In the essay by Michael Heilemann concerning the book Do Androids
Dream of Electric Sheep and Blade Runner, he claims that the
Penfield mood organ is a device that brings humans down to the level
of androids, that it is the primary source of human emotion in the
book, that "emotions are reduced to numbers" (Heilemann 5).
I disagree with this claim, while the mood organ does artificially
alter the mood of the characters in the book, it does not bring
humans to the same level as the androids. The characters in the book
actually refuse "dialing" in multiple times, because they
want to keep feeling what they're currently feeling. This shows that
they still have control over their normal, human emotions, and are
not programmed like the androids are.
In the beginning, Iran refuses
to dial in, citing that "wanting to dial is right now the most
alien drive I can imagine." (Dick 3) By refusing this, she is
accepting her human emotion to feel apathetic, which is something the
androids don't feel. Her use of the word alien is an important one,
because at this point that is what the androids should, and are
considered to be, alien. They are not human in the sense that they
feel the same emotions, and are regulated by the same neural
pathways, but they are human in the sense that they have a
consciousness in which they can resemble humans, but they will never
BE human.
Interestingly enough, Rick Deckard is another character that doesn't
need to dial in. This occurs at the end of the book, when he is
finished with his assignment, and has returned home. "And then,
by degrees, he progressed along the route to the bedroom. 'Okay,' he
said. 'Long deserved peace.' he stretched out on the bed, dust
sifting from his clothes and hair onto the white sheets. No need to
turn on the mood organ, Iran realized". (Dick 96) After his
ordeal, he recognizes that he deserves some peace and quiet, and
gives in to being dialed, but his wife realizes that he doesn't need
to, his current emotions are sufficient enough to bring about the
desired effect. This proves that humanity is not lost, and that not
everyone is giving into the "alien" desires to alter their
mood. Yet altering mood is not a foreign concept to humans, we have
been doing it since the dawn of time, with various substances. In a
way, the mood organ is simply another substance that alters moods. So
I would argue that the mood organ is simply another substance humans
use to alter their mood because their current reality is not
something they want to deal with sober.Works Cited
Dick, Phillip K. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. New York City: Doubleday, 1968. Review of Resources. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
Heilemann,
Michael. "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and Blade
Runner." Web. 14 Mar. 2014.
Tom Mather
Tom Mather
Tom, I completely agree with your assertion about the Mercer mood box. I think a major point in the book comes from distinguishing between humans and androids, and I think this Mercer mood box does exactly this. Because the androids were artificially created, their mood devices would function completely differently from humans. When Iran refuses to dial into the mood box, this shows her own ability to make a choice about her mood. Androids do not even have this choice. This difference shows that humans are not necessarily reduced to an android level, but are merely trying to have some electric or chemical part of themselves. Furthermore, I agree that Rick eventually no longer needs the mood device. I think this quality is an important marker in the book, as humans are able to choose whether or not they would like to dial in. While Heilemann brings up several interesting and valid assertions, I agree with the faults you found within his argument about the Mercer mood box.
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