In chapter 1 of Philip K Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, he describes Iran and Rick’s use of the Penfield mood organ. Upon waking up, Rick notices that Iran still is not up or awake. He claims to her “You set your Penfield to weak…I’ll reset it and you’ll be awake” (Dick 3). Her response is unpleasant in nature as she doesn’t want to wake up. This is because she has her dial schedule set to have a “six hour self-accusatory depression” (Dick 4). Iran has this scheduled because she was feeling to good. Her mood was too good and didn’t feel healthy to feel all these good emotions so she put it on her schedule to feel despair twice a month (Dick 5). Iran also talks of how grateful she was that they could afford the mood organ, even for a short second.
I find it peculiar that Iran would want to feel these emotions when she has the ability to feel joy all the time. She mentioned that how she feels even with the mood organ “used to be considered a sign of mental illnesses” and it doesn’t seem normal (Dick 5). Why would Iran choose to set her mood organ to feel an emotion mirroring that of a mental illness? Also, is the Penfield mood organ something that everyone owns or is it a luxury that only a few people own and use daily?
She could have been setting her mood board to depression to exercise empathy. They seem to care a lot about empathy in their world so it could be possible that she is trying to put herself in someone’s shoes who actually has depression. I also believe that the mood organ is a luxury. Isidore does not own a mood organ and the fact that he lives in an abandon apartment building suggest that he is poor and could probably not afford one.
Iran set her Penfield to a mental illness because she is unaware of a happy medium of overly happy and depressed. Feeling depressed I don’t think would help her be more empathetic because it is an extreme case that I don’t believe many people would have or that Iran would encounter. If Iran were to encounter a human fugitive human that feels he shouldn’t be hunted for just trying to find a new home. Maybe they have lost loved ones and have nothing. What will Iran knowing the feeling of depression help with empathizing with the fugitive?
It can be possible that Iran wants to have emotions similar to those of a human being; humans do not always have positive experiences are not always in a joyful mood, but rather they can experience difficult times and thus different changes within their mood, ranging from feelings of happiness to feelings of hopelessness. In other words, Iran may want to experience human emotions to the fullest, realistic extent, even if it means setting her mood organ to a mental illness such as depression.
I believe Iran wanted to set her mood organ to a sense of depression in order to remind herself that she is capable of feeling emotions other than happiness. It allows her to have a sense normalcy, and therefore feel more human like. If she doesn’t allow herself to feel this particular emotion, then she feels uncomfortable in her own skin. If I were in her position, I would do the same exact thing. It’s not normal to feel the same way every day of your life. In order to live a healthy life, one must go through ups and downs, no matter how painful they are. I also have a hard time determining whether the mood organ is a luxury or if everyone has one, due to her comment about being lucky to have one. Also, in relation not only to this post, but to Sam’s post, this makes me wonder if they are human since Iran described it as something to afford.
I believe that all androids that are aware that they are androids have a desire to be more human. Androids do not age and do not comprehend emotions well because it is something that can not be programmed into them. From an Androids point of view the ability to feel emotions is a luxury. On the other hand some humans may say that the same emotions can be seen as a weakness. A weakness that prevents making a logical decision. I am unsure if Iran is an android or not but has the ability to be happy all the time but she chooses to feel sadness, to feel pain. I believe that is because she is trying to imitate/share human emotions specifically empathy. The penfield organ is the ultimate tool that that allows others to feel someone else feelings. To answer the question “Is emotion a luxury?” I think it depends on who you are asking whether it is a human or an android because the answer would be different.
I believe that deep inside, all androids have the desire to feel more human, much like Iran. No one person can always be happy, they must experience the negative feelings as well. So for Iran to want to set her mood board to something unpleasant shows that she is exercising her ability to do so. I also do think that having emotions is a luxury, especially how right from the begin Iran talks about being fortunate enough to have a Penfield. So that must mean that it is either really hard to come by or just too expensive for others to purchase or have one of their own.
The Penfield mood organ is a luxury that not many people can afford but Iran and Rick can. During their argument Rick and Iran even discuss how much of a luxury it is to have one of the mood organs. In regards to the question as to why Iran would choose to alter her mood organ to a depressive state, I would have to say that her decision to do this was a healthy choice. Maybe an important factor to consider is that sometimes it is healthy to not only feel one repetitive emotion all of the time. For Iran, she experiences elation and happiness all the time but that feeling of emptiness that she rarely felt before dialing the mood organ to her depressive state was something that she was always curious about. I feel that Iran’s choice to switch her mood organ to depression speaks volumes of her character. Perhaps she may even understand that it is necessary to feel sadness in order to truly appreciate being happy. Happiness is a feeling that is constantly at her and Rick’s disposal and I think that she understands this which would explain her desire to want to feel something negative rather than positive and uplifting. It is a possibility that she also chooses depression because at times she may feel guilty that her and Rick can afford the mood organ and bad things happen in the world but they have the option to remain blissfully ignorant.