Mirou Manooki
English 101
Professor Fulton
October 10, 2013
The Power of the Android
The power of life and the power of an Android are conflicting issues that question the beliefs of humans around the world every single day. The questions we want
to answer are should humans choose real or continue the development of smarter and more developed androids? Are the feelings of real life being easier to be
matched with technologies and social media? The book “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” author Philip K. Dick talks about a world where Androids are a
major problem for humans on earth and how the developments of the robots got to be to much humans to handle. The population of the world has grown almost
four billion in the last 50 years, can we really continue to live a stable life style without androids. Humans have the problem of trying to decide what is actually essential to be alive and to what extent can we use the power of the android. The difference between a real experience and virtual experience is becoming less and less distinguished and the definition of what is actually real is changing within society.
The difference between what is real and what is unreal has a very thin line. Many of the times where we try to decide what is real human nature is to pick what makes them happy instead of looking at the facts. What if there was a way to just experience any emotion whenever you want. In “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” people that live on earth still have the option to connect to the empathy box and experience mercerism. One morning before Rick Deckard goes to work he is having a conversation with his wife Iran, and she has a schedule for how she is going to set her moods for that day. Iran telling Ricks says, “My schedule for today lists a six-hour self accusatory depression”(Dick 4). It is hard to imagine a world where an emotion is controlled by a click of a button. The main issue that is a problem with having that type of technology is that it is an addicting feeling. Humans especially people that are going through hard times like Rick and Iran might just become dependent on the feeling of the unreal world. The main question is when can the line be drawn that the virtual unreal feeling starts to overtake the real world. The problem is that if people don’t have the sense of control not to give in and always resort virtual happiness then what is actually real will never be the same. The biggest current world example of the dilemma between the real and virtual world are new video games and avatars with online communication. On the Internet it gives a person to be whoever and act however they choose to. In his article “videogames, avatars, and identity” author Zach Waggoner talks about the main issues and problems brought up by the virtual world. Zach Waggoner describes an Avatar as the “users representative in the virtual universe”(Waggoner 489). That is the most basic description in the sense that an online avatar weather it is in a video game or on a social networking website the avatar can represent the user in however form the user wants. The user can post pictures of whomever and make you think it is actually them, avatars can lie about age, ethnicity, etc. This power to be someone completely different and pretty much have a separate life in the virtual world is very scary and dangerous problem with virtual programs and games. The real question that needs to be answered is why do people prefer their virtual lives most of the time instead of the real. The answer is very simple and definitive, the virtual world allows people to be happy and be someone who they think is the best representation of themselves instead of the real world. The way humans have progressed has really focused on the virtual world and it is very hard in modern life exactly like the world of Rick Deckard to not resort to the virtual world. The ability to change how you feel and be someone you want to be is an addictive feeling and is a major part of modern life.
One of the major themes in “Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?” is how emotions can really separate what is real and fake especially empathy. Rick Deckard hates his electric sheep because he knows that the sheep that he wants to care about can’t show him any love or emotion. One of the main reasons that Rick is a bounty hunter is because he has the mentality that since an android can’t have emotion or feeling it is just there for a purpose of being there it is not worthy of life. Rick uses the emotion of empathy in his job to find out if a person is an android or human. Rick says "An android doesn’t care what happens to another android”(Dick 101). That’s one of the indications we look for”. Rick uses the feeling of empathy to find out if he is dealing with an android or human. This belief that Rick becomes so strongly attached to gets shattered later on because it turns out that androids do actually care what happens to another android. The feeling of empathy is a major part of why people in the virtual world don’t have the same emotion as if they were talking to someone in real life. Someone who is online can talk and behave however they like to someone, but in real life they would never do that. The feeling of empathy towards a human or actually caring about someone’s feelings really controls how humans behave around each other. A story that really shows how emotions and empathy can really determine what is real and fake is the story of “The Allegory of the Cave”. The story is about prisoners that are tied up to stare at a wall for their whole lives and the only life that they know about the shadows of people walking behind them. One day one of the prisoners escapes and gets to see what the real world is like, when he comes back to tell the other prisoners what the world he is seeing is like the prisoners don’t know what he is talking about let alone believe what he is actually saying. The moral of the story is that what is real is what a person chooses for it to be. The only life that those prisoners have known are the shadows on the wall and everything that their friend is telling them is nothing, but a virtual reality. How do emotions really separate androids and humans? The answer is that emotions are something that is felt by a human but is caused by an exterior force. A human with real emotions are only caused by being made to feel a certain way by someone or something. That is what separates a real conversation with an online or texting or an online avatar compared to a real person it is the fact that a person in real life feels true emotions not the artificially created fake emotions that are felt through the virtual world.
The advancement of technology in modern time and in the life Rick Deckard is a driving force behind how they work, live, and maintain a stable lifestyle. The main thing that has pushed humans to invent is the motivation to be better and more efficient. In Rick’s life there are many technologies like the androids, the electric animals that were created by humans to be better than the real thing itself, but humans realize that the androids could actually do more harm than good, and that is the main reason they banned them from Earth. When Iran find a mechanical panel on a toad that they thought was real Rick says, "The electric things have their life too. Paltry as those lives are"(Dick 241). The feeling Rick is experiencing has a lot to do with the fact that we look at our machines and technology packed devices and sometimes humans forget that they are using a machine than dealing with a real life thing. That brings up the argument are the technological advancements humans have made in the last century really helping humans be more efficient or are the technologies ruining what humans have considered sacred and important for thousands of years which is the beauty of life. The toad that Rick encounters is a big symbol of how androids have a symbolic meaning to him more than what the purpose of the android is really suppose to be about. In current popular culture with all the new IPhones and computers in most lives especially with teenagers, the device means more to them than life itself. This addiction really causes humans to be dependent on these devices and online programs exactly how the reliance of the androids in Rick Deckard’s life got so bad that it went to far and scared the humans. In research done by the University of Maryland they concluded that many college students are “not just unwilling, but unable to be without their media links to the world” (ICMPA 483). This feeling of addiction and dependency is a big problem that I personally deal with alongside many of the people I know in my life. Technologies of being able to connect to anyone in the world in a matter of a second have made social media very addictive. The advancements of technologies are always good have allowed humans to evolve and become the most powerful species in the world, however these technologies if not controlled it can lead us to problems that Rick Deckard goes through everyday. The technology in modern day are leading us to completely give up the importance of life itself and resort to a computer instead of the human brain.
The difference of what is real and unreal is an ever-evolving separation. As the progression of humankind have allowed us to grow and achieve amazing accomplishments, that same progression has caused the loss of a lot of what has been considered very important to life. Humans have slowly become very dependent on the android, fake, virtual lifestyle way more than the basic lifestyle of humans, however it is very hard to blame humans for this decision. Life for humans are very stressful, and difficult. It is also very important for humans to feel the essential emotions of life such as happiness, and sadness. That is exactly what the virtual and fake world allows humans to do and it is very easy to access. The definition of what is real has changed within the last century due to advancements of technology and we have no choice but to be smarter with our decisions and sustain and hold on to the values of what truly is real.
English 101
Professor Fulton
October 10, 2013
The Power of the Android
The power of life and the power of an Android are conflicting issues that question the beliefs of humans around the world every single day. The questions we want
to answer are should humans choose real or continue the development of smarter and more developed androids? Are the feelings of real life being easier to be
matched with technologies and social media? The book “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” author Philip K. Dick talks about a world where Androids are a
major problem for humans on earth and how the developments of the robots got to be to much humans to handle. The population of the world has grown almost
four billion in the last 50 years, can we really continue to live a stable life style without androids. Humans have the problem of trying to decide what is actually essential to be alive and to what extent can we use the power of the android. The difference between a real experience and virtual experience is becoming less and less distinguished and the definition of what is actually real is changing within society.
The difference between what is real and what is unreal has a very thin line. Many of the times where we try to decide what is real human nature is to pick what makes them happy instead of looking at the facts. What if there was a way to just experience any emotion whenever you want. In “Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep” people that live on earth still have the option to connect to the empathy box and experience mercerism. One morning before Rick Deckard goes to work he is having a conversation with his wife Iran, and she has a schedule for how she is going to set her moods for that day. Iran telling Ricks says, “My schedule for today lists a six-hour self accusatory depression”(Dick 4). It is hard to imagine a world where an emotion is controlled by a click of a button. The main issue that is a problem with having that type of technology is that it is an addicting feeling. Humans especially people that are going through hard times like Rick and Iran might just become dependent on the feeling of the unreal world. The main question is when can the line be drawn that the virtual unreal feeling starts to overtake the real world. The problem is that if people don’t have the sense of control not to give in and always resort virtual happiness then what is actually real will never be the same. The biggest current world example of the dilemma between the real and virtual world are new video games and avatars with online communication. On the Internet it gives a person to be whoever and act however they choose to. In his article “videogames, avatars, and identity” author Zach Waggoner talks about the main issues and problems brought up by the virtual world. Zach Waggoner describes an Avatar as the “users representative in the virtual universe”(Waggoner 489). That is the most basic description in the sense that an online avatar weather it is in a video game or on a social networking website the avatar can represent the user in however form the user wants. The user can post pictures of whomever and make you think it is actually them, avatars can lie about age, ethnicity, etc. This power to be someone completely different and pretty much have a separate life in the virtual world is very scary and dangerous problem with virtual programs and games. The real question that needs to be answered is why do people prefer their virtual lives most of the time instead of the real. The answer is very simple and definitive, the virtual world allows people to be happy and be someone who they think is the best representation of themselves instead of the real world. The way humans have progressed has really focused on the virtual world and it is very hard in modern life exactly like the world of Rick Deckard to not resort to the virtual world. The ability to change how you feel and be someone you want to be is an addictive feeling and is a major part of modern life.
One of the major themes in “Do Androids dream of Electric Sheep?” is how emotions can really separate what is real and fake especially empathy. Rick Deckard hates his electric sheep because he knows that the sheep that he wants to care about can’t show him any love or emotion. One of the main reasons that Rick is a bounty hunter is because he has the mentality that since an android can’t have emotion or feeling it is just there for a purpose of being there it is not worthy of life. Rick uses the emotion of empathy in his job to find out if a person is an android or human. Rick says "An android doesn’t care what happens to another android”(Dick 101). That’s one of the indications we look for”. Rick uses the feeling of empathy to find out if he is dealing with an android or human. This belief that Rick becomes so strongly attached to gets shattered later on because it turns out that androids do actually care what happens to another android. The feeling of empathy is a major part of why people in the virtual world don’t have the same emotion as if they were talking to someone in real life. Someone who is online can talk and behave however they like to someone, but in real life they would never do that. The feeling of empathy towards a human or actually caring about someone’s feelings really controls how humans behave around each other. A story that really shows how emotions and empathy can really determine what is real and fake is the story of “The Allegory of the Cave”. The story is about prisoners that are tied up to stare at a wall for their whole lives and the only life that they know about the shadows of people walking behind them. One day one of the prisoners escapes and gets to see what the real world is like, when he comes back to tell the other prisoners what the world he is seeing is like the prisoners don’t know what he is talking about let alone believe what he is actually saying. The moral of the story is that what is real is what a person chooses for it to be. The only life that those prisoners have known are the shadows on the wall and everything that their friend is telling them is nothing, but a virtual reality. How do emotions really separate androids and humans? The answer is that emotions are something that is felt by a human but is caused by an exterior force. A human with real emotions are only caused by being made to feel a certain way by someone or something. That is what separates a real conversation with an online or texting or an online avatar compared to a real person it is the fact that a person in real life feels true emotions not the artificially created fake emotions that are felt through the virtual world.
The advancement of technology in modern time and in the life Rick Deckard is a driving force behind how they work, live, and maintain a stable lifestyle. The main thing that has pushed humans to invent is the motivation to be better and more efficient. In Rick’s life there are many technologies like the androids, the electric animals that were created by humans to be better than the real thing itself, but humans realize that the androids could actually do more harm than good, and that is the main reason they banned them from Earth. When Iran find a mechanical panel on a toad that they thought was real Rick says, "The electric things have their life too. Paltry as those lives are"(Dick 241). The feeling Rick is experiencing has a lot to do with the fact that we look at our machines and technology packed devices and sometimes humans forget that they are using a machine than dealing with a real life thing. That brings up the argument are the technological advancements humans have made in the last century really helping humans be more efficient or are the technologies ruining what humans have considered sacred and important for thousands of years which is the beauty of life. The toad that Rick encounters is a big symbol of how androids have a symbolic meaning to him more than what the purpose of the android is really suppose to be about. In current popular culture with all the new IPhones and computers in most lives especially with teenagers, the device means more to them than life itself. This addiction really causes humans to be dependent on these devices and online programs exactly how the reliance of the androids in Rick Deckard’s life got so bad that it went to far and scared the humans. In research done by the University of Maryland they concluded that many college students are “not just unwilling, but unable to be without their media links to the world” (ICMPA 483). This feeling of addiction and dependency is a big problem that I personally deal with alongside many of the people I know in my life. Technologies of being able to connect to anyone in the world in a matter of a second have made social media very addictive. The advancements of technologies are always good have allowed humans to evolve and become the most powerful species in the world, however these technologies if not controlled it can lead us to problems that Rick Deckard goes through everyday. The technology in modern day are leading us to completely give up the importance of life itself and resort to a computer instead of the human brain.
The difference of what is real and unreal is an ever-evolving separation. As the progression of humankind have allowed us to grow and achieve amazing accomplishments, that same progression has caused the loss of a lot of what has been considered very important to life. Humans have slowly become very dependent on the android, fake, virtual lifestyle way more than the basic lifestyle of humans, however it is very hard to blame humans for this decision. Life for humans are very stressful, and difficult. It is also very important for humans to feel the essential emotions of life such as happiness, and sadness. That is exactly what the virtual and fake world allows humans to do and it is very easy to access. The definition of what is real has changed within the last century due to advancements of technology and we have no choice but to be smarter with our decisions and sustain and hold on to the values of what truly is real.