression her reasoning being “I realized how unhealthy it was, sensing the absence of life, not just building but everywhere………they call it ‘absence of appropriate affect.” (Dick 5) To her this machine does not seem normal, everyone should have a natural reaction to every situation, not a planned one.
If the device were to exist in reality in my opinion the Penfield program be used for evil instead of good. Instead of helping people with severe depression, there could be a possibility that individuals would lose their sense of empathy, and this would lead to bad decision making. If there was a chance that the device would be used for bad, should the Penfield device be strictly reserved for individuals with severe mental illnesses, and no one else? Or should the mood organ be available for everyone just at a higher price, and if so does this then dehumanizes everyone?
In my opinion, such an invention should not be made since I fail to see how we can consider ourselves human if we are able to channel our emotions very regularly. While I agree that our emotions should not control our judgement, we must never neglect them if we are to maintain ourselves as human beings.